Cat Person or Mad Cat Lady?

Firstly, apologies..I have been absent for the last month, this is due to a combination of school holiday's, my head is in a funny place and general world upside downy-ness. I will talk about all that another day, however, because today I want to talk about cats.

I am a cat person, I had to ask my friends to stop buying me cat related presents as it became more 'mad cat lady' than cat person.

I admit, I did, by accident, have 4 cats at one point, when I was single...this was not a good look.

How do you have a cat by accident I hear you say? Well, I had two cats, then a friend of mine, who also had two cats temporarily moved out of a house with a garden, to a flat with no garden, so I took his two cats as well, because I am nice like that.

I now have two cats. Tao who is ten and has face cancer, which means my once handsome boy has the look of the elephant cat. Sad (Can't talk about this as there will be tears). And Millie who is about 6 or 7.

Tao - Before the face cancer

A rare moment of both my cats quite close together

Both came from the RSPCA, both had the names they had prior to me having them.

I like most animals, except chickens, can't stand chickens, nasty pecky greedy things - we kept chickens when I was a child and one of my jobs was to feed them - they are pure evil. Unlike the ducks we had, which were lovely, even though they thought they were chickens.

People think I don't like dogs because I like cats - not true. I like other people's dogs, I just don't want to be responsible for picking up warm dog poo with my hand inside a plastic bag, the idea of that makes me want to retch. Happy for other people to do that and for me to go and pet the soft velvety ears of my friends dogs.

This is Penny, my friends dog, one of the many dogs I am friendly with

My biggest gripe though, is about posh cats, you know the ones, that have been bred and aren't moggies. It's not the cats I have an issue with, it's their owners, or specifically the owners of cats who don't let their cats go outside.

The Oxford English defines cats as follows:

 A small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws. It is widely kept as a pet or for catching mice, and many breeds have been developed.

• Felis catus, family Felidae (the cat family); it was probably domesticated in ancient Egypt from the local race of wildcat. The cat family also includes the ocelot, serval, margay, lynx, and the big cats.

Our cats are domesticated, but they are animals that like to hunt and go outside and chase and kill things. They are independent animals who choose to live with us. Tao currently chooses to live mostly with me, but I know he also spends a significant amount of time about 5 doors up the road.

Imagine if you weren't being allowed out.

To all posh cat owners;

• Allow your cats out, and don't give me the 'oh he/she doesn't like it' or 'it has been bred out of them' nonsense. It is a cat. You are being cruel. 
• Don't put your cat on a lead. It is a cat. Get a dog if you want to put something on a lead. They like going for walks with you.
• And don't even think of saying to me, 'I can't let it out as some one will steal it, as it is such a posh cat'....then you shouldn't have bought such a posh cat. 

OMG. Infuriating.

OK rant over, just for the record, I do quite like a number of 'bred' cats but as there are so many cats available at the RSPCA, I just can't bring myself to buy a posh one.

This is not a sponsored post for the RSPCA I just think they do a great job.

And finally...

This is Millie

She was about 3 when I got her from the RSPCA, for the first few days, she lived under a bookcase. I don't know what happened to her, but she is very nervous of people when they stand up, or walk. She is an incredibly affectionate cat and when you are sitting will come and sit on your lap and look at you like you are the best thing in the world.