We HAD a Cat!
Last night Jim, my partner in crime here at PIX, wrote a blog about getting a kitten for his three little boys. Got me thinking about my cat, Jake. Or rather, my son’s cat. We got him from Bide- a Wee in Manhattan, a tiny little orange ball with big green eyes.
Philip, who was five at the time, named him Jake immediately, after the Disney movie, The Cat From Outer Space. We watched a lot of those old movies when Philip was growing up. Anyway, Jake it was, and from the start, he was a very unusual cat.
He was both independent and strangely needy. Like a lapdog, he would climb onto the lap of anyone who sat down on the couch, and just curl up and purr. We loved it, but thought that cats didn’t behave that way. That was more dog behavior, we thought. But Jake liked laps.
If we closed the door to our bedroom once in awhile for privacy, Jake would do this crazy thing. He’d take a running start and then FLING his entire body against the door. No subtle hints like meowing or scratching at the door. Oh no. Full body contact ….BAM…hitting the door about halfway up. Over and over. Needless to say, it worked. We’d open the door, and Jake would stroll in triumphantly. And proceed to make himself comfortable on the bed. Sometimes on our heads, as we tried to sleep.
Another thing of his that used to freak us out, was how much Jake liked heights. We have a loft apartment with a ledge overlooking the living room about 13 feet up. The ledge is only a couple of inches wide. Yet, that’s where he liked to perch, or run back and forth. The first time we saw him up there, peering down at us on the living room couch, we got so nervous for him, we didn’t know what to do. But every time we ‘rescued’ him from the ledge, he’d just go back up there again. He liked it and he never once fell. Eventually, he trained us. We got used to it.
Sadly, I developed a terrible allergy to him. I took pills and shots because the last thing we wanted was to give Jake away. But we finally were forced to, because the shots and pills were not working, and I was getting to the point of not being able to breathe.
Jake was with us for about 5 years. We reluctantly gave him away to a good friend who lived nearby, so Philip could visit Jake and vice versa.
Then we got a dog. But that’s another story.
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Comments: 10
Hi Kaity! That's a sad story. I just took a cat because the owner became allergic. She's sweet. I'm glad you were able to find him a good home. I hope things work out with the dog. I so enjoy you guys on the 10 o'clock news. You guys actually seem to like each other! We watch every night. Love Mr. G and Bobinski! ;) Anyway, good luck with the dog.
Barb K
Hey Kaity! Jake sounds like he was a real fun cat! Too bad about the allergies, but at least you had 5 good years.
I've had a few pet cats over the decades, but my favorite was my first,... "Bernice", (Yes, I named her that). Just saw her in the hall one day & she invited herself in & never left.
Years later, I got another cat from Bide-A-Wee to help out with a mouse problem we had named "Stinky".
She was a unique & great cat also! Took care of the mouse problem while giving many hours of live entertainment in the process, too!
dear kaity,
i enjoy watching your show and now, this blog!
so sad about having to give away Jake, but good
that your son still could visit. i'm a dog person but also think cats are so funny with their attitude. you know what they say:
dogs have owners
cats have staff
when my dog he died, i was devastated.
your blog brought up good memories of
my dog. thank you.
caroline
Hi Kaity,
I read somewhere (I believe I originally saw it on Wikipedia) that you have a Siberian husky. Maybe you could tell us some things about your dog in a future blog of yours.
Ari
Oh, Kaity, Just caught you with that hotdog at the end of that news story, LOL, you're such a caracter!(In such a wonderful way!).
Hi Kaity,
Growing up, I had a cat for a couple of days, because, my brother was allergic to it. We tried to keep it downstairs, but to no avail.
We got a dog, and he was nasty. We kept him for a long time.
I personally like birds and fish better.
I think my fighter fish *at least one of them, is really fighting to live. Poor Red looks sick-
a beautiful color red, and I feel sad. My blue and green Charlie, still runs around the fish tank and may even be older than Red.
I got them around the same time, over 2 years ago. I am not sure how long they will live.
I would like to get more birds. Hubby is not sure about this. If I do, I am NOT going to name them Perry.
Regards,
Lee
By the way Kaity, I saw you trying to hide that hotdog!!!!!!!!
lol,
Lee
Kaity,
That was such a wonderful story. Please tell about the dog. How did your allergy behave. You must have missed some days of work; with red eyes and inflamed skin.
Please do tell us.
I went to the pet store today to get some medicine for my fish, but by the time I got home, he was dead. My beautiful red fish~~~~~
Thanks for sharing that story, Kaity. Glad you were able to find a good home for the cat. Meanwhile, I hope you'll forgive me for putting this here but I have some exciting news I'm trying to get out to the media! On Thurs, Dior customers can get a hand rendered digital caricature by me at Bloomies NYC 1-6pm! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178478428838 Backstage Beauty Dior at Bloomies 59th Street 212 705 2888 Why not send a field reporter, camera crew and get a great story?