Feline family history
Dec. 28th, 2010 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgOne of the better-documented parts of the family history is the trail of cats. When I challenged Mum that the cat pictures in the family album were more reliably labelled than the people (her children), she responded that it was "obvious" who the kids were. The dates are a bit of a rough guess, as a single film could live in the family camera for more than a calendar year, and the prints did not always make it into the album. That said, and as near as I can guess I give you the Graham family cats from 1980 onwards:
1980: Mickey
Named by me, mostly because of his enormously out-of-proportion ears when he was a kitten.
Source: A work colleague of Mother's (or possibly the cat of a work colleague of Mother's)
Mickey was very intelligent, and would climb up the bookcase next to the door to tap on the handle to to be let out. He liked Mars Bars and vegemite.
1981: Smudge
Named by me, because his markings looked blurry.
Source: Cat Haven.
Note that at this time in history KFC was more honestly named Kentucky Fried Chicken, and yes, Smudge liked it.
1982 - Smudge
Smuge survived long enough to grow a bit. This is quite possibly his introduction to the outside world, where he is shown helping Middle Sister R with her photographic duties.
1984: CQ
Named by Dad, in advance of his selection ("The next cat shall be named CQ"). I protested that one could not name a pet sight unseen, but Dad was keen to use a ham radio reference. CQ never really integrated with the household and disappeared only a few weeks later. This led to more than a little I-told-you-so action, and my pet naming rights were reinstated.
Source: Cat Haven
1984: Jezebel
Named by me, for the Biblical reference, and it seemed like a good name for a cat. This is the only picture of her in the album, but I'm sure I've got many more photos piled in a box somewhere. She was pretty, but I don't recall her having much personality.
Source: Cat Haven
1984: Kimba
Named by me, because his original name of Omo just didn't seem right. Also: white cat; do the math.
Source: Cat Haven
Kimba was a very relaxed cat and liked to spend most of his time on his back. Once he was sleeping on the outdoor table, stretched, rolled, and fell off. I'm pretty sure he didn't land on his feet, but immediately jumped back up to resume his snooze on the same precarious perch. We learned to keep an eye out after that and often caught him in the act of falling from furniture. Not the brightest of kitties, but smoochie.
1985: Jessica
Named by me, because it seemed to suit her. I like naming things, and if it didn't suit she would have let us know.
Source: Cat Haven
I included this particular photo because it features Mum and I wearing complex hand-knit woollen jumpers made by Mum herself. She produced some amazing creations over the years but I took them completely for granted. I was well into adulthood before I even thought or needed to buy a jumper at retail, and was somewhat astonished to discover what the market thought such things were actually worth. I've never bought a jumper as nice as one knitted by Mum. I still have the one I'm wearing in the photo, but it's almost never cold enough to wear it.
1986: Jessica
Jessica came to us in the era when it was deemed appropriate to keep cats inside at night, and thus she lived to the ripe age of 18. She's shown here in the tuck position she favoured when being carried. Every cat has their own preferred carrying position. Jessica was a very sensible cat, and we would often have serious conversations. She was most definitely not permitted on the parents' bed, but would occasionally sneak in a nap on Mother's side. On hearing Dad's footstep in the hall she would immediately launch herself to the floor.
With the exception of Jessica who was put to sleep lomg after I had left home, all the family cats simply vanished overnight, and after a few weeks were declared unlikely to return. They lasted with us from six weeks to 2 years or so, and the assumption was that they'd been run over. I didn't have to deal with an actual confirmed death of a pet until much later, when Squishy got, well, squashed, and that was all over very quickly with no decisions to be made (she was still alive when I got her to the vet within 10 minutes, but she didn't survive).
1980: Mickey
Named by me, mostly because of his enormously out-of-proportion ears when he was a kitten.
Source: A work colleague of Mother's (or possibly the cat of a work colleague of Mother's)
Mickey was very intelligent, and would climb up the bookcase next to the door to tap on the handle to to be let out. He liked Mars Bars and vegemite.
1981: Smudge
Named by me, because his markings looked blurry.
Source: Cat Haven.
Note that at this time in history KFC was more honestly named Kentucky Fried Chicken, and yes, Smudge liked it.
1982 - Smudge
Smuge survived long enough to grow a bit. This is quite possibly his introduction to the outside world, where he is shown helping Middle Sister R with her photographic duties.
1984: CQ
Named by Dad, in advance of his selection ("The next cat shall be named CQ"). I protested that one could not name a pet sight unseen, but Dad was keen to use a ham radio reference. CQ never really integrated with the household and disappeared only a few weeks later. This led to more than a little I-told-you-so action, and my pet naming rights were reinstated.
Source: Cat Haven
1984: Jezebel
Named by me, for the Biblical reference, and it seemed like a good name for a cat. This is the only picture of her in the album, but I'm sure I've got many more photos piled in a box somewhere. She was pretty, but I don't recall her having much personality.
Source: Cat Haven
1984: Kimba
Named by me, because his original name of Omo just didn't seem right. Also: white cat; do the math.
Source: Cat Haven
Kimba was a very relaxed cat and liked to spend most of his time on his back. Once he was sleeping on the outdoor table, stretched, rolled, and fell off. I'm pretty sure he didn't land on his feet, but immediately jumped back up to resume his snooze on the same precarious perch. We learned to keep an eye out after that and often caught him in the act of falling from furniture. Not the brightest of kitties, but smoochie.
1985: Jessica
Named by me, because it seemed to suit her. I like naming things, and if it didn't suit she would have let us know.
Source: Cat Haven
I included this particular photo because it features Mum and I wearing complex hand-knit woollen jumpers made by Mum herself. She produced some amazing creations over the years but I took them completely for granted. I was well into adulthood before I even thought or needed to buy a jumper at retail, and was somewhat astonished to discover what the market thought such things were actually worth. I've never bought a jumper as nice as one knitted by Mum. I still have the one I'm wearing in the photo, but it's almost never cold enough to wear it.
1986: Jessica
Jessica came to us in the era when it was deemed appropriate to keep cats inside at night, and thus she lived to the ripe age of 18. She's shown here in the tuck position she favoured when being carried. Every cat has their own preferred carrying position. Jessica was a very sensible cat, and we would often have serious conversations. She was most definitely not permitted on the parents' bed, but would occasionally sneak in a nap on Mother's side. On hearing Dad's footstep in the hall she would immediately launch herself to the floor.
With the exception of Jessica who was put to sleep lomg after I had left home, all the family cats simply vanished overnight, and after a few weeks were declared unlikely to return. They lasted with us from six weeks to 2 years or so, and the assumption was that they'd been run over. I didn't have to deal with an actual confirmed death of a pet until much later, when Squishy got, well, squashed, and that was all over very quickly with no decisions to be made (she was still alive when I got her to the vet within 10 minutes, but she didn't survive).
