JULY 26, 1999

Tyger's Diary for July 26, 1999
I'm going to talk today about my cat family from the 1960's. Although they are all gone now, they are not forgotten. They each were wonderful cats in their own distinct way. Back in the '60's I had 7 cats at a time, although it fluctuated between 6 and 8 alot of the time when some were born or some died. There was Beebe, my first siamese cat. We bought her at a Pet Shop in Mass. She lived to be 10 years old. She was great for making talking greetings on tape recorders. I could say "hello Beebe" and get a meow response from her every time without fail. She was very sweet with people. Unfortunately, however, she didn't want her kittens. She had one litter of kittens which my mom sold when they were old enough. She dumped them all over the bedroom when they were being born and refused to nurse them. Fortunately, our other cat, KeeTay, also had a litter at the same time. She happily took Beebe's kittens to her heart and became their surrogate mother, nursing and raising them. KeeTay was always at her happiest raising kittens. She loved them dearly and was a natural mother. She was a persian mix and not very good with people. She would growl and bite if you tried to hold her. She was mostly white with gray patches. I kept one of her daughters. Heidi Kitten, who was part siamese and colored white with black patches. She had a wonderful howling voice that used to make us all laugh. Most afternoons, you could find her hiding in the back of the sofa (and I do mean 'in'). You'd find a huge bump in the fabric and that bump would be her. King was her father, a purebred seal point siamese. He died young, but he did father 2 litters before he died, Beebe's and KeeTay's. Bold John was named after a cat in a childhood storybook about a similar looking cat who was known as the first cat of the night. He was all black except for 4 white paws and a white chin and chest. Tiger was a little gray and white tiger striped cat. She grew blind as she got older but she always managed to find her way around. She had a very sweet disposition and oddly enough, loved to eat chocolate candy, bananas, and donuts! Frosty was a blue burmese male. He lived to be 10 years old, also. Gingerbaby was a yellow and white tiger striped male who only lived with us for a little over a year. Johnny Success, another one of my storybook cats, was another one of those white cats with dark gray patches and a black nose. He was marked in such a pretty way, it made him look just like a little pirate! His son Pepper was almost all dark gray with white feet, chin and chest. KeeTay was his mother. I already told you about Suzy, my black and white tiger striped cat. She was the one with the 4 double paws who did the unique tricks. If you don't remember her, go back over the earlier diary entries and you'll find my story about her there. Sunny was an orange and white tiger striped cat, as was Tinker. Tinker would jump up into my arms on command. Sunny was named after a song and had a sunny disposition. Minnie was a tortoiseshell female in gray, orange, and white. Cocoa was a chocolate point siamese male. Then there were my 2 odd-colored siamese, Cymbeline, a lilac point female, and my orange tabby point male, Cupid. gosh, it's been so long, I almost forgot his name! As you can see, I've always had cats, nearly all of my life. There's even a baby picture of me laying in a baby carriage with my white cat, whose name I don't know. I don't remember him since I was too small. But he's there! Catch you next time!