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Our Beloved Revolutionary Meow-Meow

The apartment I lived in for 15 years in New York City did not allow pets. So, once settled in Charlotte, I thought why not get a cat? Sure, I am allergic to cats but they are cool and they don’t leave puddles of drool behind. At least most of the time. So, off to the Mecklenburg County Animal Control. Saw a very pretty cat. She was very friendly and didn’t mind being picked up or juggled. Sold.

Our Beloved Revolutionary Meow-Meow, Meow-Meow for short, is a black tabby born around May 2008. She came home with me in November 2008. And proceeded to scratch up all my furniture. As well as evince a fondness for licking toe cheese, lapping up tub water, running into walls, chewing on plants, and play-biting and wrestling for hours on end. Perfect.

Meow-Meow is an indoors cat only and sometimes this must sadden her. I clip her front nails weekly. She eats dry food only. She is very active and I try to keep her trim and healthy. She weighs about nine pounds. She LOVES to be brushed. Her tabby stripes are a very subtle dark gray and at first glance you’d think she was all black. She has a preternaturally large snout.

She knows her name and when she wants attention she makes a squeak that sounds just like the name Meow-Meow. This is yet another endearing quality which makes all other cats pale in comparison.

“No Meow-Meow Zone” — bad Meow-Meow, don’t eat daddy’s plants!

Here’s some pictures from October to November 2009 as Meow-Meow grows up to be a big girl! That is, paunchy!


This is a standard Meow-Meow look of total incredulity.


Meow-Meow doing one of her favorite things, licking tub water.






Another standard pose, the “what the hell is he doing now?” look.

Stray Cat Strut

Over the course of the past year I have begun to feed many stray cats around my apartment building. Some have come and gone, some remain. There’s a feline story for every light on Broadway. As of this writing there’s about ten cats I feed, a 16 pound bag of Meow Mix lasts about two weeks. There was a woman living in the house next door who fed them too before she moved out. I think three houses down they feed the cats some too. I am trying to get as many spayed/neutered as possible and then released back into the wild of Plaza/Midwood, Charlotte.

This is Whitey. She is actually white and brown. But it was easier to call her Whitey. She is the first cat I got fixed. Whitey is a total lovebug. She runs up to my car when I pull up front and runs with me to my apartment door. She has beautiful blue eyes. She is not the sharpest tack in the box. She had a pregnancy this past summer, I am unsure what happened to the kittens. She has slowly bounced back from being fixed and now is a total lovebug once more. She likes to lick other cats’ kittens.







This is the current usual photo of Whitey. She loves to sit on top of my retrofitted Cat Condo right outside my kitchen window and wait for me to go outside. The Cat Condo is a puppy training cage with styrofoam insulation sheets, a waterproof tarp and inside a down pillow covered in towels. It has proved to be more popular than any W Hotel.



This is Friendly. Friendly is the first cat who came up to me outside. Hence, the name. Friendly is a great cat. She has the calmest demeanor of any cat, ever. Unflappable. She too is a lovebug although she rarely purrs or makes meowing sounds. She is always around, either outside my back door or under the nearby kudzu forest. She has the most beatific face when she is happy and looks up at you. More about Friendly in a bit.



I love this picture of Friendly shaking her head. It reminds me of the cover of Hairway to Steven by The Butthole Surfers.



Here is Whitey and Friendly chowing down one night accompanied by Blur.



Blur is a tortie and she was around all summer but I never see her anymore (it is now November). She too had a litter this past summer. I suspect that Blur is the mother of three cats who come around to eat, Tux, Orange Julius and Patch. All three are mostly feral and won’t let me touch them. OK, I can touch their noses or head but then they run away. All three don’t mind me being around them, just no touching. Orange Julius and Tux have even came into my kitchen a few feet. I will win these three over through the magical powers of Meow Mix. In the meanwhile, I will have to use a trap to catch them and have their balls snipped.

Here are the three cats feasting with Orange Julius. You may notice that Friendly looks a little chunkier than usual.



And, now, without further delay, may I introduce to you The Little Ones!





Yes, Friendly got knocked up this past summer. She looked like she swallowed a bowling bowl. She was showing up every morning and night for her regular meals. Then, on the morning of September 1, 2009, she didn’t show up to eat. “Friendly, where are you Friendly?” Well, that night a svelte, trim Friendly showed up to eat. She had her kittens.

She kept them under the kudzu for many weeks unseen. Then one rainy day she brought them out, all five of them right up to my door. Wet and cold and super-cute. They looked spikey and very Punk Rock.

I got my cat carrier out and covered it in towels and all that. The Little Ones lived in there for a week or so. Then some fat hippy dude who moved into the house next door came over and complained that the cats were using his backyard as their toilet. Well, no shit Sherlock. Told him they aren’t my cats and, even if they were, I can’t exactly tell them where to do their business. He ambled away. Out of deference to this loser I moved The Little Ones to more commodious living quarters in the Cat Condo near my back door.



Here is Friendly in two pictures with Tortoise Little One, who is the runt of the litter. TLO is very skittish and nervous. You can pet him but really all he wants to do is tag closely to Friendly. That said, when romping with his siblings he will attack with the best of them.





There was a big rainstorm for a couple of days and, soft touch that I am, I brought Friendly and The Little Ones inside. Here, they romped and played and delighted in warm and dry conditions. Meow-Meow was NOT pleased. She is a very jealous kitty and would hiss at the poor Little Ones all the time. However, she survived the ordeal. And, maybe, is better for it.

Amazingly, Friendly and The Little Ones immediately took to the litter box I had for them. Only one or two “accidents.” They loved to scratch The Chair in the living room and hide under the bed. Sadly, having seven cats in my apartment is not in my lease. Plus, my allergies felt it big time. So, once the rain stopped back outside they went.

As usual, The Little Vultures feasted much upon poor exhausted Friendly.



Much cavorting and eating was to be had...













Maybe a nap or two...







It might just be me, but doesn’t Friendly look at the end of her rope?



I put up flyers all over the neighborhood but no one wants to adopt The Little Ones. I got The White Little One tested for feline HIV/Leukemia and she was negative so they all should be negative. I am currently trying to get them into local Humane Society shelters but there’s waiting lists and they likely have to be fixed first. So, I feed them and every day try to pet them and pick them up and ensure that they remain accustomed to human handling. They want “inside” badly but, alas, no can do. When next there is news about The Little Ones I shall make it known. As of December 3, 2009, Friendly shall no longer be in a position to have more kittens.

Cats are cool. If dogs are good, they get reincarnated as cats!