On March 12, 2006, Bob, our female torti turned 21 years old.
In her younger days, every time I’d sing, Bob would cry and nip me on the leg. If I continue to sing, she would continue to bite me until I stop singing. She has never done this to any of the many singers that have sung in our home with my husband’s blues band; only to me. I didn’t try to change her - I’m a pretty bad singer. So I sing in the shower. It sounds better in there anyway.
Bob is deaf now but I still take her advice - I sing alone, in the car or shower. Bob weighs only four pounds but still stands up to Mr. Lincoln (our 12 year old, 15 pound, tuxedo cat). She also tells our two other male cats where to ‘get off!’
Her name is “Bob” because of the night my husband and I met: We were both in a bar to watch a friend in the band named ‘Bob’. We talked ‘Bob’ this and ‘Bob’ that … for two hours before we realized we were talking about two different Bobs in the same band. I didn’t know his Bob and he didn’t know mine. Hence, the first cat my husband and I adopted we named Bob.
Bob was a stray. A co-worker took her in but did not want to own a cat. I don’t normally take home non-black or female cats but I felt sorry that Bob was living in a garage. A few months after getting her, we discovered that a college student had abandoned her to the streets of Boulder just so she could get another kitten! Thank God we have her. That was back in ‘85. Nowadays Bob can still jump on the table. And a long time ago, she would fetch paper balls.
For 20 years I’ve shared my food with Bob; she eats on the table, right next to me. She has her own plate or I’ll let her nibble off a corner of my plate. She’s the only one of my four cats that prefers people food over cat food. I believe her variety in diet has helped keep her young. Bob is 21 but looks and acts half her age.
Bob’s pet driver’s license proves that she’s legal drinking age now and states that she “rules the house.” She does! We love Bob. Please visit www.petdriverslicense.com. (pet driver’s licenses are available in most states. Loads of laughs! I show my cats’ licenses to others everyday. After all, I am very proud—all four of my cats can drive!)
© Annie Bruce, author of Cat Be Good : A Foolproof Guide for the Complete Care and Training of Your Cat, Foreword by Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman
PO Box 11265
Boulder, CO 80301 USA
phone: 303-530-9000 mountain time
www.goodcatswearblack.com www.AnimalRadio.com
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Postscript: Dec 2012:
Bob passed away peacefully at home June, 2006. The last few months, she rarely went outside. Then the day before she died, she asked to go out four times. She ate practically every meal right beside me on the table for 20 years ... some days she ate right off my plate if hers wasn't there. (She loved people food ... probably another reason she lived so long.)
In the Middle of a World...
"In the middle of a world that has always been a bit mad, the cat walks with confidence."
Roseanne Anderson
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