I can’t write a blog post about my child’s birthday, mainly because I don’t have any children. Instead I will celebrate the birthday of my cats! Today is (approximately) the ninth birthday of Ham and Eva, my matching cats.
Ham is on the left and Eva is on the right.
Ham and Eva were born to a beautiful longhaired calico who decided to raise her kittens in my parents’ backyard. The family spent their first summer living on the back porch, scampering about the yard, and learning important cat things like bird chasing and tree climbing (one day I stumbled upon a tree-climbing lesson and found mom and her five kittens in the same tree – true story).
Eventually, we nabbed the kittens and they all found homes. Their mother, who was too feral to come indoors, was spayed by a local cat colony management organization and spent the rest of her days living in a comfy cat-sized barn designed by my father (retired electricians will do some crazy things).
Ham and Eva are indoor only cats now, so their tree climbing days are safely behind them. Their current hobbies include napping, eating smelly tuna cat food, destroying furniture, running around madly for no apparent reason, staring into space, throwing up smelly tuna cat food, killing bugs, purring, and being adorable. Basic cat stuff, really. But still, I’m happy to share my home with them. Happy birthday, cats!
– Amy
Eleventh Stack 
Happy birthday, Ham & Eva! From the Orlanderson Cats
I’ll pass along the message, thanks!
– Amy
Ohhhh! Your cats are adorable. :) I used to have three cats, but only the mom-cat liked to be touched or petted.
Thanks! And I’ve had a few cats like that – they’re strange little buggers, some of them. But lots of fun.
– Amy
There is that something about a cat….
Ogden Nash:
The trouble with a kitten is that
Eventually it becomes a cat.
Several years back we had the same experience: a neighborhood cat decided to bring forth kittens in our back yard – something we found out only after a few weeks.
With great difficulty, we managed to capture the kittens, and took them to the local PetSmart cat-adoption program (by way of a vet). The mom escaped and was not seen again.
We’ve been adopted by a big grey cat, who found our backyard superior to all others (mainly because we put out cat food regularly). He’s quite affectionate, and has an excellent purr-box.
A long time ago we had a cat who would often sit at the top of the stairs, looking very wise, most assuredly contemplating Plato’s Forms, Then in n instant, he’d turn around and start licking places that only a cat can reach.
Kittens are great fun, but they are also rowdy pains in the butt. So I’m usually quite happy when they turn into cats.
I’m glad you managed to capture those kittens, though. Otherwise you end up like my parents with their backyard cat colony (about 15 cats spayed and neutered and 7 or 8 kittens adopted out)!
– Amy
Merry day fuzzies :))
There was tuna. They were pleased. Thank you!
– Amy
Woah! SOunds like a party!
ps Mr Bojangles says Purrrrrrr ;)
Ham is such a cute name for a cat!
Thanks! I named the entire litter on a whim in about ten seconds, back when I didn’t think we’d be keeping anyone. Ham was last – I was running out of names, and well, he was eating ham at the time. So there you go.
– Amy
The alphabet’s always nice, and you’re unlikely to run out of letters for the litter.
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