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A Man and His Cat
New York Times ^ | AUGUST 1, 2014 | TIM KREIDER

Posted on 08/04/2014 2:38:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway

I LIVED with the same cat for 19 years — by far the longest relationship of my adult life. Under common law, this cat was my wife. I fell asleep at night with the warm, pleasant weight of the cat on my chest. The first thing I saw on most mornings was the foreshortened paw of the cat retreating slowly from my face and her baleful crescent glare informing me that it was Cat Food Time. As I often told her, in a mellow, resonant, Barry White voice: “There is no luuve … like the luuve that exists … between a man … and his cat.”

‘You’re in love with that cat!’ my then-girlfriend Margot once accused me. To be fair, she was a very attractive cat.

The cat was jealous of my attention; she liked to sit on whatever I was reading, walked back and forth and back and forth in front of my laptop’s screen while I worked, and unsubtly interpolated herself between me and any woman I may have had over. She and my ex Kati Jo, who was temperamentally not dissimilar to the cat, instantly sized each other up as enemies. When I was physically intimate with a woman, the cat did not discreetly absent herself but sat on the edge of the bed with her back to me, facing rather pointedly away from the scene of debauch, quietly exuding disapproval, like your grandmother’s ghost.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: catman; cats; commonlawwife; kittyping; marriagelaws; nytimes
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1 posted on 08/04/2014 2:38:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I have a cat that must be related to the cat in that article. Describes mine to a “T”...: )


2 posted on 08/04/2014 2:42:53 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: nickcarraway

Thank you for sharing that!


3 posted on 08/04/2014 2:49:35 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: jsanders2001

Don’t they all. ;)


4 posted on 08/04/2014 2:51:11 PM PDT by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an "extremist," Reagan won 44 states.)
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To: fwdude

Yeah... our cat prefers a freshly drawn glass of water; considers it slumming to drink water from his bowl. Just one of the commonalities.


5 posted on 08/04/2014 2:55:29 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: nickcarraway

Charming article. Boy cats are fun but there’s nothing like the bond between a cat guy and his girl cat. Lucky for me she has found that my wife can be useful.


6 posted on 08/04/2014 3:25:15 PM PDT by Menehune56 ("Let them hate so long as they fear" (Oderint Dum Metuant), Lucius Accius (170 BC - 86 BC))
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To: nickcarraway

Love my two male kittehs,....they’re my boys...just love ‘em!!


7 posted on 08/04/2014 3:37:11 PM PDT by pallmallman (Q)
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To: Menehune56

I have two cats; one male and one female. They are both fun and have different personalities.


8 posted on 08/04/2014 3:46:59 PM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: nickcarraway
HARRY & TONTO" TRAILER
9 posted on 08/04/2014 3:54:11 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen (Beat your plowshares into swords. Let the weak say I am strong)
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To: nickcarraway

Loved it. Thanks for posting!


10 posted on 08/04/2014 3:54:18 PM PDT by Lorianne (fedgov, taxporkmoney)
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To: nickcarraway

All three of mine are rescues. The first tabby was found at the age of two weeks. I raised him from a bottle. He is known as my second son. Then the tuxedo is a bruiser.more dog than cat.
The third is a girl. A runt no one wanted. She is my Tom boy Tom cat.
She beats up the boys all the time. Can’t stop playing.

They’re family.


11 posted on 08/04/2014 3:57:31 PM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Pings


12 posted on 08/04/2014 3:59:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
Doesn't even come close to explaining my cat. Squeek is just a floor cat, gets frightened when I pick her up, doesn't jump up on the kitchen table or counter, runs and hides whenever anyone comes to my house,

Has to be coaxed onto my bed when I watch the TV before sleep and only stays for about 10 minutes before she jumps down and lies in her bed outside my bedroom door........

Because she can't meow, I'll be in the kitchen and turn to look at her sitting on the floor opening her mouth as if she's saying something.......

She's my best bud........

13 posted on 08/04/2014 4:00:43 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Is there such a thing as a vegan zombie?)
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To: nickcarraway

I love my cats......outside. I don’t want them dam things indoors.
If cats were any bigger, we would be food.


14 posted on 08/04/2014 4:02:23 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you really want to annoy someone, point out something obvious they are trying hard to ignore.)
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To: nickcarraway; All

Cats RULE!

We have two male Himalayans, sooooo cute!
(Full brothers 1-1/2 years apart).


15 posted on 08/04/2014 4:06:37 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave (The democ"RAT"ic party preys on the ignorant..!)
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To: longfellow

We have a small female gray tabby female who rules the roost among all our cats. (Don’t think she’s ever looked in the mirrow and seen how small she is ( LOL) She once whipped our huge tomcat’s butt, pinned him up in a room and wouldn’t let him out. Every time he’d try for the door, she’d box his ears. Never did find out what the argument was about. LOL


16 posted on 08/04/2014 4:36:35 PM PDT by patriot08 (NATIVE TEXAN (girl type))
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To: nickcarraway; Slings and Arrows; Glenn; republicangel; Beaker; BADROTOFINGER; etabeta; ...

17 posted on 08/04/2014 8:04:51 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("Your Daddy Was Drunk and Your Mama Was Lonely" - http://youtu.be/4HYy62qiOwA)
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To: Slings and Arrows

We are down to seven girls, and five boy cats at this time, and only Walter is left now of all the dogs. Two elderly horses remain of the original four, but all the Donkeys are gone.

So many lived their lives, and went on. Glad we were able to participate with them.

SIIIIIIIIIIGH...Talk about an “empty nest”.


18 posted on 08/04/2014 8:22:32 PM PDT by rockinqsranch ((Dems, Libs, Socialists, call 'em what you will. They ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.))
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To: nickcarraway

19 posted on 08/04/2014 8:26:28 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
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To: Slings and Arrows

20 posted on 08/04/2014 8:28:25 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
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