A friend on Facebook recently posted that she was an "accidental cat mum," and it set the memories spinning, as I was an "accidental cat mom too." The first cat I can remember was a Manx mix gray tabby, predictably named Bobby. I was about 13, and found Bobby as a kitten while walking home from school. We had no pets, and my step-father, Bud, who was from Texas, was vehemently a "dawg" man, and considered cats no-account animals. I don't remember the details, but somehow my mom and I convinced Bud to let Bobby become our pet. We lived in a federal housing project at the time, and Bud likely felt that Bobby could just stay outside, and we'd let him in once in awhile. Heh heh. Perhaps the housing officials had the same mentality, and though dogs were prohibited in the housing units, cats were okay.
Bobby was an amazingly agile cat. Our project building was single-story, and the roof was about 10 feet above ground. We watched Bobby leap from a standing start to the roof of that building, then re-create the same leap to the second-story roof of the adjoining building. By then Bud was smitten and would proclaim, "Bobby is more like a dawg than a cat!"
I no longer have any photos of Bobby. Any that were taken have been lost through the decades since he stole my heart. The photo shown here closely resembles Bobby in his prime. But his spirit will live forever in my heart. Bobby's memory is woven into the tapestry of my life that made me the cat lover I am today. Photo of Manx cat Grego, © Paul Dominguez
Please read the rest of Bobby's story. Then, share your own story of how you became an "accidental cat parent."
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