First Things First

Da= \də\ = the. 

Buddies= \ˈbə-dēz\ = companions, partners, friends.

Eclectic= \e-ˈklek-tik, i-\ = composed of elements drawn from various sources.

My husband Sean and I first realized that our relationship with our cats was a bit...unusual...the first time we had a discussion about why we call our cats our "buddies" rather than our "babies."  By and large, most people who really love their animal companions will refer to them as their "children," and to themselves as their "mommy" or "daddy."  Even though I will occasionally lapse into that kind of language with them, most of the time I don't see them that way.  Most of the time, I see them the way Sri Aurobindo did, as evidenced by his quote:  

“Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage.”

If you are looking to follow a blog with cute stories about animal antics, this might not be the blog for you.  I have no doubt that this blog will have antics and cute stories aplenty.  But that's really not what it's going to be about.  It's going to be about eight creatures, all living under one roof, and trying to do that as gracefully as possible given the disparate personalities and differing needs of each individual member of the "pride."  The cast of characters will include:

Sean:  Alpha cat extraordinaire, and my wonderful husband.  Vegetarian, loosely practicing Buddhist, and generally nice guy.  Knows how to make cat games fun better than anybody I've ever seen.

Me:  Your humble narrator.  Giver of pills, cuddles, and copious kitty kisses.

Mister:  Beautiful gray-and-white "cow print" domestic short hair.  Oldest of the feline crew; just a little on the neurotic side.  Enjoys playing with toys that move and attacking water as it drips from a faucet.  Has recurring issues with nervous denuding that we call giving himself a Brazilian bikini wax.

Mango:  Orange tabby with ridiculously tiny feet.  Way more neurotic than Mister.  Lives in the basement, of her own choice (the door to the basement is always open, so she could come upstairs whenever she wants, but she chooses not to).  Stubborn, asocial, and as prickly as a porcupine wearing a cactus cummerbund. 

Otto:  Large male lilac-point Siamese.  Joined at the hip with Sean, to the point of exhibiting depressive behavior if Sean ever has to go out of town for any reason.  Smart, insistent, and playful, Otto comes across as though he's the alpha of the group.  Except that would be wrong, because there's...

Wanda:  His tiny lilac-point sister.  Who, in spite of her diminutive size, is the uncontested leader of this little group.  We've seen Wanda take on not just one of the boys, but two of them at a time.  Wanda takes no prisoners, but she's also an unrepentant snuggle-bug and makes straight for the bed when it's time to cuddle.

Reggie:  Black domestic short hair who really looks more like he could be some kind of Oriental cat.  A refugee from a badly-run no-kill shelter (I'm a big fan of them in general--not so much this one in particular), Reggie came to us with numerous physical challenges.  He makes up for it by being the most socially outgoing of the bunch.  We affectionately call him "Eddie Haskell," after the Leave it to Beaver character who could schmooze the adults (humans, in Reggie's case), but was an absolute pill to the kids (or the cats, in this analogy).

Elroy:  Black and white tuxedo cat with a black nose and half-black chin.  Elroy was formerly a feral cat in our neighborhood in North Charleston, SC.  It's a long story how he got to be part of our household (but a good one for a future post), but suffice it to say that I have never seen a happier cat in my life.  Ever.  Absolutely everything makes Elroy happy.  Getting to go out on the porch, then getting to come in.  Eating his treats and his "mush" and his regular food.  Head bunting us and the other cats--especially his bestest buddy in the world:  Otto.  (Otto still hasn't received the memo yet that he's supposed to be Elroy's bestest buddy, but again, that's another story for another post.)

So that's us.  Weird, wacky, wonderful us.  I got so used to hearing people tell me that I needed to write a book about all our cats and their crazy adventures (mostly indoors, with a couple of exceptions) that I finally decided maybe it was time to just do it.  It's not a book exactly, but it's a start.

I hope you'll enjoy reading them as much as I'll enjoy writing them.