Hello, kitty

Recently, my niece Rachel found this white ceramic cat at my parents’ house. She carried it downstairs by herself.

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The cat had been a Christmas gift for me years ago and was a prized possession. This was during a period when I was nicknamed “Pussycat Doggie Girl,” thanks to my habit of crawling around houses on hands and knees, either mewing or barking depending on whether I felt more like a cat or dog at the time.

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I think that’s my father’s handwriting. He’d also have been more likely to include the date.

Sometime to shake things up I would be a horse instead, but somehow “Horsey Girl” didn’t stick as a nickname.

Thirty-some years later, my niece has taken up this animal-impersonation habit, completely on her own and much to the amusement of everyone. Here she is, a momma cat carrying her kitten.

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She’s also been playing with the ceramic cat. She’ll put it and her stuffed kitty in a laundry basket and then crawl in with them, three cats in a nest together.

As adorable as that sounds, my parents decided I should take the ceramic cat to my own home — one tiny step toward clearing out clutter from their place. For now it’s in my living room. My live cats have taken little notice of it, until tonight when I took these photos to share on the blog.

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I always thought of the ceramic cat as larger than life-size. It’s only now, seeing my real housecats next to it, that I see it’s been just about life-size all along.

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Meow.

7 replies on “Hello, kitty”

  1. Mike, now that I have live cats, the ceramic cat isn’t quite as important to me as it once was. I am pleased to have it again though. I like that Dad took the time to put the message and date on the bottom. I’m also having fun trying to remember what it was like to be the little girl who was so proud of a big ceramic cat.

  2. Question I am looking for this exact cat, does it have anything that says where it’s was made? Thank you trying to make up for a childhood mistake.

  3. Noemi, I’ve never noticed a manufacturer’s mark on it. The photo of the bottom isn’t super sharp, but you can see there isn’t much there. Maybe on the inside though? I’ll check next time I’m home.

  4. My grandmother has a family of 5 of these exact same cats! The one you have shown we labled the father, she also has the mother of the same size, however she is lying down. There are also 3 slightly smaller kittens in various positions. I am 40 & she has had them on the floor in front of the television as long as I can remember.

  5. I had no idea there were others in the “family,” Denise. That’s quite cool. I would love to see a picture.

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