Hmmm. Seems like we've got our selves a pussy cat!
But compared to my friends very aptly named
Hannibal!!...
I will tell that story again if pushed.
Like Perry I am still full of the Christmas Spirit.
(Well it has gone down a mite,but there'still plenty left)
I'm sure Nick M will be along later ;-)

Is cans has your throne!

Dogs have owners; Cats have staff.

Enjoy the priviledge.

He Looks just like the younger male of the four I used to have, quite a few years ago now.

Pierre, (Petey to his friends), was a tabby, and his sister, Minou, or Minnie, was a striped tiger. They were great mousers, and playful, delightful companions.

Petey especially liked Lipton tea bag wrappers rolled up into a ball. He would play with them for hours, until they inevitably went under an appliance or down a heat vent.

I miss the kitties almost as much as I miss my old sheepdog. Some pets can't be replaced. They become true friends, and have a place of their own in our hearts that no substitute can occupy.

The whole damn place swarms with cat people! Not to mention cats.

RAB: consider yourself pushed:-) If it is anything like the cat-walk story...

Yeah, Bebe is cool!

Alisa: Dogs are such collectivist animals...

And cats are amoral scroungers Michael, but that doesn't mean I dont like them too!
Sandy Tocksvig to a story on the news Quiz recently about her cat, who she suspected was visiting other peoples houses, so she put a note on the cat with her phone number. She got nine calls.
Back later. I have to go out. My collective wont walk herself you know;-)

I used to own a very comfortable armchair - the cats have it now.

Both of our cats are now dead, they lived to 18 and had a good life, our children had the benefit of loving pets. Now they're gone, both children and cats we are free, no worries about feeding them when we are away, no cat doors for racoons to sneak through and come up to the kitchen and eat cat food.

demanding to be fed at four in the morning, catching lizards, and occasionally waving her claws at people.

Now see, that's just a pussycat Michael. Hannibal was something else!
A huge un-neutered Tom. A fucker and a fighter. Well that's standard for Toms. But Hannibal had a few ways about him that just aint right for a cat.
He loved water.
My friends had a dripping tap in the sink and you would often find Hannibal with drops pinging off his head, purring furiously. He would also slide down the shallow end of the bath when you were in it and sit on your chest.
Occasionally waiving a paw? Hannibal used to mug people! He had a favorite perch on top of an 8 ft wall on Newport road, a busy main road into Cardiff, and if he didn't like the look of some passer by, would leap all claws out, on their backs. This got embarassing for my friends, but there was nothing you could do to stop him. Short of having him put down.
The other thing they could never stop was his playing Chicken with the traffic.
First time I saw him do it I couldn't believe it!
He would sit on the edge of the pavement and wait for a lorry to come past. Then he'd be off in a flash and time his run so as to get behind the front wheels and out the other side before being flattened by the back ones.
I thought it was a fluke. But no he would wait on the other side of the road for another lorry, and do it again and again...
Now that is a CAT Michael !

Michael: not true. Dogs are collectivist, and cats are individualistic animals as far as their historical background in the wild. But as far as their relationship with humans, it is the other way around: dogs regard humans as individuals to be served, cats regard humans as a collective to serve them. Of course there are exceptions to both rules, but they are just that - exceptions.

RAB: that is one CRAZY CAT!

When I walk about I am always happy to meet a cat.

Dogs can not be allowed to just go about on their own.

Is that "Bebe" as in Spanish for "baby", as in Spanish for "drinks", or something else?

I met a friendly dog yesterday - and there was nothing sexual in the friendly behaviour.

However, I met the dog because the owner was taking him out for a walk.

Dogs can not be allowed to walk about on their own - this is the difference.

Although, if one allows a cat to wander off, one must accept that there is a chance the cat will be killed on the roads.