Monday 15 April 2013

M = Minnie



Minnie is our beautiful cat and part of the family. We have had him for nearly 5 years and love him to bits. Minnie is a boy, with a girl’s name (confused?)...I’d better explain why.

Back in May 2008, we arrived home from work one day to our little cul de sac in Nottingham, UK to find a bunch of the neighbours in the middle of the street, crowded around this cat. I love cats so went over to see what was happening and one of the neighbours just said the cat had been wailing loudly all day and causing a bit of fuss. I asked whether anyone had fed it, because it was so skinny with bones sticking out. They hadn’t so I grabbed some cat food (we had a supply in the house from looking after the family cat) and took it outside, the cat gobbled it up and started sitting on our doorstep after that, wanting more food. One of the neighbours mentioned calling the RSPCA but I said I would try and find the owner first. Someone must be missing this cat surely?


I put posters up, rang around cat rescues and put a message online and in the newspaper, no-one came forward. All the time, I was still feeding this cute cat who kept sitting on our doorstep, but I wouldn’t let him in the house because I didn’t want to get too close. After a few weeks, we took the cat to the vets to see if it had a microchip, it didn’t and they said it was a female and approx 3-4 years old. We didn’t know what to do for the best but we were already getting a bit too fond of the cat so we decided to adopt it. We thought hard about appropriate girls names and because the cat was a bit of a moaner, Richard said what about Minnie?...as in moaning Minnie (probably a British saying?). Brilliant, we had a name! So we took her to the vets to get chipped and checked out again, the same vets I’d taken her to before. When I gave them the cats name to be registered they said:

You do know its a boy?

....what! ...you told me it was a girl??

(Apparently it is obvious whether a cat is a girl or boy)... but we did'nt know that and it was too late, Minnie was used to his name and seemed happy with it. He is a very pretty cat, sensitive and shy around strangers. He is a proper character, scared of so many things including bin liners, tin foil and bin lorries. He doesn’t like much noise (much like hubby).



He comes running down the stairs when you get home from work, he wakes me up in the middle of the night for a cuddle and he wakes us up first thing like an alarm clock. He has to sleep in our room at the bottom of the bed. He is happy to sleep in at the weekends and somehow knows we don’t have to get up for work on these days. Everyone that meets him wants to keep him (one friend looked after him when we were on holiday and cried when she had to give him back).

He is settling in well in the US after a long flight. We don’t let him out anymore (worried he will run away or get attacked by coyotes) so he is now a housecat but he seems happy, wanting lots of cuddles, eating well and using his litter tray like the little star that he is.

Her is my artwork based on moaning Minnie, I call them rainbow cat!



One artist that I love is Rosina Wachtmeister, you should check out her website, its beautiful http://www.rosina-wachtmeister.de/index_en.html. Here is some of her cat artwork:



So, do you have any pets and/or interesting stories like mine to share?

32 comments:

  1. I love your cat story! Minnie is beautiful. Thank you for telling about him...

    Also, thanks for visiting my A to Z painting a day!

    Mary Montague Sikes

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    1. I will tell him that you said he is beautiful. He will like that!

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  2. Wonderful story. I love stories with happy endings. I'm sure Mr. Minnie has no problem, at all with his name. You sound like a wonderful family and he is lucky to be part of it. Hi, I am your newest follower from the A to Z challenge. I am number 528 on the list.

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    1. Hey new follower...welcome.! He always comes running when you shout his name so I think he is happy with it! He is very spoilt and has us wrapped around his paws most if the time. Ha ha

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  3. He is gorgeous! His eyes are so pretty. I love cats, we have cats that are scared of everything, they need 3 weeks to get accustom to me if I come visit.

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    1. Yes he is a pretty boy, a big softy always rolling round wanting his belly rubbing!

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  4. He's very cute and happy he made the trip over just fine too!

    KaTy Did at: Life's Ride As I See It

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    1. I cried back in the UK when the air pets company took him from us, I begged them to take good care of him. He was fine though and arrived same time as us so we got reunited straightaway. :)

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  5. Very sweet post. But I can't get Moaning Myrtle out of my head now... Harry Potter?

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    1. Hey susie, I've not seen any Harry potters! So I have no idea who moaning myrtle is....maybe I should watch the films someday?

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    2. OMG Rowena you should watch Harry Potter NOW! I watched them for the first time this Christmas - all 8 movies in 3 weeks - and me and Hubby love them; in fact, we're off to Harry Potter World in July! We caught on a bit late, but we got there eventually!

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    3. Are there really 8 movies?? I thought there was only about 5 of them or something! We don't have a DVD player anymore so will have to try and download them or something, I quite liking being the only person in the world not to have seen Harry potter though!

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    4. That's how I feel about 50 Shades of Grey.

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    5. ha ha you should read 50 shades, i rather enjoyed it!

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  6. Minnie is a cutey. I'd want to take him home too. We have The Cinnamon Cat and recently lost our PJ Kitty. Indoor cats live much longer indoors when there are coyotes. Pj Kitty was 12 and the Cinnamon Cat is 13 this month. Gotta love cats!

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    1. Hi Ann, cats are the best! Sorry to hear about PJ, it's hard losing a cat. We had the family cat Gizmo out to sleep a couple of years back now, she was 21 years of age and poorly so it was for the best. I've not seen any coyotes yet, other than at OC zoo but I'm not risking letting him out.

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  7. Is it only me who's not much of a cat/dog lover? I loved your story....happy happy ending. And Mr Minnie looks cutee. Made me think whether I should reconsider about my decision of not wanting any pets.

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    1. We always had cats so I'm probably biased but they are great company and good for reducing stress levels! I'd only say to get one if you are sure though. Kittens can be a handleful so you could always get one that's a few years old from a cat rescue :)

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  8. Awww, what a cutie! I absolutely adore the photos and sketches, and the artwork you chose. He looks a teeny bit like my Teensy. Even the names are similar. Minnie and Teensy, hehe

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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  9. Awww he is such a cutie and he looks like a couple of cats my parents used to have when I was a kid (named timmy and puscat - who knows why?!) It's so cool that you got to take him to America with you, I bet he helped Cali feel more like home instantly :)

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    1. Hey laura! There was no way that we were leaving him in the UK, we had to bring him to CA with us. He was a bit unsettled to start with, hiding under the bed but he seems okay now. :)

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  10. Aww that's a lovely story and he's so cute! So nice of you to adopt him too!

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    1. Hi Mandy! There was no way we could let him got to the RSPCA, who knows what would have happened to him, we always wonder how he came to be with us. We wouldn't be with out him now :)

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  11. What a pretty kitty! Aren't they the best friends to have around? I know some people think all cats are horrible (I don't associate with those people), but I just love how much personality cats have.

    My cat was found outside with his siblings and a deceased mama cat. The people who took in the kittens couldn't keep them all, so we got to take one home with us. I'm so glad we rescued him from the streets! :)

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    1. Oh what a sad story, his mama being found deceased, must have been upsetting. It's a good feeling rescuing a cat, I don't know why some people pay so much to have certain breeds...I guess all cats need a home though. I hate seeing stories where people are harming or poisoning cats, what have they ever done to them!

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  12. Minnie can be a boy's name. Just look at Minnie the Moocher (song by Cab Calloway)

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    1. I think I just associate it with a girls name because of Minnie Mouse!

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  13. Hey Rowena,
    I am coming to your blog from a link on Scribblings because you nominated her for the Liebster Blog Award and she turned around and nominated me!

    Minnie is a beauty and sounds like such a precious companion. I have two big dogs that run my household. A 100lb German Shepherd named Chewie (after Chewbacca in Star Wars) and a 60lb mixed breed named Winston that was adopted from our local Humane Society. I love them both, but Winston be stills my heart.

    Cheers from Brandy at brandysbustlings.blogspot.ca

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    1. Hey brandy, congrats on the nomination! I will come check your blog out today. Your dogs sound lovely, Im a big Star Wars fan so like the name Chewie. Does he look like Chewie too?

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  14. Yes, I have a cat. She is the gentlest thing in the world, but I must have surprised her badly last night by kicking her in my sleep. She bit me so hard I screamed! She has never done anything like that before, and even lets little kids pull on her ears and tail, so I'm not sure what caused her to get so rattled.

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    1. Aah I bet she was fast asleep and you just woke her up!

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