Returning guest blogger Sunny Frazier, whose first novel in the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries, Fools Rush In, received the Best Novel Award from Public Safety Writers Association, is here today with her tale of how she became…and remains…the Crazy Cat Lady.
The third Christy Bristol Astrology Mystery, A Snitch in Time, is in bookstores now.
sunny69@comcast.net // http://www.sunnyfrazier.com
I have been in denial for years when people called me a Crazy Cat Lady. But now I look at the proof: disheveled bathrobe, multiple litter boxes, endless kibble runs, cats underfoot. With 13 cats, it’s very possible I’ve lost perspective.
It didn’t start out this way. Many years ago I only had two. Then I moved to a large house in a town that doesn’t believe in spay and neutering. Unacceptable. If I could catch them and tame them, they got fixed.
Rusty and Muffin
Two multiplied to 6. I still retained control. We had rules in my house and they knew and understood them. Not that they always obeyed them.
I’ve been trying to figure out when the felines got the upper hand. When did I become the opener-of-cans, just a reliable food source? What happened to the cuddles I deserved? I think it was around the time I consented to take two kittens from a friend who was moving. Rusty was a glutton. He trained the next kitten, Cookie, to wake me up by sitting on the bedside table and crying forlornly until I was forced to give up, get up and feed the tribe.
There is an upside to having lots of cats. When friends suggest they come over or spend the night, I smile and say “I have 13 cats. Do you really want to do that? Plus, the cats don’t like strangers in our house.” Which is true; I’ve protectively sheltered them so that they believe I’m the only human on the planet.
Cookie
I’m not interested in dating and nothing cools romance like an abundance of cats. Nobody wants a Crazy Cat Lady for a girlfriend and I seldom meet men who are likewise crazy. I’ve met exactly one in my life.
Cookie
Writers and cats go together like whiskers and cream. Hemingway had the six-toed cats in Key West. My two new kittens, Nickie and Max, like to climb on the desk and walk across the keyboard. Gemini figures if I’m sitting, my lap must need company. Kitler simply blocks the computer screen. Do I move her? No, I try to peer around her to see what I’ve written. It they get too obnoxious I throw them out. They haven’t learned how to dial the SPCA or Child Protective Services.
While I’m ignored for three-fourths of the year, come winter and everyone wants to climb in bed with me. Do you know what it’s like to navigate around 7 cats in a queen-sized bed? I don’t dare move because I don’t want to upset them. Kitler has a short temper (calico) and I get smacked if I try to get up to go to the bathroom.
Like any good mother, my heart leaps when I see them peacefully sleeping. And cats are marathon nappers. They spend 3/4 of their lives sleeping, about 16 hours a day. The only mammals that top them are opossums, sloths and bats. When they sleep, they are my angels. Too soon they wake up.
Buried Under Books 
I love cats, and the pics are adorable. I’ve only always had one, though. The one I have now is about 10 years old — quite a loveable character. 😉
@dino0726 from
FictionZeal – Impartial, Straightforward Fiction Book Reviews
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Oh, I remember those days!
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When I was a child we had about 20 barn cats, but they really were barn cats. They lived in the barn, hunted mice, and avoided all humans–except for the little girl in the family. Since then, the most we’ve had has been five or six, right after a litter was born and before the kittens were given away. I miss them but as an adult I don’t want all the work you’re doing. Great pix too.
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My first cat was a barn cat from the University dairy while I was in college. Rascal was a Manx and took neutering and a long time to tame. He lived 13 years.
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My best cat ever was Zane Gray. She rode in the car with the dog, feet up on the dash, surveying the terrain – no need for a cat carrier. My best cat-dog (as she was called by a friend because she seemed to have the characteristics of both) was Bubba, a small Yorkie/Schnauzer mix who became the inspiration for Cheese Puff in No Substitute for Murder. Like cats, Bubba felt entitled 24/7. Like cats, she could relax in my lap becoming almost a puddle of soft fur. And, like cats, she perfected the thousand-yard stare – the ability to look through me like I didn’t exist. I miss her every day.
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Bubba sounds wonderful. My first cat, Rascal, sat in my lap when I drove. She wasn’t big on cat carriers and I wasn’t big on fighting her on the issue.
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They are lucky to have you and a nice warm home (and bed). When I lived in an apartment in Hanford, CA we had stray cats galore. Most of us tenants each had a group we fed, but we all worried over them out in the elements. At least winters were mild. I’ve never lived in another town with so many un-spayed and un-neutered cats.
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It’s a real problem around here, and that’s because of the farm town mentality. I never saw this big an issue in my Fresno neighborhood. Neighbors kept telling me it was “someone else’s problem” and they just multiply. Crazy!
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I didn’t realize you had so many!!! I know of more than one person who has many, many cats, and I imagine they can be quite loveable, too. I have always had a dog of two dogs at one time, and I know how attached I get. I am still recovering from the loss of my tea cup Yorkie and keep hoping one will be sent from the Heavens. Who knows?
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I mourned my little Squirrel for a year until Muffin came into my life. Sometimes heaven comes through.
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I think Heaven comes through~
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correction above—-‘of’ should be ‘or.’
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I loved the photos and the introductions to your cats. We used to have two brothers- Faust and Shadow. It was so sad when they passed (about a year apart from each other, at ages 16 and 17), we eventually decided on rescuing another set of brothers- Athos and Porthos.
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I love what people name their cats. I don’t care about kid’s names, but I HAVE to know your feline’s name. Those are good ones!
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Love it. I only have 2 cats but can totally relate!
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Sometimes two seems like 13.
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I’m allergic to cats. Just reading your post made my eyes itch. : ) I can’t imagine the work you have with the cats. Three dogs keeps me pretty busy. Crazy Cat Lady? That’s okay. Animals can be such good friends!
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They are the best. But, cats have to accept you on their terms, not yours.
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That sign cracked me up. Kids are for people who can’t have cats! Too precious:)
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I don’t have kids, so it applies.
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OMGosh! What a riot! I accidentally said I could transport a kitty out of a shelter to a Veterinarian . . .2 yrs ago. My current count is 6 cats and 2 dogs; seniors except the two 8 mo old kittens (who were born here when I was fostering last Sept). I lost two of my seniors last yr to cancer, both. They were w/ me for only 6 months each. . .they’d been abandoned on the streets, rescued and – go figure – I raised my hand when they needed foster(fail). Thank you for the happy face you gave me today!
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Rita, those cats (and dogs) are so lucky to have people like you and Sunny around!
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Raising your hand was the right thing to do. They had a memorable last 6 months.
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Loved this post. We have two cats, Dogwood (female) and Bernie (formerly Bernice). Had three at one time. They’re indoor cats but look with longing at the outdoors. Too many coyotes, foxes and fisher cats to let them roam. Large hawks, too. Both cats are from Gerlach, NV. My son brings them to us.
You are so generous to share your home with thirteen felines. I laughed out loud about the keyboard and desk top antics. Same at our house. Thanks for sharing your story. You don’t sound crazy at all to me, but a woman who opens her arms to cats in need.
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Coyotes in Boston? Who would have thought! Rest assured, I have a very high fence in the backyard that my cats are too lazy to scale. The front yard is surrounded by a white picket fence where the older cats enjoy sunning on the porch. And guess what I found when I got home last night? Two kittens! Where did these babies come from??? (Did they read this blog??)
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There was a black bear wandering on someone’s front lawn, yesterday in Philadelphia. We have coyotes in NJ ( they are small, though).
I think cat lovers can’t get enough of a good thing, huh?
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Lots of people must know you are a cat lady (notice I didn’t say crazy) and take advantage. Maybe you can find a home for the kittens. So sad when people just dump little critters. Our latest cat was dumped on a busy highway in the Nevada desert. He was terrified (6 weeks old) and so lucky that my sons stopped and rescued him before he was run over or became a coyote snack. There are LOTS of coyotes in Boston suburbs. They either walked over the bridge (or swam) to get to Cape Cod.
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Believe it or not, we have an incredible animal shelter in my county. They ship the cats up to San Francisco to find homes. Catching them is the tricky part.
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Good to know!
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