Saturday, October 18, 2008

First Kitty of Many...

I'm still in Kansas and my furbabies back home are taking the day off (can't get good help these days!) so I thought I would post about my very first kitty Sugar. My dad had this picture of me with Sugar from many, many years ago which got me remembering Sugar along with many of my previous furbabies through the years.
Sugar was a black tiger striped kitty with white paws - which looked like he stepped in sugar, hence the name! He found me one night when I was 6 or 7 years old as I was sitting on a bench at the local swimming pool. When my parents came to get me I told them "here's my kitty and his name is Sugar!" and that's how my life with kitties all started!

Sugar was the only outdoor cat I've had and he was my supervisor on everything I did outside although he didn't want me to know it! He'd follow me and my friends as we explored the many fields and ponds near our home in Kansas but as soon as we turned around to look at him, he'd stop and look in every other direction than in our direction. It was like he was saying "I'm not following you, I'm not even paying any attention to you!"

In addition to being a great supervisor, he was a Mighty Hunter and many mornings we'd wake up to a big ole mouse on the deck. He'd wait until we saw his catch before carrying it off, as if he wanted to show us what a great Man-Cat he was!

Sugar was independent but he was my buddy always. I'll never forget him and am very lucky that he chose me that night and told me he wanted to be my first kitty!

Take some time today to remember your first pet and I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane as much as I did!

11 comments:

Ana said...

Awww, what a sweet picture! My first pet was a bunny and after the first there came some other bunnies in. Even in Egypt I hot a new bunny. I never thought about having a cat (or 2) several years later :-)

Ailurophile said...

The first kitty is always the memorable one. My first one was Alex and he was a tabby and a mighty hunter too. I'll always remember him..

Live, Love, Laugh, Write! said...

That's such a cute picture! And it sounds like that was a wonderful cat :)

Anonymous said...

What a nice stroll down memory lane! It brought back memories of all my pets I've had and loved throughout the years. The first was a pekinese named Lady...she lived with me for 16 wonderful years.

Pamela Baker said...

Thanks for sharing your childhood memories. Who can ever forget the love of their very first pet. Mine was "Charlie" a silver French Poodle (I really think he was part person!)

Anonymous said...

Hey lady, love the blog post.

My parents had pets, Mommy Dearest a cat "Snowball", step-Dad a black lab "Clyde", us kids were not permitted to have any pets, but we paid more attention to both then their skinpeople!

Early on in high school I went with a friend to the place where she boarded her horse. A tiny calico kitten told me she wanted to come home with me. On a chance, we went home together.

It turned out to be a horrible scene with my step-father ripping Sassy from my clenched arms by the neck, and me screaming "I hate you" to which I was slapped across the face.

Begging and crying did no good, and they gave Sassy to the daughter of the people who lived next door. She was grown and married. Sassy and I never saw one another again.

As soon as I moved away from home/got kicked out, I adopted what I would call a feral kitten "Groucho". These people had a sign in front of their house "Free Kittens", what they didn't say was, "if you can catch them". They were born under the peoples house and did not have much human contact.

When we saw one another, whether or not she knew it, Groucho and I were going to fall in love and become best friends.

When I first held this tiny black and white kitten with a full mustache, she growled as much as the day was long. But I told her that it was ok and I would love her long enough that she would loose the growling thing and replace it with purring! Later, her fur-companion was Mr. Bojangles.

I will love and remember them all forever and always.

agoodwitchtoo said...

Such a lovely memory and nice picture! Thanks for sharing!

Erika said...

Ahhh, I loved my first kitty. He was my protector!

HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said...

That is the cutest picture!! I think it is so sweet and shows that you have always had a love of animals. My first cat was a bit white with orange spots tomcat named Tom and I adored him. He died of feline leukemia and we buried him under a Dogwood tree. I have never forgotten him.

Lux said...

What a wonderful picture - Sugar looks so sweet and so do you!

T.Allen said...

What a sweet post, thanks for sharing. It's been a long time since I'd thought about Sheba; my first Siamese.