Miss Crazy Cat Lady 2008

I probably appear to be a Crazy Cat Lady. Hell, my Fun Monday post pretty much cemented that reputation. And I probably am, except for the man in my life that legitimizes my obsessive cat ownership as a simple “animal-lover".

Shut up, that is my own personal validation. It works for me.

While I may be considered a Crazy Cat Lady on the innernets, I officially, am NOT the Crazy Cat Lady of my block.

May I introduce you to some of the neighborhood cats:

And those folks, are the ones that would stick around for me.

The realtor that showed me the place told me it was cat-friendly. And boy, howdy, is it!

The number of black cats causes problems. This morning, for instance, I am backing out and I see a black cat dash up the driveway, see my car, and turn around and bolt back down it. It looked terrified, or on a mad dash, a Buffalo Stampede. I am concerned it is poor Yoda, who sits at the bottom of my stairs and meows, wanting freedom, who has bolted out of my door on a couple of occasions already, the latest being when I came home tonight. I worry that perhaps I didn’t see her escape this morning and she is loose. I continue down the road until the fear becomes too much. Yoda is declawed and not an aggressive cat, she has had her ass kicked repeatedly by Kitten and has been cornered on previous escapes by neighborhood cats (Have I mentioned how that damn cat used to jump off my balconies?) I did not feel good about the small chance that she was loose in my neighborhood. So, I pull a You-EE and run back in my house, where, she is still sitting at the bottom of my stairs, willing it to open.

Anyhoo, when I met the landlord, I got the low down. In the building next to mine, also owned by my landlord, is the top Crazy Cat Lady. The self-nominated, Crazy Cat Lady of the block. Whew, I am safe! I hope she doesn’t move any time soon, I am not ready to assume the throne.

She feeds, houses, and has outside litter boxes for those that don’t go inside. She is the Queen of the Cat Kingdom. I met her last night and that is when the true breadth of the problem was evident. At least 4 cats I had never seen before appeared. I pointed out to her that I hadn't seen all of these before. She laughed... that there were many more than the 9 that were surrounding her!

However, she didn’t bring all the cats around. She is not to blame, completely. It all started a couple years back. One of the elderly residents of my building hadn’t been seen for awhile. Someone accessed her apartment and she was found to have passed away. She was the Ultimate Crazy Cat Lady. There were cats everywhere – probably a hundred cats in her apartment. Some were taken to shelters, some had to be put down and well some…are hanging out on my car hood right now.

So there. I can continue to rant about my cats without fear.

I am Not the Queen.

I only get the silver medal.