Lens-Artists Challenge #334 – Cats and Dogs

Tina from Travels and Trifles is asking us to look at CATS AND DOGS this week. Interesting and fun. Unfortunately, I can offer no photos of dogs. We don’t have any and I don’t really know anyone with them.

So I only have cats for you. We love our cats and have two at the moment, Susie and Ralph.

We got our first cat in 2002 and it was my daughters birthday present. We knew at least one of our kids would want a pet and had made the decision long before it happened that it would be a cat. Why, well, we looked at all the potential pets out there and what would be our ability to 1/ keep them alive and  2/ how much work they would require.

We knew what we were like and if we didn’t have a pet that would demand food then there was a good chance we might forget about them and not feed them. Not good. We also knew we are fairly lazy people and something like a dog would need walking and that wasn’t us back then. Dogs also have to be washed.

We decided on a cat because they will let you know when they are hungry and pretty much look after themselves. They are independent and that suited us. Also, we knew that in Australia cats kill thousands of native birds every year and if we got one my husband was insistent that it be an indoor cat. All our cats have been indoor cats and according to the vet it is very good for them.

We had two cats before these two and when they went we had no plans to get anymore, but know we have these two.

Susie

Susie came to us in 2018 when her owner, our eldest daughter was going overseas. It was meant to be short term, but well. My daughter moved into a new place when she got back but there was no room for Susie so she stayed with us.

She is a funny cat. She is very timid, and gets scared very easily. She hates being picked up and sometimes it seems like she hates any human contact. I never pick her up and she has started coming to me to be patted, which is nice.

I don’t know if you can tell but she is tiny. We have wondered if she is a dwarf cat, not sure the right way to say it. She is very fluffy and that makes her look bigger than she is. In winter she grows like a mane and has a hard time cleaning herself.

She was a rescue cat and my daughter got her when she was about 18 months old. She will be 9 this year.

Ralph

Ralph was the second cat my daughter got. She decided to get another rescue and she got him when he was about 6 months old. He came to us after she moved out of a house with other cats into an apartment on her own. He was lonely and would meow all the time especially as she was at work a lot. She said he was driving her nuts and she didn’t know what do with him. So she said can he come and stay for a week. That was about 3 years ago.

He seemed fairly happy here. We were always home and with Susie there was another cat here. Mind you Susie doesn’t rally like him or trust him, let’s say she tolerates him.

He is a much bigger cat and is now 6 years old. He also doesn’t really like being picked up but will tolerate it. He is too heavy to hold for too long. He isn’t as timid, but can scare easily. He can be a bit of a bully boy with Susie, but we help her out. He loves being brushed and spends most of time about 1 metre from me.

He is also the first cat we have had that is very vocal.

Susie is very much my husband’s cat and Ralph is mine. They have definitely picked their person. When my daughter was talking about getting one of them back Dave was like yeah you can take Susie, but when I asked him after he said he didn’t want to give her up. So I said then why did you offer to give her back. I don’t think he knew why either.

When I go on holidays now the hardest thing is that Ralph pines for me and really misses me. Dave said he wanders around looking for me. We always have a lovely reunion when I get back.

So they are my cats.

Thank you Tina for giving me an excuse to show everyone our babies. All these photos were taken with my phone and is what is around when they do funny stuff. Please go and take a look at Tina’s post and see what she has done.

If you would like to participate in this great challenge then go to the following link to find out how to join the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. Don’t forget to put a link in your post back to the host.

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47 Comments

  1. Susie and Ralph seem to be very patient, particularly allowing to be put in a bag/pot 😉..Beautiful..

    1. Thank you PR, I don’t know that I would say patient, but he did get himself in that pot, and the bag too I think. YOu know how cats like boxes and anything that resembles them. lol

    1. Thank you Julie, I knew there was a reason why I liked you. lol. I know, I couldn’t believe it when I put the pot down and the next thing I knew he was sitting in it. He tried hard to lie in it, but couldn’t do it. They really do.

  2. Lovely cats, Leanne! So beautiful both of them too. I grew up with cats, but we only have dogs. My husband doesn’t want a cat, because his sister’s cat always peed in his school books…or that is what he says for an excuse. How good to be dumped upon! I wish one of my children would dump a cat here…
    Fun to read about the different personalities too. In my post I included photos with cats from a friend of mine, where one of them is a strange breed that looks like a bat!

    1. Thank you Ann-Christine. We are the opposite to you. Hahaha, his sister’s cat sounds mean. I don’t know about the dumping, but they are here now. Definitely no more after they go I think.
      I had to include what they are like, especially for people who think cats don’t have personalities, boy do they.

  3. Great photos Leanne. I love the upside down Ralph, a better perspective on the world perhaps, especially if you live in Australia, unless you do and are quite sure everything is right side up, or something like that. 🙂

  4. I really enjoyed reading about your cats – how you got them, their characters etc. And it’s clear from your lovely photos that they are both beauties 😻

  5. Susie and Ralph are adorable! We have three cats, also all rescues and exclusively indoor pets. Our Remus actually looks uncannily like your Ralph. Our cats also each have their favoured people and then a second standby person if their favourite is unavailable. I have had dogs in the past but cats work much better with our lifestyle and I find them much more relaxing to be around.

    1. Thank you Laura. Seems Ralph has that fur that is like many others. That is how ours are, during the day Ralph tends to stick around me, but if I am doing a lot out in the garden, or gone for the day he will go and sit with Dave. I think cats are great for people who are busy. I love having them around, they don’t get hyper like dogs can.

  6. Susie and Ralph are adorable! None of mine like being picked up, either. Which is a puzzle to me. I thougt all cats liked being held!

    1. Thank you Lois. Yeah, I thought so too, the first cat love being picked up and cuddled. It was hard to get him to let you put him down.

    1. Hahaha, so true. I love that saying about how cats understand everything you say they just chose to ignore you. Thank you Jerry.

  7. Your babies are very cute. Susie has a mask almost like Batman. Ralph reminds me of our late cat Chase. I think if your daughter wants another cat, she should rescue a new baby. There are so many who need good homes, and it’s not fair to Susie or Ralph to relocate one of them now.

    1. Thank you Donna, yeah she does for sure. I think he is one of those cats that looks like others. I often see cats online and think oh that is Ralps. We have told our daughter no more cats, because we don’t want anymore. Also her partner is allergic, so that is good in a way. I agree, Susie and Ralph do need to stay with us now.

  8. Beautiful cats Leanne. Too bad they aren’t best buds. My daughter-in-law’s cats live in the same house, but are loners too. They have their distinct personalities. I cat sit for her when she’s gone. I still prefer dogs. They have a certain loyalty and are dependent on us.

    1. Thank you Anne. Yeah, I think it is more Susie that is the loner cat. Ralph is too big for her and I think she is a bit scared of him, still they are funny to watch. I think cats can have that loyalty too, though they do say that cats love who feeds them. lol

  9. susie may be a munchkin cats, at least that’s what they call the breed here. my first cat has to be at least part munchkin as she has the tiny legs and feet, but has grown a bowling ball body) cute cats!

    1. I have never heard of those, but I think you could be right. I don’t think full that, but at least part. Susie is very small, especially when you pat her and the fur gets flattened. Thank you Beth.

  10. It is always fun to see a new side of a person Leanne and you’ve given us a lovely peek into your life. Your fur children are very sweet – how nice of your daughter to “share” them with you😊. They do find their way into our hearts, don’t they?!

    1. Thank you Tina, my cats have been on here before but I don’t post them very often. We love them and yes, so kind of her. It is funny how even dog people can end up loving them. My husband hates cats, but he loves ours.

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