If you shake your family tree, do cats fall out?
There is a belief within the scientific community that the love and adoration of cats (sometimes referred to as felinophilia) can be a genetic phenomenon, passed down from generation to generation. Take the family of Teresa and Tony (pictured above, aka Cat Lady No. 298 and Cat Lad No. 299), for example.
Teresa's mom and dad, Cat Lady Peg and Feline Fella Bob, exhibit the undeniable signs of felinophilia. They adopted kitties George and Gracie from Lollypop Farm in Rochester, New York, as a retirement gift for Peg.Teresa tells us about their little feline rascals: "George is addicted to anything with carbohydrates and can be found dragging a loaf of bread around the house if you are not careful. Gracie loves treats--she will be your shadow until she gets fed. When my parents go away and leave the cats under their neighbors' care you can find dish towels in the bathroom upstairs. No cat has confessed yet."
As if that weren't enough evidence to confirm the felinophilia-genetic-link, the kitty love bug has also bitten Teresa's aunt and uncle, Cat Lady Carole and Feline Fella Jim. "They saw how much my parents enjoyed their cats and went to the same rescue organization to get their cats, Mirah (tortie) and Fred (orange tabby). Mirah loves bottle caps and Fred loves staring out the window at the birds."Does felinophilia run in your family? Leave a comment at the end of this post and tell us if your family tree is crawling with cats!
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5 comments:
I love your opening line: "If you shake your family tree, do CATS fall out?" That's a hilarious mental image, but so true!
I would agree. Many of my relatives are cat people, my childhood home was filled with cats, as is my adult home. :)
And I married a man who was raised with 15 cats! With felinephilia in our genes, our children are doomed to suffer the same fate... :D
Actually, quite the opposite! I grew up with dogs and my entire family is made up of dog people. Since they're seen and heard stories of our cats, they seem to have realized the wonderful potential of cats, but my mom and both sisters are highly allergic to cats, which means they can't even stay with us when they come cross country to visit!
My husband's family all has dogs too. We are the only ones on either side of the family with cats! Maybe that explains why we have so many... we feel we need to balance the equation a little!
Now that I think of it, it's true! We have a cat (17 years old!), and have had her since she was a kitten. Her father was my grandmother's cat, and her mother was grandma's nextdoor neighbour's cat.
Growing up, my dad had a cat (and a dog who thought it was a cat)...and my mum had cats growing up as well!
So, I guess cats do fall out of our family tree when it's been shaken! :)
Yes, quite a few fall out, actually! But in our family it seems to skip a generation. One of my grandmothers had 7 cats in her home (very large home), and 4 of them were persians who lived in her bedroom. Both she and grandpa loved to baby the persians. When I lived out in the country, we had up to 16 cats at one time - the neighbor cats kept having their kittens under our back porch, so I adopted them all (and got them all fixed!). I presently live with 3 feline babies and a dog. One of my kitties goes on the daily walks with the doggie!
: ) lulu
p.s. Thanks for your comment on my OWOH giveaway - it was fun to find your blog!
Yes my house has cats as does my Daughters home..What is life without cats in them...I have always had cats..The two that own me and Husband of Wonder are Bitzy ( a Maine Coon Cat) that thinks she's human, and Prissy ( an Orange Tabby) that KNOWS she rules as number 1..Yes the are spoiled and we have no one to blame but ourselves...People that get a cat for the first time need to know the Number One rule of Cat ownership...Cats don't have owners they have STAFF...
Have a good weekend...
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