Tuesday, March 9, 2010

confessions: i thought i was a dog person.

henry martin, aka *rikrak kittycat*. our newly adopted rescue maine coon tabby kitty cat mix.

...................


it's true.
please don't think less of me for it.
i just hadn't seen the light, yet.

i used to think lots of stuff in life was either/or.
like one was either a cat person OR a dog person.
no middle ground there.
i chose my side early on in life.
i love dogs.

i've always been a dog person. those loyal, fun-loving, cuddly, friendly sweeties are just my kind of souls.

that said, as i hopefully become a better person in life (fingers crossed!) & i've come to happily see that like many things in life, usually mutually exclusive isn't the best way to be!

enter *henry martin*, our new-to-us shelter cat.

i'm not gonna lie to you:
i was nervous.
i have happily been a dog-friend/ dog-sister / dog-adorer but never one of the folks responsible-for-my-own-kittycat type of folks. so when we agreed as a family that little rikrak's long-time wish to get a kitty cat would finally come to fruition (he asked every birthday and Christmas for four years) a bit sheepishly, i finally agreed.

and you know what? it's wonderful!

now here i stand happily, delightfully corrected.

i just adore our *new-to-us* cat.
henry martin's
about 2 and just the sweetest, cuddliest, friendliest little pet i've ever met. he loves to snuggle and cuddle and play fetch & retrieve. he loves being little rikrak's ball-hockey goalie and stands on his back paws (mostly in the middle of the night!) and gently composes two paw piano songs whenever he can.


so now i guess i`m a dog AND a cat person.
it's true.

how about you?
dog or cat person?
or both?

i thought FOR FUN today that our henry martin would like to meet all of your cute cute cats ... so let's have a little *kittycat crawl.* we'll visit all the rikrak studio readers' cats!

have a cat? i'd love to see them :)
add a link here {with mr. linky!} to show us a photo or blog post about YOUR cat(s)!
click thru and see the cute catfriends of our fellow readers!







yay cats!
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34 comments:

  1. What a sweetie! He's so cute! I grew up with *only* cats because my parents felt they were easier to take care of. Now, though, I have 3 dogs...but no cats. So I love both!!

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  2. I love to hear about the antics of other cats! I always think ours is so strange but really he is just like all other kitties. I have always been a cat person more so than dogs, but I do love all animals. :)

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  3. That is so funny! I had a very similar awakening to cats. We ALWAYS had dogs growing up. Then while working one day I found a kitten in an alley way, obviously I wasn't going to leave him to starve so I brought him home with the intention of getting him to a vet and then to a loving family. My husband had other ideas, he was always a "cat person". I soon found out how magical cats are and couldn't believe we didn't even have to teach him how to use a litter box! CRAZY! haha now I LOVE CATS! We even got a second one! I posted a link to our little alley cat, Stanley, above. Thanks for the great post!

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  4. Henry is very handsome. I'm a cat person, but ironically, I am also a dog-charmer: dogs invariable and insistently love me, no matter what I try to tell them! ;)

    I named my shop & blog after my cat Minouette, whom I love to bits.

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  5. oh my GOODNESS! i love seeing all of your adorable kittycats, nicies! thanks for playing!

    and *dawn*: we'll have to have a dog-party soon, too! :)

    lucy: glad we're kindred in our cat-awakenings!

    minouette: that's so fun where your shop name comes from! love it!

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  6. Henry Martin is so charming!
    I adore kitties but love dogs too. Really, i just love animals. Hope to have a farm or sanctuary someday.

    fun blog post, thanks!
    i added a link to my little boston :)

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  7. Wow, I love Henry! He looks supercuddly and friendly. Cats rule!
    I never wanted a cat but she lived with my partner and when he moved into my home, the cat came along of course. And now I'm one of those people who will never want to be without a cat anymore! I love her!
    It's amazing how many rituals a cat has and I can set my clock to it too! :) What an awesome post!
    Oh, and I like to call her my crafty cat as she is really interested in all that I do! :)

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  8. I too love dogs and cats.
    i grew up always having a dog, but then about 4 years ago we got our first cat, Cohen. Which was followed a couple of years later by Dylan.
    they are wonderful and I can't wait to get a dog soon too!

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  9. Unfortunately, I'm ridiculously allergic to kitty kats! I do wish we could have a cuddly cat friend in our house.

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  10. Your Henry looks so well behaved. Are you sure he's the one playing the piano in the night? And cats looking out windows make me call it "kitty tv." Congratulations on being adopted. I linked to Mattie, the cat who belongs to my friend Katie, daughter of my friend Kim. Mattie was actually inspecting the quilt progress. It's her "brother" cat, Nat, who moves quilt parts to other rooms. Rather lengthens the process.

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  11. I hope Henry Martin brings as much pleasure to you as my Henry the 8th brings to me. Until my early 30s I was actually anti-cat (isn't that terrible?)But, then I decided to foster a cat. That was Honey aka my angel of mercy. He started it all! The love affair continues with my 3 rescue cats.

    Now, I tell my dogs when they misbehave:-),"next time around, I'm only going to have cats". Of course, that won't happen.

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  12. Even though I love both and have had both, I'm more of a cat person now.
    Congrats on the new addition to your family.

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  13. I love that I am not the only one who loves her kitty to bits!

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  14. I love cats...We usually have either a cat or a dog, or both at once. My dad has had 3 cats that all lived to 18 years old! Sydney is the only one left now :(
    My boyfriend has two large dogs and doesn't like cats...I think he just had bad cat experiences...Hopefully I can convince him soon to have one :)

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  15. LOL! I ran a search on my blog to pick a picture of our cat to add to Mr Linky, but copy and pasted the link to the entire search! Kitty overload!

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  16. I'm a sucker- if you're cute and homeless, I'll take you. I adopted two cats from the pound and took in a stray dog whose owner we never found.

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  17. Henry is lovely, he only looks like a baby! My cat Molly is 9 months old, I don't know what I'd do without her! I love dogs but I think I'm more of a cat person. I think they really appreciate you and show you lots of love. Molly is snuggled up to me right now :)

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  18. oo i'm a both kinda gal...shelter & found kitties are special...they never forget their rescue...congratulations

    i always have a photo of our latest shelter kitty, polly, on my blog

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  19. I'm a lifelong cat owner but I'm definitely not opposed to dogs. When the time comes, we'll have one of those too. Henry is absolutely adorable!

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  20. oh i just love seeing your little furry friends, nicies!

    thanks so much for sharing!

    & so glad to see that there are other *converts* like me out there!

    great stories, one and all.

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  21. pulpandpaisley09 March, 2010 20:42

    Congratulations on the new addition to your family!
    We don't have to choose - our cat was a dog in a past life, I'm sure! She fetches, dropping pompoms and bottle caps into your lap to throw again for her and she growls at our postman:)

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  22. Oh, my gosh, what an adorable cat! I love cats and dogs but have always been partial to cats. There's currently a debate going on in our house about whether my little man needs a puppy or a kitten. Consensus is he needs a puppy, and Mommy needs a kitten. :)

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  23. Congratulations new cat momma! We are definitely a house of cat people. We have two kitties and were contemplating getting a third a little over a year ago and then we found our we were going to have a baby instead!

    I love that his name is Henry Martin.

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  24. It's pretty funny. I thought I was a dog person too. I had a cat when I was younger but having lived with dog(s) for my adult life, that's what I thought I preferred.

    We are adoring our new shelter kitty too. Isn't it nice to realize you can love both!? (And how nice is it to rescue an adult cat so you know exactly what kind personality you are getting?)

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  25. I have one cute kitty & one lovable lab dog. I'm definitely an animal person in general, wouldn't mind having a few more of them! Maybe even a chicken eventually!

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  26. What a cutie!

    I like all kind of creatures, At this moment I have 2 cats, Sam and Jessie. I posted a link to a FB album.

    Cats are so much fun!

    :)

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  27. I love all of your kitties!

    The video posted on iSew's blog- An Engineers Guide to Cats -is so funny it had me in tears!

    Thanks for sharing!

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  28. All the pictures are adorable! Of course, we're always biased into thinking that our own darlings are the cutest kitties ever, but there are definitely some close seconds in this bunch :)

    My Meg (short for Megaladon) doesn't know she's a cat...based on her noises and actions, she's either a dog, bird, or a raptor.

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  29. Henry is quite adorable. Those tabbies will charm their way into your heart. I've grown up with cats and dogs and am pretty much an all-around animal lover, except for raccoons. I've had my cat Cosmo since I was 12. He is now 16 (Eep!Just revealed how old I am!) and still such a sweetie. He's got his health problems but his kitty snuggles always brighten my day. I'm pretty sure he is my soulmate as silly as that might sound.

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  30. I enjoyed your post very much. Adorable! :)

    I'm a cat person, through and through. We always had a cat in the house, for as long as I can remember. They were a special part of my life, and still are!

    I've added a post to my blog (added the link). Thanks for sharing this.

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  31. This story really struck a chord with me because my hubby and I went to the shelter looking to adopt a puppy but ended up with a kitty instead. He picked us. And we haven't regretted it even for a moment!

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  32. We Have 2 kitties right now (they're a bit more apartment friendly than a dog)...but I am in love with animals of all varieties. I posted a link to my sweet ones, Mr. Jones and Spoon. They are most entertaining!

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  33. Awww - congratulations on Henry AND on the realization that you can be a cat person as well as a dog person..that it is ok! :) My husband and I are owned by 2 cats... and wouldn't have it any other way!

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  34. Oh what a cute kitty!! I've always been a generalized animal lover, but my husband and his family have always been dog people. When I first decided I wanted a cat, my husband wasn't too excited, but he loved the cat so much he got a second kitty. His parents weren't too pleased, but his mother now LOVES our kitties, and now knits them toys and plays with them for hours.

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thanks so much for your comments, nicies!
it's a joy to read what everyone writes here.
thank you!