NATURE PHILOSOPHY MUSIC HISTORY FEMINISM
& sometimes puny puns
Jennifer Rycenga's Website
for various and sundry idiosyncrasies, observations, research projects & more
"Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock." - Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, ch. XIII
Cats-o-Mine Tales
Reminiscences and photographic evidence of the felines of my life
Feline Potentates in proper dynastic order
As with human monarchs, some cats have received appellations of honor.
Cats who held direct authority over me are in purple.
(some people would say "Cats I Have Owned" but let's get real here about power relations)
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Nutmeg, the Despiser of Baby (1956-1958)
Ay-boy, the Great (ca. 1958-8/27/1974)
Buttercup, the Proud (ca. 1975-1985...)
Goethe, the Great (ca. 1978-ca. 1987)
Ethan, the tragic Prince
Abdullah, the Wanderer
Dark Star, the Patient
Harvey Milk
Jasmine, the Simple
Kiki, the Great (1999-2016)
Oreo (2004-2017)
Toby, the Great (2003-2021...)
Lyssa, the Great (2017)
Ipo, the Great (2019)
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Ay-boy
The cat one grows up with always holds pride of place. But I can say, in this case, that Ay-boy was an extraordinary cat, in many dimensions.
He retrieved.
He ate Spaghetti.
He mourned my father's death...
He disdained, then made peace with our dog Mitzi, coming to rely on Mitzi's protection near the end of his life
He loved my father, but also adored my mother, and was jealous enough of my father that he would bite him if he made an amorous move toward my mother!
He had so much cat-onality that I came to presume that was normal for all cats.
He was arrogant (but I am redundant here; he was, after all, a cat) but also pliable enough to be played with
He disdained the (unfixed) female who brought him a mouse (which I discovered in our garage)
He taught me the rule of cats, namely, in the words of my mother "The cat will tell you what is acceptable to the cat."
He once killed a Blue Jay. This led to one of my earliest encounters with birds. For weeks afterwards, whenever my mother would let Ay-boy out onto the porch (yes, he was an outdoor/indoor cat - it was 1964, what did we know?), Blue Jays would mass on the little sprig of a tree we'd planted in the front yard. My mother said that their cawing was really them saying "Cat! Cat! Cat!" I was impressed by the teamwork of the Jays, but worried for dear Ay-boy. It was a moment of complexity.
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