Pretty Places

[Moo]

We cat-lovers ... send a plague of mice in your direction. xx

The lovely people who bought our house-before-last asked us, a couple of years on, whether we'd had a mouse problem when we lived there. The answer was, of course, "No".
When we moved out we'd taken our pair of lurchers with us.

 

[christianb]

Alas, I'll have to come clean and declare my vote for dogs. That said, I'm still very sorry to hear of anyone losing a beloved pet.

But, really, TS Eliot and his feline-loving contempories are in a minority compared to those who have eulogized about doggies. And when I learn of a guide cat for the blind or deaf I'll maybe rethink my preference. But probably not, especially while my wife's moggy continues to decimate the local fauna.

 

[christianb]

Lurchers? Wondrous things. Here's my lovely fellow...

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=96757877&albumID=381906&imageID=1327551

 

[Moo]

Aah! Gorgeous.

Give him a big hug from me.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank for all your kind words at the Passing of Mr Kipps. I know not everyone loves cats - I didn't use to - but Mr Kipps was with us ten years, a rescue job from Cats Protection, and was a brilliant person. His close friend The Step Witch (I know there's no explaining pets' names) is missing him too. We will have another - and soonish - there are 200 cats awaiting homes at the adoption centre in Exeter.

I'd love a dog too - and a lurcher would be my dog of choice - but dogs and work are not compatible. So it must be time for me to RETIRE - I keep mentioning this to my other half but he's gone deaf!

 

[MdB]

We will have another - and soonish - there are 200 cats awaiting homes at the adoption centre in Exeter.

Thumbs up for getting a rescue cat. :wink:

 

[Penners]

Lurchers?

We used to have a Saluki x Labrador. Not quite what you'd call a lurcher, so we used to call her a lurker (or a Salukador). The children couldn't think of a name for her (parents having vetoed "Ark Royal"!), so they called her "puppy" for such a long time that she inevitably became Poppy.

She was very lovable, but profoundly stupid. She used to chase helicopters. :roll:

 

[LadyArowana]

She was very lovable, but profoundly stupid. She used to chase helicopters. :roll:

She just wanted a job

 

[JoceAndChris]

TS Eliot and his feline-loving contempories are in a minority compared to those who have eulogized about doggies.

I haven't yet carried out an exhaustive study, but I would be surprised if literary and religious references were biased towards the side of dogs. You may have your Lassies and your Scooby Dos, but we have the glorious goddess Bast, (I am looking forward to visiting her later in the year) a million cat mummies, the temple cats of Thailand, the tragic Selima who belonged to Horace Walpole and who inspired a lovely elegy by Gray, oh, I could go on and on, but : http://www.citizenlunchbox.com/famous/cats-A-D.html

 

[Penners]

http://www.citizenlunchbox.com/famous/dogs.html

 

[JoceAndChris]

http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm/cat_heroes

 

[christianb]

On the subject of Gods, the Egyptinas have Anubis, of course. Which is partly why my Lurcher goes by the nickname of "Nooby". He's also too big to be a whippet so we consider his breed to really be a "Whoppet".

But few could argue that this is one of the most beautiful pieces of verse in the English language...

Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices.
This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog.

Attributed to Byron but actually written by his mate. Apparently.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I am sorry, but that is not verse. That is a turgid piece of prose.

This is verse:

To Mrs Reynold's Cat

Cat! Who hast past thy Grand Climacteric,
How many mice and Rats hast in thy days
Destroy'd - how many tit bits stolen? Gaze
With those bright languid segments green and prick
Those velvet ears - but pr'ythee do not stick
Thy latent talons in me - and upraise
Thy gentle mew - and tell me all thy frays
Of Fish and Mice, and Rats and tender chick.
Nay look not down, nor lick thy dainty wrists -
For all the wheezy Asthma, -and for all
Thy tail's tip is nicked off - and though the fists
Of many a maid have given thee many a maul,
Still is that fur as soft as when the lists
In youth thou enter'dst on glass- bottled wall.

Keats

 

[LadyArowana]

Mrs Reynold's Cat

 

[christianb]

I am sorry, but that is not verse. That is a turgid piece of prose

Well, poetic prose if you like. But not turgid. And in its simplicity it makes a grand statement about the beauty of the canine.

As for Mrs Wotnots Cat?


Cat! Who hast past thy Grand Climacteric,
How many mice and Rats hast in thy days
Destroy'd

And how many nestlings has though chewed for no bloody reason except wanton destruction.
Or field voles hast thou tormented with a full belly of kit-e-kat.
Can thee number the endangered Dormice sent to rodent valhalla?
While big scary rats frightened thineself so much that thee buggered off to massacre something smaller and leave the tough jobs to the Jack Russell from next door.

I could go on, and the cat's destruction of Britain's indigenous fauna certainly will.

 

[Schoolmarm]

On the subject of Gods, the Egyptinas have Anubis, of course. Which is partly why my Lurcher goes by the nickname of "Nooby". He's also too big to be a whippet so we consider his breed to really be a "Whoppet".

But few could argue that this is one of the most beautiful pieces of verse in the English language...

Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices.
This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog.

Attributed to Byron but actually written by his mate. Apparently.

Oh, I love that. It has made the screen blurry.

 

[christianb]

And while I'm off on one...

I'm sure everyone has seen those poor homeless people in the major cities and towns. See how many have dogs and how many have cats.

The reason? Moggies will b*gger off and leave you when the chips are down, a dog will stick by you when you have nothing and until the very end. It's called unconditional love.

But I'm still very sorry that Vicky has lost her cat. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Feltwell]

Oh Lord, I don't read a post for a while and we're back to dogs versus cats again.

Honestly, sorting out the differences in the Middle East would be easier than this one. :roll:

 

[JoceAndChris]

And while I'm off on one...

I'm sure everyone has seen those poor homeless people in the major cities and towns. See how many have dogs and how many have cats.

And I'm sure everyone has seen how pretty much every young female star will go out of her way to be as feline as possible - why - because cats are sexy and dogs aren't. Take Penners' Anita Ekburg. Now imagine that famous kitty scene shot with a hairy, muddy pawed smelly dog. Yuk.

Cat-woman works in a way that dog woman never would.

 

[Flyfisher]

:lol: :lol: :lol: