the kitty that started it all!

(No this is not a picture of the cat that started it all, let's just say that this is the cat that made it "worse"!)

You might have gathered by now that there's a bit of a running theme through out this blog, if not well I'll explain to you... I love cats! There I said it, it is out in the open, but please don't stop reading this blog, I'm not one of those scary people that obsesses with cats, dresses them in costumes (the cat from the previous post ISN'T mine! I would never do that to a real cat) and treats them like (or sometimes better) a their own children. This post is a kind of explanation to some of the next posts.
I love cats because I find them beautiful creatures and I respect them, especially because when someone has a cat, that person doesn't really own it but, the animal chooses to stay in the house. Think of a cat as a house mate and your life will become much easier! Sure, it is a house mate that doesn't pay the bill and you have to feed but, a house mate non the less.

Ok, so we have established why I love cats so now I will explain when it started. Who is the original Miaumau?
When I was little, my stepfather had a lovely Siamese cat named "Abdul da Purificacao Smith" (according to him, the cat was a polyglot on account that he could meow in three different language, Arab, Portuguese and English) . In fact this cat was kind of an ice breaker in my relationship with him (I was three, and wanted my parents together, go figure).
This was a truly wonderful cat, intelligent and lovable, in that particularly non clingy cat like way. Used to "protect" me every weekend morning from the scary painting that my stepfather had in the living room (a self portrait of his grandfather, his eyes followed me everywhere!! Freaky stuff!) as I watched tv.
He was very particular about his food, he only ate dried stuff from one particular shop and boiled fish with no bones and I loved the way how he knew exactly the time when my stepfather was arriving and sat at the door waiting to greet him.
Abdul was a lovely cat and my first proper contact with one of these wonderful creatures, it was a pleasure knowing him and he made me want to draw cats, so in a twisted sort of way he may be one of the reasons why I got interested in drawing! Go figure...

By the way, the cat in the picture is called Pantufa, she's going to be 13 in March. She's lovely but in a very different way from Abdul, to be honest I don't compare them...