Subscribe to Posts
Iggy Pop & Lily
For the last 20 years I’ve had at least one Javanese cat. I love these sweet, talkative, funny, smart cats. Unfortunately, folks aren’t breeding them much on the west coast. When both my cats passed I started hunting for another breeder of Javanese. I figured I’d get one javi & one rescue. Then I found out that finding a javi was gonna be rather difficult. No longer could I have a cat flown to me. Since 911 one has to drive. That limited me somewhat. Then there was a cat show down in San Mateo and I went along with my cat carrier. My best friend who was living with me at the time (along with Sydney the 15 yo Iguana), laughed at me and told me I’d be disappointed. But I wasn’t. There weren’t a lot of breeders showing Javanese at the time. But there was a breeder from Phoenix whom I’d seen online and he had TWO female kittens for sale. I wanted a male and a female. Lily came home with me and promptly fell in love with Sydney.
Lily Cat
I spent eight months trying to get a rescue with siamese (and male). It was very puzzling as to why the SPCA would not let me have a kitten I’d see at one of their street gatherings in the neighborhood. I filled out forms. I went in person. Then I started online. I went up to Santa Rosa to another cat show. A breeder said she had a male Siamese. I told her I wanted him (sight unseen). I emailed her. She stalled me. Finally she told me she’d sold him to someone else. I was puzzled. Then I found a breeder in Modesto who had orientals. I emailed her & she told me she had two females pregnant at the same time. She would let me have the first non-show male cat. I told her I didn’t want a black cat (they don’t photograph well … and as a photographer I photograph my cats a lot!). She understood. Then she sent me photos of the kittens, pointing out the two males. I picked the seal pointed male. When the photo of him at five weeks arrived, it was in a browser window, one of many I had opened. The photo peeking out next to my kitten window was one of Iggy Pop who was going to be performing locally. They were in the very same position! I added Iggy Pop to my list of names. Manfred Man, Moby & Frankie were at the top of the list.
When I got the 12 week male kitten home I started with the names at the top of my list. The kitten could not be bothered with the top three. Then I called Iggy Pop and he came bouncing into the room. Well, what do you know! The kitten has a new name. He loves his name. And he’s a funny cat. I haven’t lived with a Siamese since I left home. And I really didn’t think they were all that different from a Javanese. But boy was I wrong!
The first thing I had to do was dog proof my house. Then I had to ban all things plastic loose in the house. Plastic bags had to be in drawers, locked away. I had to buy a new trash can! Lily, the Javanese was only a year older, and while she is smart as a whip, she also understood the word No! When she turned one she settled down into being a cat. Though her bad habit of chewing on cords (she especially loves firewire & phone cords) has been expensive, she’s a good cat.
Javanese are social, friendly, loving, nosy, with bird-like voices. They usually love to ride on your shoulders (Lily doesn’t). They love company (Lily does). Siamese like to be the main cat for their person. They’re smart, not always social with strangers. Iggy Pop is smart (ignores NO!), pushes Lily off my lap, and likes strangers. He’s also silly, fetches things (prefers hard plastic that comes in packaging), and wants to be a circus cat even though Lily seems to understand the commands better.
IggyPopCat
Information on the cat breeds:
Javanese Info
Siamese Info
