Hello, I'm new here, although I've been a regular visitor at Pet of the Day (and especially Cat of the Day) for a couple years now.

I wanted to tell you about my cat Sophie, who is a World Champion Meow-er...everyone who comes home ends up telling me that she is the chattiest cat they've ever met! She's a bossy, opinionated, but very loving 9 yr old calico, also known as the 'Benevolent Despot' of our house. Ever since she was a baby, my goodness, she has enjoyed talking a mile a minute with anyone willing to listen. She has a specific meow for everything - from a nagging 'get up, mom, so what if it's 5 in the morning, I want tuna!' to 'I love you too' (a purr/meow with eyes half-closed) to 'let me out on the balcony' (her favorite place in the world, besides the bed) which is a cranky 'aaaah' sound. The last time her petsitter was over, Sophie made us laugh by doing this combination meow-purr-growl that I'd never heard before, to thank the petsitter for such a nice back-scratching.

Sometimes when I'm preparing her a particularly yummy tidbit to eat, she does this amazing meow - she looks up at me and goes 'meeeeeeeooooooooowwww' for about 10 seconds without a pause! I never heard a cat let out such a shout of joy, and I'm fascinated when she does it, but to my husband, this marathon-meowing is a bit unnerving, because how could such a very little cat make a long loud sound like that?!

Well, it's been a pleasure to introduce Sophie to everyone here. I've enjoyed reading the posts and seeing all the other kitties and puppies, they're all so special. I hope to get Sophie's picture on here too, as soon as I get comfortable with this vB code stuff.

Thank you, all!