Quote Originally Posted by Catty1 View Post
Doreen Tovey! I LOVED those books! Cats in the Belfry etc! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Tovey
BEAM BEAM BEAM BEAM BEAM. Wasn't she wonderful? I have Cats In May - one of the last ones, where Solomon died. I can't imagine how that must have hurt her. I paid a freaking fortune for that book and I only wish I could find more of them to spend more fortunes on. She made me love those cats - and almost feel them - so much. She had such an ability to get inside their heads and tell things in their 'voices' without being cutesy or coy about it, so you laughed until you couldn't crawl, but also felt such empathy for them, like you completely understood things from their point of view. I loved how she'd call him Old Bat Ears sometimes.

And oh boy, those were cats with personality. Maybe that's what my problem is. I got wrecked by Doreen Tovey and her spectacular cats, and I just don't feel like I've got the wiring to be completely happy with a 'normal' cat anymore. Or maybe it was all just her, being so perceptive and empathetic with them. Could be she could raise any cat to that kind of status just by noticing things and describing them. But she sure had an influence on me.

I read somewhere that the Russian gene pool had to be 'retrieved' by back-breeding from Siamese at some point, and maybe I'm kidding myself. But I always felt like Limpet had some Siamesey-type traits. Her voice, when she used it, was a real shocker coming from such a neat sweet little cat. She had that cracked wail that could drill through concrete. When she told you off, you KNEW you were being told off.