I finally stopped by Cathy’s boat and asked her how she and Dude were getting along. She said she was delighted, they’re good mates now. Dude sat on deck, watching me but not making a fuss, and looked pretty contented. Then Cathy dropped a bomb:
“You know Dude is a female, don’t you?”
Oh. My. God. We never thought to look! We were told Dude was male, and accepted that without question! Suddenly, everything made more sense…the gentleness, the quietness, the cat’s docile and homey nature. I roared with laughter, looking at the poor kitty on deck, all these years she’d been misunderstood. I laughed all the way to the shore. I thought of how Kris only ever wants to have male cats, but he also says that Dude was the best-natured cat he’s ever had.
Laughed till I cried. Best joke the universe has played on us, ever. That was a good one.
Happy fall, haha! I love this adorable kitty- good luck with everything.
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đ I’m falling into spring, on this side of the world! And summer is coming fast, getting HOT, and steamy. Clouds are gathering…soon, they’ll drop three months of rain on us, almost without stop. What we here in the tropics like to call ‘summer’, with a kind of perverse sense of humour. I’ve never been to the temperate zones of the Northern Hemishphere…I hate even just the idea of cold and snow and ice!
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Same thing happen to me – I had a cat, never checked the gender as a kitten. Thought it was a boy and one day my neighbour said “you do know he is a she?” Poor Kitty .. growing up with a boy’s name đ
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That happened to us too – we took our ‘female’ cat to the vet as we thought ‘she’ might be pregnant – nope, just a getting fatter male cat.
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Hi Nat,
I’m Maureen. First time visiting your blog. I can’t remember how I landed here, but I’m glad I did. What a funny, funny story about Dude! Had the same thing happen to me years ago. Took the cat to the vet to be “neutered” and she ended up having to be “spayed.” I even asked the vet, are you SURE?? Anyway, you can find me at http://josephinaballerina.wordpress.com if you ever want to visit. Josephine is our (girl) cat!
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He he! (Or more aptly ‘he she’!) She obviously didn’t like her tummy being rubbed or I’m sure you would have noticed! I was told that generally only male cats are marmalade and the female version is usually tortoiseshell, so she’s a rarity!
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No, you’re right, she didn’t let us near her tummy, or I would have noticed the little pink carrot that my other cats had. đ I was told the same about ginger tabbies, but that’s starting to sound like an old wives tale…a vet told me there are as many female G.T.s as male ones. Myth debunked. She was found wandering down a highway…whoever first lost her must have had her neutered, she never had kittens, and so kept her little secret for 15 years…
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I got two kittens where they were only a few days old and we ended up naming the female Bishop and the male Queenie! You just never know and when you finally figure it out, it’s too late. Bishop turned out to be the nicest cat I’ve ever own and like you I had to leave her behind. It’s been well over a year and I still miss her.
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That’s cute! What a cute cat! I wish mine would let me take pictures of her.
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