Friday cat blogging

It's hard to get a good photo of Rogue because she has such strange markings: in most photos, she appears as a dark lump. When she was kitten, she looked just exactly like a drowned rat. My daughter used to carry her into the house, dangling limply, and say, "Look, Maw, what I found down in the creek."

As a kitten, she was quite affectionate. When I'd be up late in the cold house, grading papers after the kids and my husband had gone to sleep, I'd put her inside my shirt and tuck it in, and she'd keep me warm. When she'd squirm and flip around, it was just like being pregnant.

As an adult, though, Rogue is not a particularly affectionate cat. She spends most of her time outside, coming in mostly to eat. She keeps to herself, an introvert amongst the cats in the household, and she will hiss at anyone who does not respect her space. She is not a cat to be trifled with. Our vet claims that she is the only cat who has ever bit him.