Caturday felid trifecta: Stray cats inspire Vietnamese psychiatrist to resume writing poetry; presents for a giant cat; cat on the catwalk

From Lancaster Online we have a heartwarming story about how cats (who are of course furry psychiatrists) helped a psychiatrist find himself. Click on the screenshot to read:

The backstory:

For nearly 30 years, the right words — lyrical words, words arranged just-so to capture a moment in time — escaped Dr. Nhien D. Nguyen. A poet in his native Vietnam, Nguyen could no longer write after he fled to the U.S. in the waning days of the Vietnam War, separating temporarily from his infant son and giving up a burgeoning career as a pediatrician. Even as he embraced the English language, sat for medical equivalency exams and became a psychiatrist in his new home of Pennsylvania, Nguyen never found the inspiration to write again.

Then a stray cat showed up, then another, and then another, until the Nguyens had nine cats. And then the poetry began flowing!

Ashes, a gray cat with the bushy mane and tail of a Maine coon, was followed by seven other felines, including five kittens who refused to be rehomed. Each new cat sparked its own tales of woe, resourcefulness, bonding, fear and, ultimately, love. Nguyen’s observations of the mini colony form the basis of his self-published poetry collection, “Cat Paradise.”

The book, featuring 230 poems, is now available at Amazon.com, Walmart.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Growing up in rural Vietnam, Nhien Nguyen had no pets, just a cat that wandered around his home and chased rats. Now the Nguyens’ backyard, complete with tennis court and koi ponds, also features elaborate outdoor cat housing that stretches the length of their deck.

When a cat is sick (or when the kittens needed neutering), the Nguyens wrangle them into a carrier and get them to a veterinarian. When the cat parents leave town, their human son steps in to care for the felines.

The cats’ foibles have inspired family fun and fun tales, many of which are available on PoemHunter.com. Nguyen has posted about 750 limerick-style poems there, many of them about noncat topics.

Here’s one I’ll put up:

Two cats look at each other
They see each other through a glass door
The gray cat is inside looking out
The white cat is outside looking in.

One cat starts meowing
The other cat meows in replying.
Both cats are meowing
Who understands what they’re saying?

One cat meows again
While rubbing its snout on the glass.
The other cat does the same.
Both cats simultaneously meow.

These two cats rest happily.
They blink their eyes at each other.
They wag their tails like a feather.
Then they stop meowing.

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From Korea we hear of a giant Norwegian Forest cat, “Gwangbok”, who’s too big to fit on most commercial cat beds and trees. Like most cats, GB seems to prefer the cardboard boxes than the cat items within them, but finally takes to his new present—an extra large cat bed. The d*g also gets a hammock.

Look at all those toys! These people obviously dote on their animals

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How appropriate: a cat on the catwalk! Clearly the animal distracts from the fashion, as who wants to see a bunch of dresses when you can watch a moggy lick his genitals onstage?

h/t: Jon, Amy, Nicole