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Wednesday 6 February 2008

Year of the Cat

Tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese New Year. It is also the first day of the Year of the Rat, the first of the cycle of 12 zodiac animal years. There are several legends as to why the rat got to occupy the first place and there is no Year of the Cat. One of the most popular is:

The rat was given the task of inviting the animals to report to the Jade Emperor for a banquet to be selected for the zodiac signs. The cat was a good friend of the rat, but the rat tricked him into believing that the banquet was the next day. The cat slept through the banquet, thinking that it was the next day. When he found out, the cat vowed to be the rat's natural enemy for ages to come.


There are others but all involve the duplicity of the rat cheating on the cat.

Therefore, I propose that all kitties should demand their rightful place after suffering this injustice for over 3000 years. Henceforth, the first year of the zodiac cycle should replaced by the Year of the Cat. The rat should be relegated to its rightful place - to be hunted by us and played as a toy.


All those who agree should raise their paws and mieow 'YAY' and post the above pic in their blog.


28 comments:

Jan Price said...

Hey, Momo, We hope your mom is feeling much better today.

jans funny farm

Diamond Emerald-Eyes said...

Actually, I had done a post on this earlier this year. There were no domestic cats at the time that the Chinese zodiac was set...

There is a year of the Tiger, which has to serve for the year of the cat.

Angel MoMo and Charlotte said...

Diamond emerald-eyes pointed out that there were no domestic cats at the time the Chinese zodiac was set.

Okeedokee, in this day and age of democracy we should take a vote as to whether the kitties should have their own year in lieu of the rat or such mythical thing as the dragon.

Artsy Catsy said...

Big YAYS and paw raises from all of us, MoMo!

And thanks for boosting my spirits while my mom has deserted me. I'd poop on her pillow, but that's where I sleep.

Rocky

Gemini and Ichiro said...

In some versions of the Chinese Zodiac the year of the rabbit is referred to as the year of the Cat.

Angel MoMo and Charlotte said...

Chey - the Vietnamese version of the zodiac cycle has the Cat instead of the Rabbit, not the Chinese. Paws up for the Vietnamese although I would rather get rid of the rat than the bunny.

Dr Tweety of da Fab Five said...

Momo,

oooooh, RATS??? Yummy. (oops, I guess I should not consider my stomach when it iz plainly meant fur good fortune & so forth.)

Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and Chloe said...

That's a great idea Momo. Let's here it for the year of the Cat!

Charlotte said...

Hey cuz -Paws up! Democracy should be in place and Year of the domestic Cat is 2008!

Back to normality in the household. SMS decided that some kitty litter would be better than me peeing in the drain. I now have a kitty litter tray. You should come over and check it out. I have used it a bit cause it has been quite rainy
Charlotte x

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

We love the idea of 2008 being the year of the CAT. Mommy doesn't like rats, so we are sure she will be fine with it too.

~Socks, Scylla & Charybdis

PS We wish we could have went to Rio with you but bad Mommy didn't give us the invite until this morning. We guess that is what happens when Mommy's get obsessed with cleaning. At least we have a clean house.

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

Oh MoMo, I just saw where you responded to my looking for a sweetheart entry. I was beginning to think no one would. And I didn't dare to hope that you would. You are such a lovely lady and so exciting. You could be just what I need to bring me out of my shell.

I would love to get together with you, and see where things go.

~Socks

Unknown said...

We definitely agree that this should be the Year of the CAT. (Momma does too, cuz she was born in the year of the Rat and she like cats better) We should write to the Chinese congress (do they have a congress?) and get the calendar fixed!!!

Tybalt said...

Paws up!

This reminded mommy of the anime and manga series she loves . . . Fruits Basket. Its main character is all about having a Year of the Cat, and the legend makes her cry!

I think after V-Day I should review the series for the rest of you kitties . . . and I will definitely get mum to put this on my blog for me.

Zippy, Sadie, Speedy and M'Gee said...

::waving six paws in the air:: Yay!

Daisy said...

We deserve our own year!

Anonymous said...

It's always the year of the cat at the Yellow House!

PB 'n J said...

That's funny Momo! But we have to stick with the year of the rat, cause our Mommy was born in the year of the rat, and well, rats are tasty. Let's take over another year, like the dog or the rooster (we love chicken)!

Mr. Hendrix said...

mmmmm rats mmmmmm this is so very very good. i'd love have a rat at a banquet. heh heh heh

i think we need a domestic cat year!

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

Hi MoMo, I would love to go hunting with you. What is the weather like where you live? It is wet and cold here.

Purrs, Socks

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

MoMo, I tagged you for a Meme.
http://alasandra2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/socks-was-tagged-for-meme.html

~Socks

Sassy Kat said...

That was good information and I must agree with ya that enough is enough with the rat. Yay for the kitties!!!!!

Islay said...

Happy New Year, Momo! And you tell that rat who's boss (I bet he runs the other way when he sees you!)

lickies
-Charlie

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

I have managed to sneak away from the girls and am teleporting over MoMo. We will have so much fun exploring your neighborhood and when it starts to get dark at your house we can teleport to my house and I will show you the butterfly garden (it's not very pretty right now, but it will be soon), the pond and the woods. ~Socks

Angel MoMo and Charlotte said...

Welcome to my garden. It has actually stopped raining today but the ground is still a bit wet.

Let's go up to the Jacarenda tree and we can survey the place. Next door has a swimming pool which is not cat friendly but the people are pretty nice. They don't mind us wandering around at all.

If it starts raining we can sit on my garden lounge. SS has left out some dry biscuit and water.

The Jasmine tree is flowering and so are the roses. Do you like eating flowers? Have to look out for the thorns on the rose bushes.
Plenty of lizards around and some butterflies and only a few birdies. They are fun to stalk.

Kate (Pablo's mum) said...

Yay, yay, YAY!!! Goodbye rats, hello cats!!! I say we reclaim the Year of the Cat as well as having the Year of the Tiger... or maybe we should keep the year of the rat and celebrate it by seeing how many rats we can eat in that year. It shouldn't be too hard. I heard a rat expert on the radio this morning say that at any given moment, the average Australian is no more than 5 metres away from a rat.... makes me drool just thinking about it!

Boy said...

Yay! Our year! Happy Chinese New Year.

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

Sitting in the Jacarenda tree with you was tons of fun. We do not have Jacarenda trees where I live.

It was nice to see butterflies again. They haven't come back to where I live because it is still too cold for them. And what fun I had stalking birds and lizards with you.

The sun is out and Mommy has left some dry cat food and water out in case we get hungry. So teleport on over when you can. We can sit in our huge live oak tree for awhile.

~Socks

Samantha & Mom said...

We are with you on this one Momo! We'll put it on our blog, too! Cats Rule!!
Your FL furiends,