Call me Baggy. You will quickly learn that my mommy human has a million names for me, like The Big Black cat, Bagheera, Baggy, Bagster, and Weezil. If you call me by those names, I won’t come. You call me Baggy.

Even then, I probably won’t listen.

I was adopted (that’s what they think) by my humans 6 months after they lost their beloved Shadow. Shadow’s roomate, Gidget seemed to be depressed, she knew him a real long time. So, the humans went to PetSmart to find me. I was only 5 and a half months old, and had that dorky long-legged big-nosed kitty thing going on. For a cat, I was young but smart. I knew that I was getting older and older cats don’t adopt out as readily as those younger cuter kittens. So, when I saw Kathy, I smelled cat-lady and stretched my paw out to greet her. “Choose ME!” “Look at my handsome potential!”

But then she saw the little ones. Oh no! Don’t go over there! I must work fast! So, I pawed her again. “Hey, Lady! They’re too young! You want ME!”

And just as expected, the two tap worked. They took me to my “furrever” home.

It’s been a good life. There have been lots of ups and a few downs. I had a great roommate with Gidget. She was a wise old

gal. I was sorry to see her go. Going to the vet isn’t really my cup of tea. But, my humans provide me with all sorts of good food and toys. And attention.

More importantly, I have them trained well. It didn’t take me long at all. Kathy anticipates my every MEOW. She’s quite kind and attentive. I like that in a human. The other one isn’t bad either.

I’ve grown over the years too. I’m as big as my personality, weighing in at nearly 20 lbs. But, I’m working on getting my beach figure back. The vet says a cat my size just doesn’t look good in a speedo.

With all the fun things for me to tear up, I do stay active with plenty of toys and yarn. What cat doesn’t like yarn? I especially like to help Kathy when she’s working on something by latching on to the ball of yarn and pretend I’m a soccer star. I get some exercise and she doesn’t have to unroll the ball. It’s really a win-win if you think about it.

I also like to pretend I’m a dog. I get Kathy to put a leash on me and take me outside for a walk. We don’t go too far. The traffic is very busy on our street and I don’t like to wander too far from the couch or a lap, or a box, or ball of yarn.

Most days, I’m pretty happy to help Kathy get up on time to open a can of cat food. She calls it “mouse.” I’ve never seen one, but my instincts tell me they don’t come in a can. And then it’s off to work where I get to unroll balls of yarn, warm laptops, inspect boxes, and shred packing materials.

In Memoriam
August 22, 2020

4 years ago, I started YarnKat, not knowing where I was going with it. But one thing I knew, Baggy would be by my side throughout this process. He was my inspiration for the blog and website, he would be the YarnKat star.

Sadly that star has diminished. Baggy passed away suddenly on May 28th 2020. I noticed over Memorial Day weekend, his heart was racing, lots of little pants. On Wednesday, I called the vet. Due to covid-19, we could not be in the room with him during his exam. He was going into heart failure. After an hour at emergency, I deemed it necessary that we take him home. I did not want him to be alone in an unfamiliar place. Within 12 hours of diagnosis, Baggy was gone.

My big black cat, who adopted us 14 years ago was gone before we could prepare ourselves. A big piece of my heart went with him. For a couple of weeks, I swear I could still hear him meowing. It seemed that Gizmo, his roommate, would hear sounds that I could not hear. I think Baggy was still here, in spirit, to help me get through this sad process.

Baggy will always be the original YarnKat.

In 2021, Gizmo will make his debut as the junior mascot.
After all, Baggy cannot be replaced.