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Hemingway's Cats
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
17 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
Ernest Hemingway always had cats as companions, from the ones he adored as a child in Illinois and Michigan, to the more than 30 he had as an adult in Paris, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho. All are chronicled and most are pictured here, along with revelations of how they fit into the many twists and turns of his life and loves. In 1943 Ernest Hemingway, living in the Finca in Cuba with his third wife and eleven cats, wrote to his first wife: One cat just leads to another. . . . The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you see them all moving like a mass migration at feeding time. He called the cats purr factories and love sponges who soaked up love in return for comfort and companionship. He gave each a name that suited its character, including F. Puss, Fatso, Friendless, Feather Kitty, Princessa, Furhouse, Uncle Woofer, and his last cat in Idaho, Big Boy Peterson. You'll also meet his nine dogs, a cow, and a young great horned owl that he rescued not long before his death. Hemingway's Cats reveals a softer side to the writer's character than is usually portrayed by the macho image of the hunter and fisherman. He sought the cats' comfort in times of loneliness and stress, and he featured some of them in his writings, particularly in A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, The Garden of Eden, and True at First Lightall written late in his life and as close to autobiography as he came.
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KimM
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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The Hemingway Home museum in Key West boasts that he wrote 70% percent of his novels there. I really just visit because of the cats. 😻

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KimM
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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I was in Key West last week and visited the 6-toed cats ❤️❤️❤️. This black and white one is always in Hemingway‘s master bedroom.

CouronneDhiver Oh ya ... I forgot about his cats! 6y
ValerieAndBooks I have a picture of the bed and pretty sure this cat was on it also 😹! 6y
KimM I know! My picture of the bed from 2 years ago has this cat in it @ValerieAndBooks Must be his territory. 6y
22 likes3 comments
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Mimi28
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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Kinda book related, lol The cable on my tv was out for 2 days from what turned out to be #Ozzie ‘s six/thumb claw stepping on the input button of the actual tv remote which is in his direct path to get to his favorite spot in my room, the bookcase!!

Mimi28 He‘s sooo lucky I‘m too tired to process this, lol. I have been sleep deprived for 2 days because I need my BabyTv at night!! Little goof ball and his thumb!! Lolol 😹😹😸😺😼🙀😾 6y
Soubhiville Ha! Love those extra toes! 6y
Mimi28 @Soubhiville lol yep!! Scratch your 2 cat‘s chins for me! 6y
tammysue Lol cute! 😹😻😻 6y
Mimi28 @whatshesreadingnow Thanks!! 😻😻 6y
58 likes5 comments
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Samplergal
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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One of the descendants of Ernest Hemingway‘s original cat. Six ( or more) toes. Because there aren‘t enough odd cats on Litsy. #catsofLitsy

TheWordJar Ooh, the Hemingway House in Key West is my favorite! Persuaded my husband to tour it with me on our honeymoon! (And he‘s allergic to cats!) (edited) 6y
amb I catsit for one of those! 6y
Samplergal @TheWordJar He‘s a keeper. Yes the cats were in their glory today. I love cats but don‘t have any bc kids were allergic. We got to see some 9 week old kittens. 6y
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Samplergal @amb really? How cool. Is he also a grand cat of Hemingway ? 6y
amb @samplergal If I ask the owner, the legend of her origins would be volumes. So I will just say probably 6y
Samplergal @amb 😂😂😂 6y
SledgeReader Thanks for sharing! I‘ve always wanted to see one in person. 6y
rustoryhuf We had a six toed cat once...one of the strangest cats I‘ve ever met 🤪 6y
EclecticBookLover Aww! I visited the Hemingway House on my honeymoon and it was such a cool place! Loved seeing all the cats 😻 6y
113 likes9 comments
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LeahBergen
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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#ShesGotClaws (and sometimes an extra claw or two 😉).
#NuYear

LauraBrook 😂😂 7y
Mommamanzi They are the coolest. I was so worried about them when the hurricane came through in September! 7y
DebinHawaii Purrfect! 😹😹😹 7y
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merelybookish Hemingway's cats > Hemingway! 7y
LeahBergen @Mommamanzi I was, too! 7y
LeahBergen @merelybookish Exactly. 😆 7y
TrishB Great pick 👍🏻 looks like another fascinating book! 7y
Cathythoughts Oh this is a great one ✨✨😻 7y
101 likes9 comments
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Heatheringheights
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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All safe here in FL. Catching up on reading by daylight and flashlight.

rubyslippersreads So glad! 😸 7y
JazzFeathers Good! 😸 7y
18 likes2 comments
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rubyslippersreads
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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Just saw on Twitter that the Hemingway House and all feline and human inhabitants are safe. #hemingwaycats And for all Littens affected by #hurricaneirma, you stay safe too!

RealBooks4ever Thank you so much for posting this! 😻 7y
the-flashley I just saw this too. I'm so happy. I was there last year and it's such a special place. 😻😻😻 7y
Jess_Read_This ❤️Thank you so much for posting this! I've been thinking about those poor kitty cats today! 😻😻😻 7y
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Susannah Whew! Thank you for posting! What a relief everyone is ok. 7y
Lcsmcat I was wondering about the cats too. I was there a few years ago and the kitties were so sweet. 7y
LauraBrook I've been wondering about this all day! Thank you for posting!!! 7y
CouronneDhiver I was thinking about that too... such a charming place to visit 7y
LeahBergen Oh, good! 💕 7y
ValerieAndBooks Glad to know this! Visiting there is on my bucket list and hopefully soon. 7y
132 likes9 comments
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LauraJ
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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And here's The Great Pumpkin, my derpy boy, before he got cancer. He's hanging on, but he's really skinny now. #internationalcatday #catsoflitsy

Ubergeekygirl Look at it's extra toes!!! OMG so cute! 7y
kspenmoll What a beautiful cat. So sorry. 7y
AmyG I'm sorry. We lost our boy, Shaq, to cancer. 😪 7y
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rubyslippersreads 😻😻😻 7y
LauraBrook He's still so super handsome! 7y
Shortstack I'm so sorry!!! *hugs* 7y
60 likes6 comments
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OrangeMooseReads
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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Because cats and books go together and I'm in a bad mood so I need a smile.
(Picture from Pinterest)

AmyG 😻😻😻 7y
JoeStalksBeck I love this! 7y
JoeStalksBeck You should frame it 7y
45 likes3 comments
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AlexMay
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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Does anyone else like to draw? I really like these Seawhite of Brighton notebooks; They're half ruled and half plain. I'm not paid to promote them, I promise!

Maike Wow, great drawing! Looks like the Lying Cat from Saga 😄 (edited) 8y
Alfoster Wait. Did you draw that? It's awesome! 8y
AlexMay @Maike I keep meaning to read those. Just did a quick Google to see what you mean and you're right! 8y
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AlexMay @Alfoster Thank you! I did but from a photo. I'm not allowed pets in my apartment 😒 8y
cobwebmoth Beautiful drawing! 8y
AlexMay @cobwebmoth Thank you, very kind 🙂 8y
Moony Wow thats great! I draw a little bit too, more sketches than drawings like yours. 8y
LittleWonder Beautiful! I love to draw, sketch, and paint. 8y
AlexMay @Moony But how do you hold the pencil with only paws? 8y
AlexMay @LittleWonder Thanks! Do you ever post your art? 8y
LittleWonder I haven't yet, but maybe I will. 8y
Centique Wow! That is amazing 👍👍👍 8y
Moony @AlexMay mhh it's difficult. Perhaps it's the reason that my pics don't look like yours 😉 Do you have a twitter account or somethingelse? 8y
AlexMay @Centique 😋Thank you 8y
AlexMay @Moony haha! Yeah I'm Alexmayisok on Twitter. 8y
15 likes15 comments
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ChrisBohjalian
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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My lovely bride with four of our five cats on her or beside her tonight. #CatWhisperer

Zelma Yay cats! 😻 8y
Texreader 😻❤️ 8y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Heaven!!🐈 8y
72 likes3 comments
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LauraJ
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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@lemonlime799 , this is The Great Pumpkin! He's polydactyl and very sweet...but not very bright. #catsoflitsy

RadicalReader @LauraJ what's a Polydactyl? 8y
LauraJ @RadicalReader he has extra toes. 8y
RadicalReader @LauraJ oh nice how many toes does he have? 8y
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LauraJ @RadicalReader 22... one extra on each paw. 8y
DebinHawaii Love him! Polydactyls are so cool! 🐱❤️ 8y
DreesReads Awesome name 💕💕 8y
Dragon 😻 8y
CherylDeFranceschi So sweet! 8y
Luv2readbookz Polydactyls are the best. Our Smokey was one. And now we have two stinky sisters that are also polies. 😻 8y
LauraJ @Luv2readbookz Do they seem especially proud of their paws? 8y
tricours Ours is one too, he looks incredibly stupid when he runs! 8y
Texreader So precious!!! 8y
queerbookreader What a little ball of sunshine ☀️☀️ 8y
EloisaJames He's so beautiful!! 8y
SharonGoforth 😻😻 8y
Shortstack I so want a polydactyl cat! So cute!!! ❤❤❤ 8y
TheLibrarian My old cat used to have an extra toe and he wasn't the brightest either. ❤️ 8y
Luv2readbookz @LauraJ Yes, the girls are really proud of their toes. They stretch them out every chance they get. 😜 8y
57 likes18 comments
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Nonaroo
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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And finally, Miss Molly Mamoo. She is Bert's sister. She is very special to me. She was really sick when we adopted her. The shelter didn't do a great job of making sure she was eating and she lost a lot of weight, which was starting to adversely affect her liver. Six long weeks of a feeding tube and she finally ate on her own. She is plump and healthy now!! She is such a sweet cat. @lemonlime799

8little_paws Omg that face 😁 8y
Nonaroo @8little_paws She has the biggest eyes and her nose can get really pink. She's such a sweetie! 8y
Merethebookgal 😻❤ 8y
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Mimi28 Aaaaaawwww!!! ❤❤😻😻😻 8y
queerbookreader Eeeeeee such a cutie!! 💛💛 8y
36 likes6 comments
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ChrisBohjalian
Hemingway's Cats | Carlene Brennen
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So, I'm home. The last three weeks on the road were an absolute joy because of all of you. Thank you for joining me in four time zones and I can't recall how many cities. But I bow before all of you. Also? Funny Face has made it clear that I am going nowhere until Dallas in three weeks. Thank you again so very much.

Simona The cat with strong opinion 😻😻😻 8y
Bookzombie So sweet. 💕🐱 8y
Zelma 😻😂 a cat with conviction. How can you say no? 8y
Graciouswarriorprincess Aww how sweet!😻 8y
DebinHawaii Very sweet! 🐱❤️ 8y
72 likes5 comments