Life Lessons from Josie the Tortoiseshell Cat

She lives life her way

Christine Schoenwald
6 min readApr 20, 2020

--

Josie photo by Christine Schoenwald

If you have a tortoiseshell cat, you know that they’re not like any other cat. They have very distinct and diva-ish personalities. To fully appreciate them and understand their wisdom, you must live with a tortie.

Josie has taught me a lot in the three years that she’s lived with us, and it would be selfish of me to keep those lessons to myself.

First some basic information about tortoiseshell cats, and how we got Josie.

Tortoiseshell isn’t a breed of cat; it’s a descriptor of their multi-colored fur which is a mixture of brown, black, orange, and gold. Many people mix up tortoiseshell cats for calico cats, but the main difference is that calico cats have more white fur than the torties.

I’ve had cats my entire life, but I never had a tortoiseshell cat before Josie. If I’m being honest, I thought they were kind of funny looking — I know. Thank goodness Josie came into my life or I would have missed out on how fabulous they are.

My mother is the eccentric cat lady of her town and has two indoor cats, six feral cats that she takes care of, and one dog. Everyone knows if you find a stray animal, you can drop them off at my mother’s house.

--

--

Christine Schoenwald
Christine Schoenwald

Written by Christine Schoenwald

Writer for The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Next Avenue, Business Insider, and Your Tango Christineschoenwaldwriter.com

Responses (3)