CELEBRATING THE PURRRFECT PET

They've been called aloof, mysterious, frisky and haughty. Ancient people believed they were gods. Others thought they harbored magical powers.

The nation's largest animal protection organizations have proclaimed 1993 the Year of the Cat.

Seems appropriate since cats now outnumber dogs in American households 58 million to 51 million, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

Perhaps feline friends are gaining popularity because they're independent and demand less from owners already stretched for time.

Or perhaps it's because they retain so much of the wild. After all, dogs have been domesticated for almost 16,000 years, but cats have been sharing our hearths for only 4,000 years.

The appeal, cat lovers say, is that cats are each unique and very individual.

Ask Cape Girardeau cat fan Ritha Hacker. She and her husband Paul have five cats. "We never intended to have five cats, but they took our hearts," she said.

The cats joined the Hacker family one by one.

"Lucy is the oldest. We found her at the Humane Society. She has been with us 10 or 15 years. She comes from the era when we always kept just one cat," Ritha Hacker said. "She's the special baby here and rules the roost."

When Hacker quit working about four years ago, the cats began to mount up. "I started noticing the strays. In the last four years we have added four cats," she said.

"We weren't looking to have cats but there are so many that need homes. But this is our limit."

Another of the cats joined the family when elderly neighbors of the Hackers died and left Sweetie Pie in their care.

Hacker thought Scutter, a kitten, might make a nice pet for another neighbor. But she ended up with the Hackers instead.

"Biggie, he just showed up and was very demanding. He demanded me to take him in. He was terrible. He bit my ankles. Of all the cats I've ever known, Biggie was the only one I didn't take to right away."

"But," she said, "it was amazing what love and Friskies can do. When he was able to relax and had some love, Biggie turned out to be a great cat."

Romeo is the newest addition. "He showed up and was persistent too," Hacker said. "At first I thought he must have another home. But finally I decided if he did, it wasn't a very good one."

He was named Romeo because he often left for days on romantic adventures when he first arrived.

Hacker quickly had the cat neutered. "It was amazing how once he was neutered he became healthy and happy and settled right in."

The cats get along as well as any five very different personalities can be expected to, Hacker said.

"We have a beautiful situation with Biggie and Scutter a full-grown male took that little female kitten under his wing. They are such good pals. It's amazing."

Sweetie Pie, an only cat for so long, isn't thrilled with being part of a big family. Lucy, Hacker said, would prefer to have the house to herself also.

Romeo seems to get along with everyone.

Hacker said the cats have free run of the house.

"They get to do just whatever they want. We do have one rule. They come in at bedtime. I want them safe and I want them to rest."

They just snicker about that. "We realize we are not large disciplinarians with the cats, but maybe a good cat is a spoiled cat," she said.

The Hackers have never owned dogs, but she always makes sure the strays get back home or to the shelter. Puppies haven't found a way into the family yet.

"The drawing card for me with cats is the heart," Hacker said. "I feel I understand them and just care about them. They are comical and interesting. Each one is so unique. I just appreciate so much having a chance to take care of them."

Lea Anne Casteel and her husband Jim own The Cat House, a new business dedicated to felines.

The business grew out of their fondness for their own cat. "We knew there were a lot of people who were really cat fans, and we thought that if other people liked their cats as well as we do they would be interested in things for their cats," she said.

Most folks tend to be cat people or dog people, Casteel said. "We have a few customers who have both cats and dogs, but usually cat people just own cats. And a lot of times people who own a cat will own more than one.

"Each cat is so unique and such an individual," Casteel said. "They are so independent and yet so loving."

Cats are sometimes discriminating. "My cat at home hates everyone. We have cats at the store and they like some people and not others," Casteel said.

"Dogs will come up to anyone and pant and beg `pet me, pet me.'"

An advantage cats have over dogs these days is their low-maintenance requirements. "With most couples both working, no one has time to be walking the dog three or four times a day," she said.

"With cats, you put out the food and water. They know where the litter box is and they already have the whole house."

But, Casteel said, "It's really wrong to say you are a cat owner. You co-exist with your cat."