The adopted pet stories... cats

[Guest guest]

 

    Cats!  Just about my favorite subject (next to reading recipes--LOL!)

 

     My DH and I are " empty-nesters " now, but we have a " family " of four adult

cats.  Every one of them were strays, abandoned(s) or " found(s) " .  Two actually

were supposed to belong to each of our 2 daughters, but when they left home at

different times, the cats stayed here. 

 

     Two other cats were found together the first fall we lived here by my

younger DD and myself as we were out driving in the country one Sunday evening

and saw a batch of little animals in the road.  They turned out to be a litter

of tiny kittens someone had just " dumped " ; they were wild, but DD and I caught 2

of them in a box and brought them home.

(I was sure there were 3 to be honest, but we never found the third one; it was

almost dark and it ran off into the roadside weeds and hid from us.)

 

     Our two youngest ( " found on the road " ) cats are 2 males--we suppose they

are " brothers " --Pip (the " Pipsqueak " smallest), a short-haired white cat with

the funniest black facial markings--he looks like a little kid in a pirate

costume!  He has a black tail and little " horn-like " black marks at the base of

his ears, a streak on the back of his head and a " little spook " black swirl over

one eye.  He is spooked by every noise there is and is the last one to get food

because the others always crowd him, no matter if they each have their own

dish.  We almost called him, " Wimpie " --but if he sees another cat outdoors thru

our patio window, " Pip " is the one who YOWLS the loudest!

 

     The brother of Pip is " Tiger " (I think he's my favorite!).  He is white

with " ginger " (orange) markings over his eyes, on his back, and his tail...and

he has only 3 legs.  (Long story, but when we found him, he limped.  The vet

said it was due to radial nerve damage, not a broken bone.  I bandaged his

paralyzed foot for almost 3 years--he would rub the skin raw without a bandage

because he ran on the back of his ankle.)  By the 3rd year, I finally gave in

and let the vet amputate the front right leg.  You would hardly know Tiger is

" handicapped " --he does everything any other cat does, except run on the

now-missing front leg!  He climbs, jumps, RUNS like nobody's business!  And he

is such a sweet, smart, cuddly cat!

 

     We have a glossy black shorthair female with a white " button " at her

throat.  That's our " Wednesday " (named after " Wednesday " from the " Addams

Family " !)  She is now 11, and still a dainty little thing--though she gets a bit

fatter every winter!  She was a tiny kitten hiding out in our dog's house (when

we had a dog).  We had brought the dog indoors for the winter--it was just

before Thanksgiving and there was this little abandoned kitten staying in the

dog house.  My younger daughter wanted a cat of her own, so we reluctantly

allowed her to keep ( " him " ). 

 

      We thought she was a he at first.  Our 2 daughters named the new cat

" Philippe " --but had to change it after a month or two when " Philippe " went into

heat for the first time!  LOL!

Of course, we got Wednesday spayed and she's been a charming, though always

somewhat nervous member of our family ever since!  (We think she was abused,

because she loves to be cuddled, but sudden moves make her jumpy!)

 

     And, we have " Trixie " , our oldest and dearest of the cat-clan.  She RULES

the roost!

Trix is, we believe, a Maine Coon--very impressive in itself...AND, she is a

beautiful " tortie " (tortoise-shell).  She is the grand DIVA of all the cats

here.  And SO smart!  No other cat will sit on the small step-stool in the

kitchen, meow-ing insistently for some attention.  But what she wants is for you

to FOLLOW her...and she will lead to something:

a litter-box that needs scooping...a new potted plant that wasn't there

before...a floor lamp that has a frayed cord--you didn't know it but TRIX seems

to have figured it out already!

When we had a pet rabbit, she knew when the rabbit's food or water was empty and

she (Trixie) would jump on the piano and walk noisily on the keys until someone

came out to see what was going on--and once the rabbit got her food or water

refilled, Trixie would stop and go about her own business!

 

    I have told my sister numerous instances of the things Trixie has " showed

me " --she thinks I ought to write to one of those Animal Planet TV shows or

something.  AWWW...

You can't usually make a cat " perform " on command, but I am so often amazed by

this smart, sweet cat.  All I have to do when she is meowing at me for attention

is walk up close to her and say, " Show me, Trixie! " --she turns tail and " leads

the way " --always to something that she wants me to do some thing about.  (She

has " ratted out " one or more of the other kitties for peeing on furniture at

times!  She " showed " me a barfed-up hairball on the carpet another time.  It's

funny and pretty amazing!)

 

     So, those are my " cat " stories.  They were all " foundlings " and we just

could not part with them now!  (Sorry, this was not a story about food or

vegetarianism--just our own pet stories!)   Well, now that I think of it, our

Trixie always liked cooked broccoli, and sometimes green beans.  We don't give

her those very often, though--she's 13 now and more finicky.  She loves to " ask "

for a snif of something I am making in the kitchen--a delicate sniff or two is

all she wants, not to eat any of it, just out of curiosity.

 

     Tiger used to be my tofu-eater.  He always seemed to know when I was

opening a container of tofu and came round to meow plaintively for a tiny

tid-bit. But, alas!  Last summer, Tiger got a urinary infection while we had a

pet-sitter and after a LOT of visits to the vet and a critical situation...they

found he was almost all blocked up and had urinary crystals formed...he has to

stay on a certain kind of cat food and " nothing else " ,. according to the

vet--for the rest of his life.  She (vet) also wanted me to never let him out of

the house, either, but my cats are all indoor-outdoor cats and, while I complied

with this during the time Tiger was on meds and was recovering from the

infection, I did begin to let him go outside, once he graduated to the

" maintenance " cat-food.  I was just scared to pieces, thinking I could lose him

in the first place--he is just my sweet " little guy " and I totally dote on

him!   So, unfortunatley, I don't

" treat " him to bits of tofu anymore--(sigh!)

 

 

 

We love those warm " furries " !

--Laura B., in Illinois