Tag Archives: cat lady life

In Memoriam

Last week was one of those weeks. It started with our oldest son having a health scare which entailed us making a quick trip to South Carolina. Fortunately, our son is fine. After we got home, our over-the-range microwave died. While we were dealing with the replacement of the microwave, which was much more time-consuming than it should have been, it became obvious that it was time to say goodbye to one of our cats.

When we moved into our home almost 6 years ago, Stumpie was a feral cat. It didn’t take him long to learn that we had a steady supply of food and water for our outside cats and any other critters that wanted to partake. Stumpie became a regular fixture in our yard. He didn’t trust us and would run off if we got too close. Over time, he wouldn’t run as far. Then, he began trying to befriend our cats and was rewarded when Roscoe took him under his wing (leg?) and they became besties.

All this time, he was watching Kenn and I and saw us interact with the other cats. After 3 years, he decided to take a chance on trust and love and gave me the honor of selecting me as his person. He decided that he enjoyed being petted but didn’t want to see my hand during the process. So, when Stumpie would come to me for attention, he would turn his back to me so he could enjoy pets without seeing my hand.

Over the past couple of months, Stumpie had developed a problem that I knew would eventually lead to his demise. Last week, it was time to let him go. As I have done with all of my furbabies, I held him and told him how much I loved him as he left this world.

It’s hard going to a home that no longer has Stumpie in it. He’s no longer be there to greet me with his gravelly voice and weave between my ankles as I shower him with attention. He’s no longer there to escort me to the food dish and to carefully turn his back on me so I can pet him.

All pets leave a hole in our hearts when they pass, but for some that hole is a little bit larger. I miss you Stumpie. Home just isn’t the same without you.

Here We Go Again

Y’all know I love cats and that we’re a multi-cat family; a few of our furry kids make regular appearances here. However, y’all don’t know how we became a multiple cat family. It wasn’t by design and we’ve never gone to a shelter/animal rescue to adopt a cat. We haven’t had to; the cats find us. My family “blames” me; they say I have a “cat gene” that attracts cats. While it may not be due to a gene exactly, cats do like me and will frequently seek me out.

Meet Smokey

Kenn and I recently spent a couple of an hours at a nursery researching varieties of Japanese maples. Smokey, the cat shown above, belongs to the nursery owners. According to them, she’s an old lady who is half blind and hard of hearing. However, she could see well enough to spot me across the parking lot and make a beeline to me. She allowed me to pet her before she walked away only to come back for a little more attention. Much to Kenn’s dismay, she wouldn’t have anything to do with him, LOL. She also wouldn’t let me photograph her from the front.

For a while we were members of what we called “The Cat of the Year” club. Every year, usually in June or July, another cat would show up. I rescued a kitten in the church parking lot where it had apparently hitched a ride in the engine of someone’s car. We found another in the middle of a busy road – after straddling him with our car. Fortunately, our CotY membership seemed to expire after a few years. For now, we have an aging clowder with ages ranging from 3-14. Or, that was the age range until last week.

My coworker and I were in the woods getting dirt for a research project when she stopped and said, “Is that a cat?” I listened and yes, it was a cat – a kitten to be exact – and it was yelling for us. We both dropped our shovels and went searching. Not too far from where we were working I saw a small calico face peering out of the brush. It didn’t take too long to coax her to me.

Shortly after the rescue operation

The fact that this baby was friendly in spite of being terrified means one of two things: That section of the agricultural center isn’t far from a road, so she either wandered across the road, got through the fence and got lost or, someone dumped her. Either way, she knows people.

Kenn wasn’t working that day and since we live near the agricultural center, I called and asked him to bring a carrier which he did – all while grumbling about another cat. I assured him that I just wanted to take her to the vet to make sure she was okay and then find a home for her. While my coworker and I were waiting on Kenn to arrive, other coworkers wandered by. At least two said they would have just left her in the woods. Y’all, I am just not wired that way and neither is my co-rescuer. (She has already rescued two other kittens this year.) I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had left her in the woods.

Kenn and I took her to the vet the next day. She got a clean bill of health and her first kitten shots. The funny thing is, neither of us, not even Mr. Oh-no-not-another-kitten, have even talked about finding her another home. We just added her to our clowder. Yep, Kenn’s as big a sucker for a cat as I am even though he tries to hide it. So, everyone meet Roxie!

Roxie

Do you have any pets? If so, are any of them rescues?

Friday Funnies

When Cricket was a kitten we had to hide the toilet paper in all bathrooms because any roll left out would get shredded within an inch of its life. She eventually outgrew that particular obsession, but even now, as a senior kitty, occasionally the old urges return. Here, she is sleeping the sleep of the righteous after destroying the paper that was in the box with my new work boots.