For Cat Lovers Everywhere

Well, even if you are not cat lovers you can get over it ! I did.


This morning my niece sent me a picture of her two cats. Their names are Otis and Miss Ellie. One is black and the other one is white with a touch of black. She told about their favorite thing to do was catch varmints and bring them in to her and her husband at 3:00 in the morning.!

I told her I only had one cat, and then I began remembering how many cats we have had over the years. The first was a white kitten for my daughter, after she begged and played on my guilt. It was a cute little kitten but was the bane of my existence when I was standing at the sink washing dishes. It was great sport for him to jump at my heels and scratch them. I can do just so much dancing while standing at the sink so I was not pleased with this aspect of having a kitten. We were living in Maryland at the time and a heavy snowfall came one evening. Little Kitty was out that night. Kitty did not return home. I learned that in the heavy snow this poor kitten was out in the road and being white could not be seen. So, he met the same fate as the opossums do in our area here in Ga.



The next time that kittens appeared in our household was around 1990. I was in a second marriage and my husband came home with two little kittens. A farmer near by had given them to him. I was overcome with a "hissy fit" and demanded they be returned. I relented however when he said he took them as it gave him comfort to have them around. He was losing his eyesight and had been told by Emory's best doctors that he would soon be completely blind. I cannot imagine how it would be to lose one's eyesight. I am very visual and for that to be taken away is more than I could bear. Those two cats lived outside and my only complaint was that they dug in my garden.


My husband built a unique feeding station for them. We had a double trunked hickory tree out back. He made a platform which was wedged between and around the trees. It was high enough that our dog could not reach it. The cats could scamper up the trunk and feed whenever they wanted. It was a win, win, situation. I did not know it at the time but they also were keeping away other critters that I would really not like. As outside cats tend to do, they "came missing" at some point. Since my husband was no longer here I did not seek out replacements.


As time went by and I was enjoying retirement , my neighbor called me . He had a feral cat on his property and she had given birth to a litter of kittens. She had sought out a safe spot for the birth, under his shed. He had a dog and knew this situation could not exist for long. He wanted me to take the last two of the kittens. I told him I just did not want to do that, but he came over with these two little fur balls anyway. He proposed that after they were weaned I keep them to catch mice around the place. I protested I did not know what to do with two kittens and did not want them. He was so desperate to find a home that he said he would come over every day and help me "tame" them. I did have a screened in porch and plenty of land where they could hunt. Finally, I again relented and agreed to take on two cats. He kept his word , came over every day ,picked them up and petted them.

One of the cats I named "Spitfire" as he would spit at you if you picked him up. I was intimated but not my neighbor. He just took his big hands and picked him up and petted him anyway. He told me that this kitten had been traumatized by his dog while just a few days old. Spitfire had ended up in his dog's mouth. The other cat had two black ears that looked like a butterfly so I named him "Butterfly". I got into the whole cat thing, with a litter box on my screened porch. For three weeks they lived on this porch, never leaving. Then gradually, I took them outside for a little bit at a time. This took a while as they felt secure on the porch. It had been their home. They ate, played and slept there, so naturally they felt safe there.


The personalities began to come forth. Spitfire was wiry and agile and alert at every change; Butterfly was laid back and gentle, content to just be a lazy cat. I had both of them neutered so the difference was just in their genetic nature. they both turned out to be great hunters however and kept my garden vole free. No small fete when you have a lot of land. I learned to tolerate the digging and tried to make my garden "cat proof".
My brother from Va. came to visit while I had these two cats. He noticed that Spitfire was climbing the outside wall to peer into my kitchen. He proposed to build a platform for them to sit on and watch me working in the kitchen. This proved to be great sport for him and for all of my visitors. True to his nature Spitfire just had to see what I was doing indoors.


I think some kind of change was taking place in Butterfly as he would follow me into my raised bed vegetable garden. As I worked he would try to scratch me as I dug with my trowel. One serious scratch sent me to my doctor for treatment. My vet said I may have to get rid of Butterfly if this behavior continued. I was reluctant to do that. As I stated earlier, cats sometimes "go missing". This happened to Butterfly. He had gone away before and always returned but his time he did not. So, now I was down to one cat.


My sister and her family were here visiting. Her son asked me if Spitfire ever brought gifts to me as, in mice he had caught. I told him no, he never had. A short time after this as my guests were leaving by way of the back door Spitfire appeared and at his feet was a small mouse. He turned his head and looked up at me as if to say " Well, I finally am bringing you a gift". My guests left and so did Spitfire. Some time during the day he just did not return to the house. My house is surrounded by woods in all directions. He could have gone anywhere. He was an old cat but still skittish. Perhaps it was his "time" to go.


That fall I planted 100 bulbs in my front flower bed. Only 50 came up in the spring. What I did find was plenty of holes left by voles. With no cats to keep them at bay, they had been feasting all winter below ground on those succulent bulbs. So, Spitfire and Butterfly had been earning their keep. I had just not realized how valuable they were.


Do I want another cat. Well, noooooooo ! But I do recognize their value, as companion, varmint catcher, entertainers and sometimes just interesting as character studies.