Unique Times

With halloween coming I’m feeling nostalgic with my cats and have been wanting to share how I even started on the path with cats. I’ve never really been a cat person except for one that I fell in love with years ago that only lived a year and died of feline leukemia which was so sad.

Oh we’ve had a lot of cats or the kids did but I just wasn’t attached to any of them until more recently when we had a rat issue and my husband didn’t want to pay for an exterminator. Like I often do, I took the matter into my own hands and got 4 feral cats to do the job or so I thought.

Little did he know this would be the most expensive proposition and he should have just paid for the exterminators. 😹🙀😻😺!

This is a little long and will have to be a 3 or 4 part series, but it’s Fun Fri-Yay and this is the day I post whatever is fun for me to chat about. If you don’t like cats, feel free to skip it altogether but if you do, you will appreciate the story I think. I can’t find all of my pictures of when they were little but I’ll be sure to dig them out next week and add them.

4 career cats,
best ratters ever,
one by one “Hunter”, the hunter chased them off.

Stargazer, (because she stared at me with eyes as big as saucers looking at the sky), Issy shortened from “Hissy Wuss” because he hissed at me when I came to feed him and was just a wuss, later jumping on my shoulders and head affectionately,
Fia (named after Sophia Loren, so sophisticated and beautiful) and finally Binz ( the big mean Halloween cat) and that he was; All lived like royalty.

I followed all the rules and fed them morning and night in their crates and then 3 1/2 weeks later, let them out as instructed.

Binks took off the first day and never came back.
No love lost there!

The others were soon eating out of the palm of my hand with lots of coaxing, treats, and hours playing.
They came to the sound of a bell but some nights stayed out carousing.

I was devastated because they became my homies.

I built them a barn to keep them safe from coyotes but if you know ferals their motto is:
“Don’t fence me in”!

I put signs up in my neighborhood on every corner, knocked on doors and posted them on my local community online paper with no word back.

I spent hours searching and missing them and rejoiced when they would finally come “home”.

I was told to give them the best food money can buy because that will keep them close.
So much for ratters, they were eating better than me! Never mind I just turned my ratters into family members.
Fia got an infection and the only way I could help was to throw some antibiotics in her food.

Soon she sat on my lap every morning and every night for meditation.

Issy was gone, Star hadn’t been seen and Fia was my last hope. I brought her in one night and why I didn’t keep her there, I’ll never know.

I spent hours in their barn, crying and calling and finally I was convinced they had another home and was cheating on me.

I put out one last pleading call out on the internet to “let my cat go” and do you know, Issy showed up that night and it was a reunion I will never forget.

My mother in law was dying at the moment and I was off to visit her with my daughter from New York. Together, we snuggled Issy in the same way as always and rejoiced at her homecoming but alas, she never returned.

Finally I got a call from my neighbor down the street, saying she thought she had my cat.

The build up was huge and sure enough I went to visit and Issy was now Tux 2, named after her cat Tuzy that had run away.

She stole my cat!

I was infuriated and devastated. She said do you want him back?

Dogs have owners, cats have staff and let’s just say he was living like a king in her home and all I had to offer was a barn and tuna fish.

Besides he had a brother named George and they were both living like kings!
How could I break that up?

I hid my anger and gave my blessings but I was sadder than sad.

He was the most loving cat and I had socialized him for all of the time I spent, freezing in the barn in love and awe of his affection. I was there mom and even went out in the dead of the winter with storms to break up cat fights when the neighborhood thugs would try to attack them.

I said farewell but never goodbye. I started writing a book Cat’s Don’t Give a _____ and interviewing people who had cats and found out so many wild stories which was quite entertaining.

By then I got Ollie and Maya because my daughter said “Mom, you need “real” cats whatever that meant but she was right, I needed pets at that point to ease the pain of loosing them.

They were rescued ferals too and one turned out to have feline leukemia and died in my arms at exactly 1 year of age.
I was crushed beyond crushed.

Maya Why a

Why did you come into our lives so short?

I didn’t want another stray; I heard you were coming to stay.

You stole our hearts, and made us laugh, bringing us hope and

Joy playing with your sister Olive and all of your toys.

 I thought you would be here “forever” with all of us who love you but I guess you came to make us remember, that life is short and to savor each moment and care for each other the way we did for you and you for us.

We love you, you little rascal, sweet little girl Maya. Squeaks!

Our hearts will carry you with us wherever we go and if you see Fia or Star or Issy who is probably living as a king somewhere (and in fact he is) give them our love and don’t forget we Love you for always and forever.

Please don’t go!

STAY.

Forever in our 💕.

Bless you our sweet fur baby

Your days are short now but they have been rich with love and we wouldn’t trade a one of them.

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And here is Ollie who you know and Love, who is in the middle of everything. Look how tiny she was and those 3 black dots on her head and came to us as Olive because of that. As you know, she doesn’t have any dots now and we changed her name to Ollie.

Then…..

And Now ……Celebrating “Narnical’s” (my oldest daughter’s) Birthday last weekend.

Have a wonderful Fri-Yay and weekending! I am loving life catching my breath this week and back into a normal schedule.

Next week the next remodeling phase starts so I’m soaking up the R & R until then.

See you Monday!

Blessings Always

💗

Cindy