Posted on 12/01/2023 1:04:58 PM PST by allen592
You take care of and feed a dog. The dog thinks, you must be God.
You take care of and feed a cat. The cat thinks, I must be God.
LOL! Right!
Several years ago, my son and I went to a pet store and heard crying in the parking lot. It seemed to be coming from a truck. We looked around and saw a little face looking out of a hole in the front bumper. My son managed to reach up and grab the little kitten, who was maybe 8 weeks old.
We took him into the pet store and said, “Look what we found in the parking lot!” The pet store employees said they did not have facilities to keep a kitten. A woman standing in the check-out line said that she knows where a no-kill shelter is, and she would be happy to take him to the shelter. She took him from us and said, “I’m not ready for another cat. My cat died a year ago, and I’m just not ready.” But she kept cuddling and petting him. A bit later, she asked, “Do you think he’s old enough for a bath?”
I cannot know for sure, however, I highly suspect that he never made it to the shelter.
My first cat, rescued as a kitten by my Dad and me (5yrs old) lived an amazing 24 years, having had 9 “incidents” — aka lives — she went thru. Tiger was a very good one, and I’ve had many since, with all living 15-17yrs. I miss them all.
“Started the car one morning. That was not a pleasant sound.”
Had a cat that would sleep on the tires. My dad ran over his tail one morning. Had to amputate the tail. By the time he went to “camp” he was 22 YO, no tail, 2 fangs and a cauliflower ear. He had a good life.
Cat's in the kettle at the Peking Moon...
Cute Kitty!!
Hubby took our neighbors’ cat on an unexpected trip to the base Shopette one morning in this same manner. Heard a terrible noise when he parked, opened the hood and the cat shot out and ran like the Hounds of Hell were chasing it. He felt really bad about it, but the neighbor just sort of shrugged it off. The cat found its way back home a week or two later, none the worse for wear.
How did the engine know to cry out for help for the cat?
;)
Had a Tomcat when I was a kid ... as close to feral as can be while still wanting to be petted. He used to disappear for a week or two at a time, and after a while we got used to it. He would always eventually make it home however. Once, after a few weeks he did not return, and we started to think he met his maker. About 3 months after he disappeared, he showed up in the yard ... chunks of fur missing, ear half bitten off, tail broken, but long enough before so that it was again semi functional, eye clouded over. We figured he probably went to the local river and tangled with a river rat. Brought him in, fed him (which he was soooooo grateful for) and then he crawled under Mom and Dad’s bed. Nobody had the heart to disturb him, but we all thought he was going there to die in peace. Never saw him come out, but we left food and water out for him and checked to see if he was breathing every day. About 2 weeks later, he came back out. Looked like hell, but lived another 3 years. Never left the house for more than an hour or two after that.
Something very similar happened to me.
One of my kittens got stuck in the left front fender of my 1993 Saturn SL2. Drove about 40 miles wondering where that strange sound was coming from. Visited my Mom in the hospital who had a broken arm, went off to work. Finally figured out where the little guy was and called up Saturn dealer... They had the right tool...got him out. Renamed cat to “Freddie fender”.
I remember my boss coming into the store laughing his head off. He told me to lock the door and come with him.
He opened the hood to his pickup truck and told me to look at the springs in the front. One of them had a cat stuffed inside it. It looked like someone had used a plunger to get the critter crammed in there.
He said every time he made a left turn, he heard a blood curdling scream from under the hood. The spring was pinching the cat when he turned.
We jacked the vehicle up and pulled the cat out by the tail. That cat took off running and disappeared.
“We named him fan belt.”
Perfect name!
“A vet diagnosed my old cat a couple of months ago, and put her on a special prescription diet.”
We could have given him a longer life if (1) we could test his blood sugar once or twice a day, and (2) give him a special diet.
We didn’t want to torture him with needles every day. And we had three other cats who absolutely wouldn’t be able to eat the food he would have to eat. We would’ve had to have two separate living areas forever. Sweetest cat. I still miss him and cry for him.
He and his mother were inseparable and she still saves his place on the recliner next to her at night. [sigh] Maybe he’s there and we just can’t see him. ??
I just looked up the Better Vet organization. Sounds very good. Also, as you said, not cheap.
Good friend of mine owned a small farm but worked a full time job in town. One morning he got in his pickup, started it and heard something coming out of the engine. He popped the hood while the truck was running and one of their feral cats freaked out and jumped into the fan belt and sprayed him from head to toe. He had to back inside to shower & change.
Having been a cat owner for over 20 years, I can’t entirely disagree with that.🙂
Over the years we lost one to feline leukemia and one to old age (17 years).
The two we have now are four and seven, and we love them to pieces.
Yep. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
The sound of nine lives departing at once.
My experience was a little different, but the results were the same.
They’re definitely Family.
After the next door neighbor died, my brother and I — not cat people — took pity and began feeding his suddenly homeless cat. Over a year, we gradually won the cat’s trust. He now lives indoors with us, pampered like a first-born prince.
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