Meet Kitty:
Most of our pets/animals/livestock have names and not generic names. But, well, Kitty is a different thing. Or, um, animal.
We have lots of stories about how animals came to live at our house. Kitty also has a story. Most of our cats were born here, or came here as kittens. Well, Kitty is something else.
Literally. Apparently, we had visited our vet to have one of our roaming tomcats neutered and given his shots. His bummer luck that he showed up the night before payday. He generally would spend a week at our house, then a week at a neighbor's and then a week at another's. We knew this because we saw him there, in their houses or barns. Well, one of our goals is to all our barn kitties fixed over this year. And Beethoven showed up the night before payday! We let him in the house and called our country vet first thing in the morning. Yep, he had time for a neuter and shots that morning, come on in. We had to take advantage of when Beethoven showed up!!! No problem.
Well, less than two weeks later, an unknown car pulled into the driveway. And out came a neighbor we didn't know (yet). She lived almost a mile down the road and wanted to talk to us. Uh, oh, what did one of our kids do, what animal of ours got loose, etc? No, turns out this cat had been dumped at her house and her dogs were trying to eat it. It was obviously a house cat that had been dumped and wasn't doing well in the wild. Well, she had been at our country vet and he mentioned us. I really, really want to know why. Are we the only rural people who get their cats fixed? Maybe. But Beethoven has been our kitty for four years! We didn't know if he would stick around more, but hopefully he would be in fewer fights and get hurt less as he was quite a scrapper!
Anyway, this lady had not only stopped in, but the cat was in the back of her car. Yeah, I am the biggest softie in the world! How could you not look at this cat and say, yeah, she can be a barn cat here?
So, we took her into the house so we could assess her health and personality and to hopefully get her to identify with our place so she would stay by here.
Well, it was shortly before Steve and I were to go to Ethiopia for court for Azeb and Kahsu. I just couldn't bring myself to try to explain this to my already stressed out husband. Honestly, my intent was that this cat would fit in with our barn cats and be just fine.
Well, the girls took her up to their room and locked her in. Please, please, don't let Dad know until we can let her outside, especially now with all that is going on!
Turns out, Kitty is not at all an outside cat! Not at all! But she is a great inside cat. And all CAT. You know what I mean. She is affectionate and purring when she wants attention, and the rest of the time, she is just a cat. Doing her own thing. She likes to hang out where she hangs out, she likes to only sleep at my feet when she feels cold, she is present but only on her own terms. She is all cat.
Well, needless to say, Murphy's Law came to pass at our house. Of course, she was doing really well in the girls room - using the litter box, behaving with other animals and all. And then, the morning Steve and I are leaving for Ethiopia, as we are about to walk out the door with our suitcases, who appears, but Kitty, sitting on the bottom step of our stairway to upstairs (and the kids' rooms) as pretty as you please. Just contentedly sitting on the last step, just like she had done it every day of her life. As my husband looked down at the cat, and then looked at me and the kids, and asked, "And who is this?", all I could do is put my hand over my face and say, "Oh, yeah, we were going to tell you about her after we got back from Ethiopia.". Literally, five more minutes, maybe even three and we would have had a very different scenario. Thankfully, God's grace intervened, and Steve simply decided to not deal with it. Thankfully. Oh, yeah, by the way....
So, anyway... Kitty is all cat. That is why she has been named Kitty. All of our other animals have creative names. Even the stupid chickens (though not as many as used to!). I had a cat named Kitty when I was a kid - I named her when I was three, so I claim that as my excuse. And our Kitty now has that name simply because that is the only way to explain her. She is all cat in all senses of the word. She loves us when she wants to, puts up with us the rest of the time and is part of the crew when she wants to be. Mostly she loves to watch. Today she was watching a mouse in the laundry room. At least now we know there is/was a mouse in the laundry room. Hopefully no more since we locked Kitty in there and several mousetraps around the washer and dryer. So, she did serve a purpose besides looking decorative! At least she uses the litterbox consistently, is generally pleasant and cuddles once in a while. What more is there to being a cat?
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
We have lots of stories about how animals came to live at our house. Kitty also has a story. Most of our cats were born here, or came here as kittens. Well, Kitty is something else.
Literally. Apparently, we had visited our vet to have one of our roaming tomcats neutered and given his shots. His bummer luck that he showed up the night before payday. He generally would spend a week at our house, then a week at a neighbor's and then a week at another's. We knew this because we saw him there, in their houses or barns. Well, one of our goals is to all our barn kitties fixed over this year. And Beethoven showed up the night before payday! We let him in the house and called our country vet first thing in the morning. Yep, he had time for a neuter and shots that morning, come on in. We had to take advantage of when Beethoven showed up!!! No problem.
Well, less than two weeks later, an unknown car pulled into the driveway. And out came a neighbor we didn't know (yet). She lived almost a mile down the road and wanted to talk to us. Uh, oh, what did one of our kids do, what animal of ours got loose, etc? No, turns out this cat had been dumped at her house and her dogs were trying to eat it. It was obviously a house cat that had been dumped and wasn't doing well in the wild. Well, she had been at our country vet and he mentioned us. I really, really want to know why. Are we the only rural people who get their cats fixed? Maybe. But Beethoven has been our kitty for four years! We didn't know if he would stick around more, but hopefully he would be in fewer fights and get hurt less as he was quite a scrapper!
Anyway, this lady had not only stopped in, but the cat was in the back of her car. Yeah, I am the biggest softie in the world! How could you not look at this cat and say, yeah, she can be a barn cat here?
So, we took her into the house so we could assess her health and personality and to hopefully get her to identify with our place so she would stay by here.
Well, it was shortly before Steve and I were to go to Ethiopia for court for Azeb and Kahsu. I just couldn't bring myself to try to explain this to my already stressed out husband. Honestly, my intent was that this cat would fit in with our barn cats and be just fine.
Well, the girls took her up to their room and locked her in. Please, please, don't let Dad know until we can let her outside, especially now with all that is going on!
Turns out, Kitty is not at all an outside cat! Not at all! But she is a great inside cat. And all CAT. You know what I mean. She is affectionate and purring when she wants attention, and the rest of the time, she is just a cat. Doing her own thing. She likes to hang out where she hangs out, she likes to only sleep at my feet when she feels cold, she is present but only on her own terms. She is all cat.
Well, needless to say, Murphy's Law came to pass at our house. Of course, she was doing really well in the girls room - using the litter box, behaving with other animals and all. And then, the morning Steve and I are leaving for Ethiopia, as we are about to walk out the door with our suitcases, who appears, but Kitty, sitting on the bottom step of our stairway to upstairs (and the kids' rooms) as pretty as you please. Just contentedly sitting on the last step, just like she had done it every day of her life. As my husband looked down at the cat, and then looked at me and the kids, and asked, "And who is this?", all I could do is put my hand over my face and say, "Oh, yeah, we were going to tell you about her after we got back from Ethiopia.". Literally, five more minutes, maybe even three and we would have had a very different scenario. Thankfully, God's grace intervened, and Steve simply decided to not deal with it. Thankfully. Oh, yeah, by the way....
So, anyway... Kitty is all cat. That is why she has been named Kitty. All of our other animals have creative names. Even the stupid chickens (though not as many as used to!). I had a cat named Kitty when I was a kid - I named her when I was three, so I claim that as my excuse. And our Kitty now has that name simply because that is the only way to explain her. She is all cat in all senses of the word. She loves us when she wants to, puts up with us the rest of the time and is part of the crew when she wants to be. Mostly she loves to watch. Today she was watching a mouse in the laundry room. At least now we know there is/was a mouse in the laundry room. Hopefully no more since we locked Kitty in there and several mousetraps around the washer and dryer. So, she did serve a purpose besides looking decorative! At least she uses the litterbox consistently, is generally pleasant and cuddles once in a while. What more is there to being a cat?
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
1 comment:
Sweet Christy;
You had me at the picture!!!
Then came this line: " His bummer luck that he showed up the night before payday."
I about fell out of my chair- Too funny.
I am happy you have Kitty. And oh! She looks so much like my Sputty too! He is a Russian Blue; does she have little rounder feet, and a blue color in the right light?
Now you have me wondering...
What an awesome blog my friend!
XOXO
Me
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