I'm tired of looking at that Penguin Twitter giveaway post, but the plotting of Who Buries the Dead is giving me fits and I can't focus enough to write anything coherent, so... Here's Whiskies!
Whiskies is one of a litter born three years ago to a pregnant stray rescued by my daughter. The mama cat evidently decided she was too malnourished to support all of her kittens and was going to let one die. The chosen sacrifice was Whiskies. By the time my daughter (sitting beside the laboring cat in the backseat of a car barreling down the I 10) realized what was happening and tore open the membranes, Whiskies was suffering from oxygen deprivation. In other words, this is one retarded cat. Sweet, but dumb, dumb, dumb.
Now, you might think, how smart does a cat need to be? Well, he needs to know that it is not sufficient to stick his head over the poop box. His failure to grasp this concept has earned him a place on our screened-in porch with another cat suffering from "improper elimination issues" (as our vet calls it).
And yes, I know he's obese; unfortunately, also affected by the lack of oxygen was the part of the brain that should tell Whiskies to stop eating. And since his fellow improper-elimination-issue screened-in porch resident is a geriatric female, we really can't restrict his food. So he just keeps getting fatter.
I've come to the conclusion every cat should have access to a screened-in porch; they love watching the bugs and birds, and smelling all those lovely smells, and the birds and lizards love being safe from pounces (not that Whiskies could catch anything even if he wanted to). Their life is not hard; Steve and I both try to spend time out there with them every day; they have heated cat houses and cooling pads and bamboo shades, and if the weather gets really nasty, they come inside...all of which is probably more than you ever wanted to know.
So if my daughter is the one who rescued the cats, how is it that I ended up with the retarded one? Isn't that what mothers are for?
20 comments:
I could not stop laughing….you obvously know cats.
LOL - oh, how I love this story. We are a cat household too. We lost our two 18 year old cats about two years ago, both from old age. Finally, after much pleading from my 12 year old, we succumbed to another two kittens. They were only 5 weeks old and still had to stay at the vet with the foster mother. We got a call one night that one was having great difficulty breathing and would likely not make it. Did we want to take him home? Again - the pleading and crying eyes of my daughter prevailed and we picked up both kittens. The tabby with the congenital heart defect made it about another two weeks, (with constant supervision). On 4th of July - cause it had to be a holiday when all vets except the expensive emergency room one - we finally put him to sleep as he just couldn't breath anymore but didn't want him to labour and try too much longer. We then had to get a 2nd kitten to keep the first one company. Yes, you got it - we had to take home the one with the pink eye and virus that had to be separated from the other one until he was well. Why? Because, mom, no one else will take him so we have to. Yes.....I know your story well. Thanks for sharing Whiskies' story. Sabena
LOL-we recognize all the die hard animal lovers amongst us, we just can't say NO! We have 2 yellow labs-an 8 year old spirited "puppy" and a 13 year old. '"Grandma" has seizures and is on high doses of meds (costs a small fortune). She is still plodding on, and the younger one keeps her going. Last Thanksgiving Day, "grandma" was not doing well, would not eat or drink. We thought her time had come (again), with all her lumps and bumps. By bedtime, she was heaving and laboring to breathe, so my son and I brought her down to the emergency vet expecting to put her down so she wouldn't suffer anymore. It turned out she had aspiration pneumonia from a seizure she probably had the night before. After IV antibiotics, and 24 hours later, "grandma" was eating, drinking, and back to her usual self. There were several follow up visits to our regular vet, more meds and chest x-rays, net result, $$$
I'm kind of interested in that story of birthing cats while barreling down I10!
Maureen, someday I should do a post on ALL of my cats.
Sabena, that is a heart-warming story about the ailing kitten--even after only two weeks, I would imagine losing him was hard.
LOgalinOR, I know what you mean; I spend a fortune on vets, between my own cats and all of my daughters' foundlings.
Charles, someone had dumped the pregnant mama cat at a state park up in Arkansas, and Sam was bringing it home when the cat decided her time had come.
The first house I bought myself the prior owners abandoned at their cat. Walter was not a friendly cat, and I was not used to cats since my mother (who had somehow been traumatized by one as a child, don't ask) did not allow them. Walter grew on me. He never got friendly, but he was interesting in a grumpy old man way. When we moved to another house, he disappeared for a week, then returned in a snow storm to live with us several more years. One day he keeled over in mid-stride. Shortly after, we got Kismet, an abandoned kitten, then Oliver - adopted by some a neighbor whose husband ordered the cat GONE by the end of the day. Oliver moved in with us and the neighbors moved away. He's still here. Kismet left us two years ago but now we have her reincarnated twin, Zoe, another rescue kitten - my daughter was volunteering at the per shelter and, well, now I have another cat. Zoe likes to sit in my lap, along with the laptop, and helped in the typing of this post.
So cats. we are cat people also - or have been. i live alone now but my whole childhood was cats. mom afraid of dogs. we had a siamese suelek)for 17 years who was the most wonderful creature to ever live! Pumpkin -a kitten from the shelter who jumped into a bathtub full of water - with me it. enough said. and bogie - whiskie deal - found in a box in the park - abandoned -dying. little sister saved him - size of your palm - grew into a beast the size of a small dog. he needed a cow bell to warn the birds and chased a great dane 2 blocks because it wandered into our yard. and i guess that's why the black cat in what darkness brings is my new favorite character!
PS - i never got to say earlier but the book is awesome! just finished my 2nd read. congratulations!
best
ali
Elaine, what a heartwarming tale! I, too, have a cat that likes to help me type. He once managed to zap an entire page I'd just written into the mists.
Ali, another wonderful tale of a lifetime of friends. I need to do a post on Huckleberry, who inspired the black cat (only Huck is even more arrogant and aloof).
c-please do post about huckleberry. since reading the new book, i have been toying with getting another cat. we shall see...tiny apt. and any cat who saves devlin's life cant be all bad. ive always loved hero but the gun in the face really sealed the deal. somehow i wouldnt tell jarvis about that. :)
ali
Oh my! He is adorable. My husband and I are both cat lovers and have taken in many through the years. We've had good luck finding homes, but we always have those who end up as permanent residents. And we are currently talking about enclosing our back porch mainly so the cats will have an extra room to enjoy! We already have a small screened porch on our upper level that is their territory.
My husband has been threatening to read your series based on my love for it, even though we have very different taste in books. When I told him how much I enjoyed the latest, and that it featured a really amazing cat, he decided he will start with that one and work his way back.
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