C is for Cats

Cats have been a part of my life since early childhood. I grew up with parents who liked and were kind to animals. My mom loved cats.

I distinctly remember mom setting up a nice soft ‘bed’ in our pantry for one of our pregnant cats. No barn or ‘under the steps’ births for her cats.. only the best!

I remember the time one of our newborn kittens got sick and spent its final struggling hours lying on her bed. After it took its last breath, Mom lovingly wrapped it in a nice clean cloth diaper and gave it to me to bury in the backyard. I mistakenly thought she wanted the diaper back. Oops! Mom wasn’t too pleased about that!

My own family has owned several cats. Some had better personalities than others, I will admit. We’ve had a few who were scratchers and crazy attack cats. Not fun. But the majority of them have been great, although perhaps a little quirky. Unfortunately, a couple have met their demise under the wheels of a car. Since then, I vowed only to have indoor cats.

Beebs was our very shy but lovable indoor cat, purchased for my daughter. We adopted Beebs from a foster home, a skinny little thing that captured our hearts.(She didn’t stay skinny for long!) We soon discovered she had epilepsy and had to give her a pill every morning. She learned to enjoy it, though, because after each med, she received a cat treat, which she gobbled down with delight. Eventually, her organs shut down, though,  and one summer day when my daughter was at camp, I had to have Beebs put to sleep. That was a sad day for us.

 

My mom gifted us with our current cat Buddy. Buddy is a character! He’s very sociable, although he doesn’t like to be picked up (I think his forefathers were wild barn cats!) . Of course, he loves to snuggle on my lap whenever it suits him.  He  is so skittish, it’s hilarious. Perhaps it’s his good-size ears-I think he hears sounds at full volume all the time. Buddy is definitely MY cat. He complains when I’m away from  home, almost always greets me at the door when I return, and thinks our bed is his bed. He ‘talks’ to us in the morning, and paws my face when he thinks it’s time for his human to get up. He has only stalked me once, but I think he was just having a bad day or a bad dream! 

Cats may not be for everyone, but I think they make great companions!