Animals I Have Known
Years ago shortly after we bought a property on Bayou Blue Road we got adopted, sort of, by a gray and white cat. I named him Prince... He was a fine looking cat and I wanted to restore some of the dignity that I figured he had been deprived of in this life...
I say sort of adopted because Prince was a wild cat and he never became a pet. Woody, used to set food out for him every day... At first Prince would only come and eat after Woody had gone back inside. It took a bit but Prince eventually started coming once Woody set the dish down and moved back. Woody would set a ways away and just talk to him... Eventually Prince would allow Woody to touch him, but he never really got comfortable being touched... After quite awhile I was allowed to pet him but again just a touch and go on... He very rarely let anyone touch him and if you did it better be a pat and go on about your business because his fears would get the best of him and he'd turn around and bit the fire out of you... so mostly we didn't even try...
Poor Prince... he had one eye missing... I don't know what happened... I imagined the worst... it made me sad for him...
Oddly enough we were also adopted during those years by a neighbor's cat... She showed up one day and was quite friendly... a multi colored brindle type coat... She was a bobtail cat... and every litter of kittens she'd have, several of them would have that bobtail... People thought that was very neat so it wasn't hard for Brenda to find homes for them... I'd set on the porch and pet her... she sometimes sat on my lap but mostly preferred to set on a chair next to mine till she got ready to lay on the sun warmed porch... it used to amuse me quite a lot... because she totally dominated Prince... wherever he had chosen to lay when she was ready to lay on the porch she'd go over and give a little slap and or hiss and he'd move and let her have his spot... so I started calling her Biotch... LOL but then she showed up with a very full belly... so we started calling her Mama... when it got time for her kittens to be born my neighbor would come get her and bring her home... so we wouldn't see Mama for a few weeks... it would be so funny... a few weeks after her kittens were born here she'd come trotting through the pasture and over to our house for a visit...
I say sort of adopted because Prince was a wild cat and he never became a pet. Woody, used to set food out for him every day... At first Prince would only come and eat after Woody had gone back inside. It took a bit but Prince eventually started coming once Woody set the dish down and moved back. Woody would set a ways away and just talk to him... Eventually Prince would allow Woody to touch him, but he never really got comfortable being touched... After quite awhile I was allowed to pet him but again just a touch and go on... He very rarely let anyone touch him and if you did it better be a pat and go on about your business because his fears would get the best of him and he'd turn around and bit the fire out of you... so mostly we didn't even try...
Poor Prince... he had one eye missing... I don't know what happened... I imagined the worst... it made me sad for him...
Oddly enough we were also adopted during those years by a neighbor's cat... She showed up one day and was quite friendly... a multi colored brindle type coat... She was a bobtail cat... and every litter of kittens she'd have, several of them would have that bobtail... People thought that was very neat so it wasn't hard for Brenda to find homes for them... I'd set on the porch and pet her... she sometimes sat on my lap but mostly preferred to set on a chair next to mine till she got ready to lay on the sun warmed porch... it used to amuse me quite a lot... because she totally dominated Prince... wherever he had chosen to lay when she was ready to lay on the porch she'd go over and give a little slap and or hiss and he'd move and let her have his spot... so I started calling her Biotch... LOL but then she showed up with a very full belly... so we started calling her Mama... when it got time for her kittens to be born my neighbor would come get her and bring her home... so we wouldn't see Mama for a few weeks... it would be so funny... a few weeks after her kittens were born here she'd come trotting through the pasture and over to our house for a visit...
Replies
Now, this is a sweet journal, about the lives and personalities of cats. I enjoyed reading it, very much. Did any of those kittens ever look like prince???
Good question, Julia! This was a sweet journal, Elissa. Happy day!
I am a cat lover so I really enjoyed this journal! My DIL was adopted by a stray cat. She eventually tamed Smokey who now lives with them. He still, after about 7 or 8 years, will only let me touch him for a very short time. Tina is the only person he feels really comfortable with.
Have a great weekend Elissa!
Hugs, Marlene
You have a good soul Elissa. I love people that take care of animals. It says so much about them.
I have 2 kitties..actually 1 is my granddaughters so she left him here...
They have such personality..
Elissa, you have got to be a sweet caring person. People that are good to animals are good people. Loved reading this sweet journal. Have a good rest of the weekend...Nell
Elissa, I can really relate to the story of Prince and other strays like him. I volunteer at an animal shelter, cleaning out cat cages, giving these rescued cats fresh litter, food and water. It is so sad yet so heartwarming how happy they get when they see the volunteers come in the morning. We also show them love and attention while we\'re there. One of the cats has no eyes at all and another has no teeth. Yet they still thrive under the daily care.
You and other caring people really help give these animals a better life than they would otherwise have.
Much love and hugs,
Diane