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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781490766515 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 11/03/2015 |
| Pages: | 80 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.22(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Cat Tales
Kitty Capers And More
By LAVERA EDICK
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2015 LaVera EdickAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-6651-5
CHAPTER 1
LONELY
The days are long and I am so lonely since I lost my only child, Annalee, and then Andy, my friend for more than thirty years. I've been reminiscing and remembering the years I taught at the Birt Johnson County School, located four and a half miles north of our farm home where I grew up, near Stockville, Nebraska. From the home of one of my students, where I paid board and room, it took nearly an hour for me to walk to school, through cow pastures, over dirt roads and cornfields, in all kinds of weather. It kept me slim and trim! When snow drifts got waist high one of my brothers, Clarence or Earl, gave me a ride on horseback. I started teaching when I was only fifteen years old, but now my teaching career is behind me after more than fifty years of calling all of my little elementary students "my kids". I loved them all, but now those days are gone forever.
My beautiful red Mustang sits in my garage, "rarin' to go", but I just don't trust myself to lead it out into traffic as I once did. Perhaps I am becoming a hermit, or would an old lady be called a "hermitess"? I need someone to love; I love my back yard with the rock garden, the cat house, and the many tall, majestic oak trees, but I am still lonely. It isn't words of endearment I hear from the trees, it's only the wind whispering through their leaves. My rock garden is faithful, it is always there with the many cacti scattered among the volcanic rocks, warning me, "Don't get too close".
When Annalee died, I inherited her Toby and built the "cat house" for him here in the back yard of my Walnut Creek home. It is fancy, to say the least, complete with pet door, carpeting, cushioned beds and even a heating system.
Annalee loved her Toby so much. When I was living in Richmond and teaching school there, she rented an apartment on Knob Hill in San Francisco. Housing restrictions created a problem-- she couldn't keep her baby kitten, Toby, in the apartment. I had been keeping and caring for Toby for only a week when she somehow managed to get permission to keep her kitty — so — one Saturday morning I started out with Toby covered with a baby blanket. I rode the city bus and then walked ten blocks to ride the cable car to Annalee's apartment, all this time with baby Toby fast asleep in my arms, not a cry out of him as I managed bus fare and curious women asking about my "baby". I put them off, all except one friendly looking lady. I uncovered "baby" just a peek, with fingers to my lips! She understood and said not a word.
Years later when Toby came to live with me he was an elderly tom cat. I'm sure he missed his Annalee, but we soon became good friends and enjoyed getting to know and love one another. The cat house has been deserted for several years since Toby went to cat heaven.
CHAPTER 2LADY'S GIFT TO RUTH
I was enjoying a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning in my back yard and had just picked a bouquet of yellow daisies to sit on my dining room table when I thought I heard a faint "meow" –no- I must have imagined it – yes – it was a very pretty gray cat with white patches, meowing for my attention. He looked half-starved and against my better judgment I offered him a bowl of food. Of course he stayed; however, it seems "he" turned out to be a very pregnant "she". I named her Lady.
Lady seemed so happy to be with me, but then one day she disappeared; I was so upset, I had come to enjoy her company and I missed her. Had she met with a disaster, maybe hit by a car, or had she found a new home?
A week or so later as I was raking the yard early one morning, Lady returned bringing me a gift, a tiny blue-gray kitten that she carried in her mouth and dropped at my feet. I named the baby Bluey because Annalee had a cat named Bluey when she was a little girl. For several days she left for a few hours each day, then would come back to nurse her baby. It was more than a week later, on a Sunday afternoon, when she appeared carrying another baby, a tiny black kitten. Since it was Sunday, Sunnie seemed a good name for Bluey's little brother. Next day she came bringing, of course, Monnie. Monnie was also black but with a white bib and little white feet. On Tuesday, Lady presented me with the last of her litter, Tuessie. I believe Lady must have been testing me to see how well I would take care of the first baby that she dropped at my feet before she trusted me with the rest of her family. It must have been quite a feat for her to carry her four babies in her mouth, one at a time, from their birthplace to my back yard.
CHAPTER 3A GOOD MOMMY
Lady is such a good mommy; it is heartwarming how she loves her babies. I firmly believe she has never been cross with any of them, She holds them down, one at a time, and cleans them from head to toe. She takes special care to clean their ears, inside and out.
I have been trying to teach lady not to bother the birds. Annalee and I had Toby trained to "live and let live", but my Lady lived another life before she came here; however, she does not seem to take me for granted, and wants to cooperate in every way. Whenever I have to correct her she seems hurt and humiliated, something unusual for cats. I am fascinated by her intelligence and how she is trying to teach her babies to be good. They are so cute and so active and all over the place! In their play I never hear growling or cries. They bite – they bite me too-- but it is always a playful bite. The thing I must be careful of is their nails, as they are extremely sharp and long and they hang on. The kittens are all naughty about climbing up on the screen door when they want indoors. So far they have managed to get down from all the high places, but I fear the day will come when they can't or won't jump down.
I believe my cat family came to me because we needed each other- of course, the babies couldn't help themselves. Their mother brought them to me! I say I'm taking it easy these days! That word "easy" I must change to "as easy as possible" with a feline family of five to care for.
Lady tries to coax me to sit down so that she can jump upon my lap for the stroking and petting she enjoys so much. For some reason, and I don't understand why, she whines a lot when she and I are alone. She doesn't do that when she is with her babies. Perhaps she is trying to tell me that it is time for me to take all five of them to the vet for their shots.
Though I keep telling myself, "I cannot keep this family of cats", how can I help myself? They are darling babies, just little puff balls! I don't know if I could ever give any of them away. Perhaps I shouldn't have adopted Lady and her babies, but I tell myself that my maternal instinct forced me into it, or it could be that I was influenced by "All CREATURES GREAT and SMALL", a book that I have been reading. I had thought that I would never, never assume the responsibility of raising cats again, but here I am with my adopted feline family –or did they adopt me?
CHAPTER 4KITTY CAPERS
Grocery day is work for me. I carry in cans and cans of cat food and milk. Mother and babies all love milk; I give it to them at noon and they lick the platter clean. I always experience a thrill when I come home from shopping and find my cat family so happy to see me; of course they always peek at me from behind a protective tree trunk or from behind a mass of leaves to determine when it is safe to come out. When I came home yesterday, Jim the gardener was here but not one cat was visible. When Jim left, I could see bright little eyes peeking out from their hiding places. When I called them they all came running.
I've run out of food that Lady likes, so I've been feeding her canned tuna and chicken. She doesn't like dry cat food. I wonder if she would like raw hamburger? I will buy some next time I go grocery shopping and feed it to her very sparingly, as it might not be good for her. Her babies like everything in sight. They devour their cat food, then lie down with Mother and begin working, each on their favorite faucet. She seems to love it and so do they. They are all getting fat, except Tuesse, she is scrawny and looks just like her mother. There is something about Lady's build; she is very long and almost sway-back, as are tigers and leopards.
This morning I gave each of my babies a brushing with their new brush. They are becoming less afraid of me and seem to love it. They all have beautiful eyes, very expressive. Little Monnie's eyes are deep blue and she has a very interesting face, as if she had been "made up" for a show or a clown act. My kittens are all so different in both looks and personalities that I can't help but wonder how many fathers they had! I know now that I can't part with any of them willingly. A teenager wanted little Bluey as a birthday gift for his sister and I refused. I was afraid he might be mistreated. I couldn't let him go!
It is chilly and very cold outside. My cat family prefers to be indoors on days like this. They are all full of mischief and race from room to room, where they upset, spill, and topsy-turvy everything in their way.
One day I looked all over the house for Bluey but he was nowhere to be found. Mother cat found him and I suspect she knew all-along that he was sound asleep under the telephone stand in the kitchen. Lady is now on my lap and being very possessive of my attention. I had my left arm resting around her and she got the idea that my arm needed a washing. I do believe she pulled hair out with her tongue. She would throw her head back and up and look intently at me. When I count my blessings, I include my feline family. I think that I couldn't live here alone without them. Whatever did I do before they came to live with me?
Tuessie had sneaked into the kitchen one evening as I was preparing my dinner. I accidently stepped on her poor little tail; she yowled so loudly that the rafters shook! Any time I accidently hurt her, she thinks I do it on purpose. She was still upset with me the next day. She seems to be the only member of her cat family who holds a grudge for so long. My cleaning lady will be here tomorrow and I will ask her to take Tuessie to the vet with her sore tail — that is if Tuessie can be found! Life is sometimes a lot of "ifs. Poor Tuessie's tail; it must be so sore and she must be so ashamed of how it looks--maybe I can buy a cat wig and glue it on her tail!
Bluey, the adventurous one, squeezed through a crack in the door while his brothers and sisters were hungrily devouring their dinner in the back yard. Minutes later, Bluey was nowhere to be seen in the house, although I could hear sounds coming from somewhere. I had closed bedroom and bathroom doors in an attempt to trap him and keep him from racing from room to room with me in hot pursuit. I followed the sounds I heard, opened the bedroom door and there he was on the dresser--admiring himself in the mirror. What a charmer! He walked across the dresser toward me so I could pick him up. He was so sweet and adorable that I couldn't say a cross word to him. You see, it was really my fault! A few days earlier I had carried him to the various mirrors so that he could see himself. I suppose he wanted to try it alone. They are all so special and with their own personalities. It would be so lonesome without them! Sometimes their capers play me out and I am thankful when their little bellies are full to bulging and they have found cozy places for a few hours of sleep. It has taken me awhile to "outsmart" them, to learn how to cope with them, and they are learning to behave a bit better.
Mother cat is nursing her babies now and all is quiet. I've been putting them out at night and letting them indoors in the early morning. My reasoning is that this way I get a full night's sleep, however, now that Sunnie has learned to climb to the top of the screen door and cry for help getting down, he is likely to try it at night! I'm sure he could back down, but it is so much easier to cry for me to help.
You should see Lady trying to avoid her children when they chase after her bosoms! She takes refuge by begging to come in the front door. She will have surgery next week. I'm fretting, as I know she will be terribly upset and worried. Her babies can manage alone, but she is so protective of them. I know she will put up a big fight and grieve. I'll let her come indoors and stay overnight with me.
CHAPTER 5OCCI
My vet believes that there is a "cat nurse" helping those who are homeless and hungry find shelter and food. That must be how Occi came to me. She was all but "done in" when she came to my door; she was starved, poor baby, and looked as though she must have traveled many miles. There was a story in our local paper about a new breed of cats called "Occicats", originating from the wild ocelot. That was the reason for my naming our newcomer Occi.
My Occi has deep stripes or bands on her legs. She has so many marks of the wild animal along with the sweet traits of the domesticated. Her ears have little hairs sticking straight up out of them like little wigwams with smoke coming out of the peaks. She is so intelligent, just don't pet her for too long. "Enuf is enuf", she says, and with a low rumbling under her ribs you will get a bite or a scratch. She can love one moment, and the wild comes out before you expect it.
I have noticed Occi taking up food with her right paw and eating from it. I've never seen an animal do this, except squirrels and raccoons. This must be caused by a gene from her ocelot ancestry, as it is not a domesticated cat characteristic.
I've been wasting my time trying to discipline Occi — just doesn't work and I may as well give up! She is so mean to her adopted sisters, Monnie and Tuessie, and I am unable to correct her! She is surely full of some wild blood. Although she is very smart, she gets ornery spells and would just as soon tear into me, with her long claws, as another animal. She slaps my hands for doing something she doesn't approve of. She always uses her left paw for disciplining me, but takes up her food with her right paw.
Occi loves to watch TV, especially the animal shows. She used to think that the animals on TV were real and would put her paws on the screen as if she wanted to join in the race or whatever was going on, but she soon learned they were only pictures to be watched, not touched. She is an expert at unplugging appliances, wherever an appliance is plugged into a wall socket.
Occi isn't all cat, you know. She loves to sit in the high chair and eat. She is very dainty about picking her food up with her paw and putting it in her mouth, and then she cleans her "hands" very well, licking between her "fingers". I should make a little bib for her to wear when she sits in her high chair and eats from her bowl.
My teenagers all love to play games. Occi runs from another room, jumps onto a throw rug, slides across the room and ends up stopped by a chair, in a heap or a pile. She loves playing this game and grins from ear to ear. Another of her favorites is playing "pick up". She climbs up on the dining room table and begins scattering papers until she finds a pencil or pen. She then takes her paw and "swish — swish" this way and that and there go my precious letters onto the floor. Nothing lost, nothing eliminated — but can hear her saying, "Now it is your job, your duty, to pick up your papers and put them in order!" Or, she sits in my lap when I write and tries to take the pen from me with her little paws and she usually wins the battle. You see, she thinks all the pens and pencils belong to her and that they are her toys; she loves batting them around on the floor and chasing them. She takes them apart, plays with the parts and then hides them. She does let me use my pens part of the time, if I can find them.
CHAPTER 6LIL BOY BLUE
I have two friends living across the street from me, the "Two Pauls". They are so good to me always bringing me treats, such as a container of noodle soup or some other food they have heard me say that I like. Their pet, a beautiful, blue-gray, male cat, often followed them to my house where he met and made friends with my feline family. One day he decided to stay and has made no effort to return home. He sits in my yard and watches his owners across the street but does not venture out of my yard. He fits in with my cats and seems to be happy with us. Perhaps he gets more attention here as both of the Pauls work all day.
I have named him Lil Boy Blue. At this moment he is helping me write and planting kisses on my face. I will take the hint, stop writing and pay more attention to him. I think that both Occi and Lil Boy Blue had to give up their mothers too soon and this is why they think of me as their mother. Monnie and Tuessie got to be weaned by their mother and don't require all the additional love from me.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Cat Tales by LAVERA EDICK. Copyright © 2015 LaVera Edick. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 LONELY, 1,Chapter 2 LADY'S GIFT TO RUTH, 3,
Chapter 3 A GOOD MOMMY, 6,
Chapter 4 KITTY CAPERS, 8,
Chapter 5 OCCI, 11,
Chapter 6 LIL BOY BLUE, 14,
Chapter 7 PUDDY, 16,
Chapter 8 TEENAGERS, 18,
Chapter 9 FAMILY OF SEVEN AND MORE, 23,
Chapter 10 KITTY LOVE, 26,
Chapter 11 EARTHQUAKE, 28,
Chapter 12 GOODBYES, 30,