My Cat Stories
This post is thanks to Kim who got me thinking about my cats. Since Ell and I have been married we have acquired some cats in some pretty strange ways. The first story is about my cat named Terrence.
In 1999, the night before Thanksgiving, Ell and I had just returned from grocery shopping. As I headed out to the car to get the last bag, I saw a car in our driveway with its door open. I started walking towards the car to see if someone needed help and the person jumped back in their car and sped away. I got the groceries and headed inside a little worried what that was about. I decided to go out and lock up my cars, and when I did this buff orange cat came walking up to me from the direction of the driveway. He was fixed but still had his claws. He had a definite collar ring around his neck, so I realized that the car had been dropping him off. I gave him some food and went to bed. He was still there in the morning, so I decided I'd name him if he was still around when we got back from our long weekend in Columbus. He was and the rest is history. I grew up around cats my whole life, and Terrence was hands down the best hunting cat I ever saw. He caught mice, rats, moles, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits bigger than him, flying squirrels (which I didn't know lived in Ohio until I saw all three of them dead on my doorstep,) hummingbirds, bats, and anything else he could find. I even saw him beat the crap out of a woodchuck that was easily 4 times his size. He took to me instantly. Which if you knew anything about me you'd know that was weird; I'm definitely more of a dog person. Terrence would stay with me for hours when I worked in my basement and would sleep with me during the winter. But my favorite memories of him are in the garden, where he would follow me around for hours every day. So I thought it was fitting that when he died last year, I buried him in the garden. I placed a cross in bricks in the the walkway over his grave. Pretty awesome cat for a stray.
My second story is about Cyclops. When I sold investments, I had an appointment one afternoon that I was leaving for right when Ell was getting home from work. She went inside and as I got into my car I noticed something brown and black crawling out of the engine compartment of her car. I thought it was a small squirrel but I couldn't grab it. I told Ell about it and told her I had to leave. When I got home, Ell held up this little burnt kitten. It must have crawled into her car at the restaurant and then got stuck there the whole 15 minutes home. All of her whiskers and face hair were burnt off and she smelled horrible. The vet told us that cats have this defense mechanism that releases this horrific smell. She ended up having to have her one eye taken out, so we named her Cyclops. We had her until last summer too.
The third story isn't really weird but it shows Ell's huge heart and my desire to make her happy. Last summer Ell sent me a text message one morning asking me if I wanted an orange kitten. That wouldn't be a weird question unless you knew that I had told her, "No more cats. Period." She was hoping to tug at my heart strings b/c Terrence had just died and I was missing him pretty hard. She sent me a picture of this 3 month old orange stray at the restaurant. I told her if it was still there that night around 10pm when we were coming through town, that we'd take it home. Famous last words, right? I was sure that it would be gone by then or that we couldn't find it. Sure enough it was there and we took it home. I named him Junior Terrence. I call him Junior and Ell calls him JT. Something Rob should appreciate since he's such a Justin Timberlake fan!!! He's only an indoors cat and not a great hunter, but he's still a cool pet.
My last story is from one month ago at the Columbiana Street Fair. We were walking back to our car and when we were saying goodbye to some friends, we heard a tiny little meow in some bushes. Ell and our friend Brad searched for about 10 minutes and finally found this tiny little gray furball. The owner of the house (which we know) came out and said take it before his wife saw it. Since I couldn't stand to see this little thing be left alone in the craziness of the Street Fair, we took it home. She was only about a month old and we've had to teach her how to eat solid food and how to use a cat pan. She is probably going to be an outside cat b/c she is already a good hunter, but we have her inside a few hours a day. Ell named her Ruby. She's a little sweetheart and she still fits into my hand when she's sleeping.
There you go.........Cat stories from a guy who swore he'd never own a cat.
In 1999, the night before Thanksgiving, Ell and I had just returned from grocery shopping. As I headed out to the car to get the last bag, I saw a car in our driveway with its door open. I started walking towards the car to see if someone needed help and the person jumped back in their car and sped away. I got the groceries and headed inside a little worried what that was about. I decided to go out and lock up my cars, and when I did this buff orange cat came walking up to me from the direction of the driveway. He was fixed but still had his claws. He had a definite collar ring around his neck, so I realized that the car had been dropping him off. I gave him some food and went to bed. He was still there in the morning, so I decided I'd name him if he was still around when we got back from our long weekend in Columbus. He was and the rest is history. I grew up around cats my whole life, and Terrence was hands down the best hunting cat I ever saw. He caught mice, rats, moles, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits bigger than him, flying squirrels (which I didn't know lived in Ohio until I saw all three of them dead on my doorstep,) hummingbirds, bats, and anything else he could find. I even saw him beat the crap out of a woodchuck that was easily 4 times his size. He took to me instantly. Which if you knew anything about me you'd know that was weird; I'm definitely more of a dog person. Terrence would stay with me for hours when I worked in my basement and would sleep with me during the winter. But my favorite memories of him are in the garden, where he would follow me around for hours every day. So I thought it was fitting that when he died last year, I buried him in the garden. I placed a cross in bricks in the the walkway over his grave. Pretty awesome cat for a stray.
My second story is about Cyclops. When I sold investments, I had an appointment one afternoon that I was leaving for right when Ell was getting home from work. She went inside and as I got into my car I noticed something brown and black crawling out of the engine compartment of her car. I thought it was a small squirrel but I couldn't grab it. I told Ell about it and told her I had to leave. When I got home, Ell held up this little burnt kitten. It must have crawled into her car at the restaurant and then got stuck there the whole 15 minutes home. All of her whiskers and face hair were burnt off and she smelled horrible. The vet told us that cats have this defense mechanism that releases this horrific smell. She ended up having to have her one eye taken out, so we named her Cyclops. We had her until last summer too.
The third story isn't really weird but it shows Ell's huge heart and my desire to make her happy. Last summer Ell sent me a text message one morning asking me if I wanted an orange kitten. That wouldn't be a weird question unless you knew that I had told her, "No more cats. Period." She was hoping to tug at my heart strings b/c Terrence had just died and I was missing him pretty hard. She sent me a picture of this 3 month old orange stray at the restaurant. I told her if it was still there that night around 10pm when we were coming through town, that we'd take it home. Famous last words, right? I was sure that it would be gone by then or that we couldn't find it. Sure enough it was there and we took it home. I named him Junior Terrence. I call him Junior and Ell calls him JT. Something Rob should appreciate since he's such a Justin Timberlake fan!!! He's only an indoors cat and not a great hunter, but he's still a cool pet.
My last story is from one month ago at the Columbiana Street Fair. We were walking back to our car and when we were saying goodbye to some friends, we heard a tiny little meow in some bushes. Ell and our friend Brad searched for about 10 minutes and finally found this tiny little gray furball. The owner of the house (which we know) came out and said take it before his wife saw it. Since I couldn't stand to see this little thing be left alone in the craziness of the Street Fair, we took it home. She was only about a month old and we've had to teach her how to eat solid food and how to use a cat pan. She is probably going to be an outside cat b/c she is already a good hunter, but we have her inside a few hours a day. Ell named her Ruby. She's a little sweetheart and she still fits into my hand when she's sleeping.
There you go.........Cat stories from a guy who swore he'd never own a cat.
posted by Sam at 1:15 PM
3 Comments:
I'm sure it's not proper etiquette to post comments for multiple posts in one comment, but I'm a pretty rude person so I guess it's okay.
Anyway. Thanks for the special post...it helps to know people care.
Great Friday Funny. I loved it.
Amazing garden. Real tomatoes are so much better than store tomatoes. All the 'fruit' of your labor looks absolutely delicious.
And, apparently, cats like you - even if they aren't your first choice! My family always has cats - but we don't. I don't think they'd make it out here. I guess the proof was in the pudding when Adam's grandma brought that one.
Finally - where's your dad been?
Cats just seem to find their way into your lives when you least expect. I still maintain that anyone who says they hate cats has never owned one. What's not to like?
Your cat stories are great. Thanks for sharing, Sam!
I seem to remember you giving Terrence his name before the first night was up when he showed up at our house. Something like "His name will be...Terrence!", as you were giving him some food as soon as he got there. :)
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