Sunday Revisited

After a hectic day yesterday with kids, today was much quieter and Spott ventured out into the kitchen. She hung out on the cool floor under the fan and lounged all day. I even got her to eat some tuna! Bridgette stayed near her, which is a bit unusual because Bridgette really doesn't like any of the others.

Spott didn't come to me as a special-needs cat but as a mother with kittens looking for a home. My sister Marcie and family were getting ready to move into town off of the ranch. Shortly before they would be leaving, one of the ranch cats showed up with kittens in tow. Marcie had always called her Stripe Nose, for obvious reasons!

I was up visiting and she asked me if I'd be willing to take a kitten. She didn't want to just leave them all, not knowing what would happen to them. I said, No, I don't want a kitten. She said, what about 2 kittens? Ummmm, no - don't want 2 kittens either.

I had recently lost my old tom cat O'Malley. I told her that when I adopted another cat, it would probably be an older cat who no one else would want, not a kitten.

"Well, she said, why don't you take Stripe Nose and then find homes for the kittens in Cheyenne?"

OK! THAT I will do. So, the cat formerly known as Stripe Nose was bundled up into a cat carrier with her 3 kittens and off we went. She did not make a single peep all the way home. On the way down, I decided on her new name - Spott. She was named after Data's cat Spot (Star Trek the Next Generation) and the kittens were dubbed Barclay, Keyhlar and Worf (even though they all turned out to be girls!) Brandon was the only one who correctly pointed out Spott was an ironic name considering her stripe. Well done!

I put the new family in the back bedroom with a big cat bed, scratching posts and lots of food and water. I reached in to pull her out of the carrier, and she promptly bit me -right through my thumb nail!! All I could do was laugh because it was an incredibly stupid thing to do since I knew she'd never had any shots or anything. I live on the edge in my own house!!

It only took a couple of days before Spott would run over to the door to greet me. She often drug the poor nursing kittens along in her effort to be petted. She was the most affectionate and appreciative cat I've ever adopted. To this day she'll push all others aside to get to me for her chin scratching. She also has an incredibly loud motor. All she has to do is see me and it starts right up. She was sooooo happy in her new home! It took her over a month to venture out of the bedroom and a whole year before she stepped a foot out on the patio. She also doubled her weight in one year since she couldn't pass a cat food bowl without licking it clean!

She is also the least assertive cat I've ever had, which may be how she survived on the ranch for 5 years. She would totally back off from any cat in any situation. Maybe it's because she'd had kittens, but she's always been a caretaker and as new cats have come into the house, she greets them and washes their heads. She also developed a fondness for cat toys- especially feathers!

One thing she didn't like though, was to be picked up. So, over the years, she would simply sit next to me on the chair, or sit by my feet. She'd sleep curled up next to my legs on the bed, but I rarely held her. Sadly, if I had I might have noticed the lumps a little sooner. But Dr Parks said that cats who've had lots of litters of kittens are prone to this disease. She'd had several before she moved in with me.

So - if you have a female cat - do the monthly exam - just like the humans! I've totally checked my other girl cats just in case. Now Spott's lounging in the bedroom. Time to go try more tuna...