I never used to be a real cat person. I liked cats, but would never
consider having one in my house because of the previously mentioned
grossities. That was, until Homer. Homer showed up as a stray one day
where we sit outside for coffee. He was in horrendous shape. He had
flaming ear mites in both ears, was very skinny, losing teeth, and walked
around like he was sore. We suspected he had worms and we suspected that
his malnourishment was the root of his dental problems. He couldn't eat
hard food, which compounded the matter. However, he was a very lovable
cat. One of those ones who uses his paws to caress your face. He purrs on
every suggestion. As soon as he sees you walk up, he flips over on his
back for a tummy rub. And as soon as you pick him up he starts kneading,
regardless of the lack of clothing layers between his claws and your skin.
A co-worker volunteers for the Humane Society and offered to take him in
and have him put down if we couldn't find a home for him. Who would want
Homer? He was a sorry looking cat. Homely as hen's teeth - hence the name
Homer. So we asked around our barn area, and the barn supervisor, being a
cat person, said we could take him out to the feedlot. One of the techs is
a trained animal tech, so she suggested he go down to the dairy barn where
she could clean him up and get him filled out a bit before he went to his
new home at the feedlot. I happened to be walking through the parking lot
one day and Homer was there, so I threw him in my truck (realize a non-cat
person - read HATES litterboxes - putting a strange cat into her truck is a
BIG thing! I drove down to the barn, all the way positive that this cat
would crap in my truck!). He tried to escape twice, but was in such rough
shape that I'd catch up to him in a couple of feet.
Well, to try and shorten this story, Homer cleaned up pretty good. He lost
a few more teeth once he finally bit into hard food, but he's pretty much a
fully recovered cat these days. He's still a bit homely (a cute homely),
but did he ever grow on the people at the dairy barn. When it came time to
take him to the feedlot, the feedlot workers didn't want him and there was
nary a squawk when we just let Homer assimilate into the dairy barn cat
family (with Eddy Banana and Molly). Eddy disappeared a few months later,
and it was almost like Homer felt the rise to King Cat. He started
wandering the fields and became quite the gofer killer. He was catching,
killing, and bringing into the barn 1-2 gofers per day. I'm sure we could
have rented him out to any farmer around!
Well, to put the punchline in....we now have gofer traps in the lab at the
dairy barn as there were a couple of days where Homer brought in gofers and
let them go in the lab to the startled realization of some
non-rodent-liking lab techs. One of the barn staff likes to tell about the
times where the gofer and Homer came eye to eye through the door crack
(where the hinges are)!
Anyway, Homer is still soaking up attention and occasionally catching
gofers (and birds - which he doesn't digest well!!) and enjoying a pretty
soft life these days. He's an old guy who will live out his days in glory
now.
Brenda in Lethbridge
- who's dog is SNORING beside her right now
How sweet! Sounds similar to the story of how I've been suckered in by a
furry little face. Went to adopt a kitty recently from the Humane Society,
and ended up taking home 3.
Elizabeth definitely a cat person
tiarella@bellsouth.net
on
Wow! They multiply fast huh? ;)
Brenda in Lethbridge
Elizabeth wrote:
I have a total of 4 cats now. I think that's enough! One of the kitties
from the Humane Society did find a home with my mother a week later. I told
her she needed to take more than one, but she didn't agree. ;)
Elizabeth
tiarella@bellsouth.net
a
> furry little face. Went to adopt a kitty recently from the Humane
Society,
> Eddy disappeared a few months later,
> and it was almost like Homer felt the rise to King Cat.
Brenda, reminds me of a play by this little know English playwrite? Can't
remember his name but the play is call Hamlet:)
-jam
Who loves cats in many, many ways.
"Computers, like cats, can operate crossdimensionally; the trick is in
getting them to do what you want." (was this Heinlein?)
