November 16, 2012
Dear Everyone:
A month or so ago, one of “Jeannie’s” cats, Myrna (named for actress
Myrna Loy), passed away peacefully in her sleep.
This cat was much older than “Jeannie” was led to believe and had
a number of “health issues”; but her final days were spent in comfort
with “Jeannie” and the other cat, and that’s the best any of us can hope
for.
Needless to say, when the cat groomer found out about the loss of one
kitty, she immediately set about finding another one.
“Jeannie” usually lets “nature take its course” and waits for
another cat to find her.
(People don’t find cats; cats find people, or places, that suit them.)
In this case, however, people intervened and the cat groomer quickly
located a needy kitty. It
seems a Little Old Lady (the original “lol”, before it came to mean
“laughing out loud”) in El Cerrito had a sweet little cat.
But the Little Old Lady became ill and had to be rushed to the
hospital.
In all the confusion (ambulance, neighbors, Emergency Personnel), the
cat probably ran out of the house to hide.
When she came back (the original owner never made it home again),
there was no one to let her in and the cat was pretty much on her own.
Until some people who lived nearby realized that the cat was “roughing
it” and hatched a plan to “trap” her, for her own good, of course.
Since they already have about a half-dozen cats of their own, one
more was not on the menu.
Enter the cat groomer, and the general “cat rescue” community.
Before she knew it, “Jeannie” had a name, phone number and address in El
Cerrito. A couple of
weekends ago, we trekked out to find said address.
The woman had the cat safely ensconced in her garage.
She even had a receipt for a rabies shot, which indicated that
the cat’s name was “Mishka”.
There is supposition that “Mishka” is at least partly a “Russian Blue”.
This is a breed of cat.
So “Mishka” went home with “Jeannie”, much to the chagrin of “Jeannie’s”
other cat, “Lucy”. “Lucy” is
partly Maine Coon, which means she’s bigger than a breadbox.
And, having been the dominant cat in the previous situation,
she’s not happy about “sharing”.
She was perfectly happy to “share” with the previous cat as long as it
meant she got the lion’s share of everything.
Now “Mishka” stays safely upstairs while “Lucy” prowls around
downstairs and hisses frequently, just to make sure everyone understands
that it’s her house after
all.
In the meantime, the Maine Coon Adoption people sent “Jeannie” an email
announcing a “free kitten faire”, which took place last weekend.
“Jeannie” started making noises about finding a place to “dump”
“Mishka” if she (“Jeannie”) found a suitable kitten at the faire.
Actually, all the “kittens” were more than two years old.
And only one even looked like a “true” Maine Coon.
So no extra kitties in “Jeannie’s” household at this time.
Just (Lord-of-the-Manor) “Lucy” and
(don’t-mind-me-I’ll-just-be-under-the-bed-for-now) “Mishka”.
So far, there have been reports of altercations in which “the fur flew”,
but no blood on the floor yet.
In a few weeks, they’ll be getting along fine.
In other news…
I’m taking “vacation” next week.
The Company will be off both Thursday (Thanksgiving) and Friday
(additional Thanksgiving), so it makes sense to take three days and get
the whole week off. I’m
looking forward to it. So
there probably won’t be a Letter.
Everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |