GANEIDA'S KNOT.

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Quaker by conviction, mother by default, Celticst through love, Christ follower because I once was lost but now am found...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Cat Tales.

The kind man feeds his beast before sitting down to dinner. Hebrew Proverb

The girls have guarded their hearts, loath to love until love was a sure thing, so I was the sucker putting out food & water for our stray. It spent Monday, which was bitter & wet, perched on the verandah. Iss hissed & spat at it through the glass door but any time the door was opened the stray tried anxiously to get in.

While I was out Dearest, who was cooking chicken, gave both Iss & the stray a wing ~ the first crack in Dearest's armour. Poor man. He has a houseful of soft~hearted females but when I took biscuits & water out to the stray when it arrived yesterday afternoon Dearest stood there aghast & furious. The poor thing was too frightened to eat, desperate for some affection even more than food & thin to the point of emancipation. It has been beaten &/or attacked, probably by a large dog; we've plenty of vicious ones round here. He went himself & found a good sized box as last night looked like being another bitter wet night but the stray was too frightened to find a box comforting & in the end Dearest just said; " Let it in & let them sort it out."

I have had more pleasant evenings. My friend Siano, who works in a cat shelter, says Iss displays all the characteristics of an alpha male so an un~neutered male was bound to send him rank. The horrible part was Iss wasn't in the least bothered by the intruder eating his food, using his litter box or wandering through his territory. What Iss really didn't like was the way Sir Ginger clung to me, sitting at my feet, walking at my heels, parking his butt under my chair ~ all Issi's spots. As Dearest commented, two protector purties & I could barely move. Both cats know exactly where I am & what I'm doing at all times.

I thought bedtime was going to be a nightmare but ginger slept with Liddy like a lamb & I took Iss to bed with me as per usual. We had no trouble until just before I got up when Iss discovered ginger had snuck up the stairs. I stepped on him as I attempted to negotiate the dark room.

I have never seen such a small cat eat so very much! Not a lot at any one time but it keeps going back to the food bowls unable to believe that there is always food available & the people aren't chasing it away, though in an effort to sooth Iss's injured feelings I have been feeding him little speciality tid~bits just for him ~ & he knows it!

We have almost always been a two cat household, mostly because it is easier to share 2 cats between the number of children than just one & we have almost always had wonderful cats. Ever since we lost Gyver the girls have been angling for another cat because Iss is most definitely mine but Dearest was adamant one cat was adequate & the resident cat wasn't to be unnecessarily upset. This has been hard on us girls. We all adored Gyver. He was the sort of cat that made you want another cat ~ affectionate, amusing, sweet tempered, vocal. Liddy suffered from that last the most as her room is by the front door & that is where Gyver made his requests to come in or out known.

Liddy has taken to calling ginger Pippi. I'm struggling with that. Ditz wants Mozart now but I can't see me crying that round the neighbourhood. I am considering Purcy, short for Purcell. He's definitely something of a vocalist!

10 comments:

Diane Shiffer said...

ahhh, there is something very special about a stray cat who takes you as his own isn't there? if i could afford it, i'd probably have a houseful. sadly our little kitties will have to find other homes as i simply cannot afford the vet bills. food i can manage though, so we have lots of pathetic kitties visiting our front porch to get their tumms filled. i guess i'll have to get my kitty fix that way!

Molytail said...

Your dearest sounds a lot like Blair - gruff & grumblin', then caught with cat-in-lap. ;-)

This little fella knew just where to go, didn't he. They always do. :-)

Hmm... Mozart doesn't quite have that 'calling' ability..but Amadeus would... Am-a-daaaaaaay-us, where are youuuuuuu LOL...

Sandra said...

Great story, lucky kitty! I like Ginger. : )

Girl Tornado said...

Awh, how lucky this cat is to find his home with you. It sounds like he will be well-loved! I like Purcy. :)

Thanks for popping by my blog to comment on the whole comment/response to comments discussion... bottom line, I think we all do the best we can do with the time constraints put upon us by our lives. Different response methods work equally well, and certain methods work better for some of us. Blogging is a serious undertaking and I never realized it would take up so much of my time! But so far, I do enjoy it and have met so many wonderful people. :)

seekingmyLord said...

The naming of a cat is not a thing lightly done. Even an alley cat requires at least three names, but don't listen to me. I have a backward habit of making a pet's nickname far longer than his name. For instance, the hamster Dan's nickname is Poofy Dan the Mystery Man.

Tossing in another one name with how your family is honoring the Hebrew traditions, you might consider the Hebrew name Zahava, meaning "golden one."

Anonymous said...

What a lucky cat that one is!

Your husband sounds a lot like mine - all bluff, but soft as butter underneath. My husband brushes the cats here - all three of them.

Blessings,
Jillian
<><

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

Oh, I like Pippi better! But, I'm sure your cat is not freckled with little red braids. :]

kimba said...

I like Purcy. His lordship will also pass up food in favor of a cuddle. By the way I take it you meant emaciation rather than emancipation.

Allison said...

Aw, what a lucky, lucky kitty! (How about Lucky?)

Ganeida said...

Kimba: at this point who knows what I mean but no doubt you are right.

Allison: I think we've been scammed. The cat appears to have another home ~ of sorts anyway. Iss is going ballistic & I've asked them to please desex their animal. I wish he was ours but he's not & I can hardly steal someone e;se's animal much as I might like to! :(