Though always an animal lover, I have never been a cat person. Perhaps due to severe allergic reaction, I have never had a desire to get close to the feline species {physically or emotionally}. Cats never interested me the way that dogs {and other animals} do. They never seemed to possess any of the characteristics that I have grown to love in a pet. Thus, I have always chose to enjoy the comfortable accompaniment of a pet through my dogs. Until now.
Last summer, as Wyet and I were outside, we noticed a stray cat had come into the yard and was approaching us. As soon as we knelt down and began cooing her to come over, she did so immediately. She was a stray, but she was not afraid of humans which we found a little bizarre. Once the cat was near, we began to understand why the cat didn't act in fear. She was still a kitten, and she was starving. Regardless of my allergies {and primarily the fact that we did not need another pet}, I told Wyet that we had to do something. As he agreed, he mentioned that once we fed this stray, the probability that it would continue to come around was high. I didn't want a cat, but more than that, I wanted to help. That's how we came to have Cat in our life.
Certainly enough, every night just before dark, Cat would come to our back door and patiently wait for me to a bring her out a bowl of food {dog food, to be precise}. I felt like one cup of food a night was a small price to pay for saving her life. Then, as the months passed on and winter took over autumn, I felt terribly that this small cat had nowhere to escape the cold. Luckily for me {and the cat}, Wyet has a soft spot for animals, too. He built her a home before the first snowfall.
That was that. We housed and fed a stray cat named Cat, and I felt like we had done our part to help get feral cats off the street {even if it was just one}. Then, nearly one month ago, as I was standing near our backdoor, I heard the tiniest squeaks to ever sound. I instantly knew, and my thoughts were confirmed when I peaked in the cat house. We had kittens. A dog lover, allergic to cats, had a litter of kittens.
Over the past few weeks, my feelings towards these kittens have fluctuated. I have been excited, terrified, uncertain and miserable. Once the kittens started to move around and crawl, I was more happy than I could believe. I had never seen anything grow and develop since birth, and it was truly miraculous. It was heart touching to watch as my small stray cat turned into a mother and nurtured her little kittens.
Last night, Cat and I both had our hearts broken. I noticed Cat was acting strangely. She seemed so anxious; walking in and out of her house. As I bent down to see what was that matter, one little kitten was sitting right inside meowing adorably. However, as the other two lay nestled in the towel I had given them, I realized why Cat was so distraught. She had lost two of her babies.
I went inside, grabbing the only thing that makes me feel better {Murphy}, and I cried. I cried over the loss of two tiny kittens that were fine just a day ago. I cried over the mama losing her babies, and I cried for the lives of stray animals everywhere. As we buried our two tiny kittens, I realized that I need to do my part in minimizing the number of stray cats that roam. More importantly, I realized that I am a cat person, through and through.
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| Meet Mama Cat |
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| My heart melts for this tiny little creature. |
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| I finally have realized how big of a problem stray animals are. I will be getting Cat and Kitten spayed/neutered as soon as they both are ready. Click here to see more information on how you can help. |
