Saturday, August 17, 2013

Cats


Our cat population dwindles; we’re down to the old man, Purrl, and Toby, the two year old parking lot kitten.  Ryon, the silver and grey tabby, took an afternoon nap on the sofa last January, and didn’t wake up.

Toby misses Ryon’s ear licking.  Toby licks my arm and rubs his ears on the spot.  Poor fella; I’m not about to lick his ears, although I will scratch them until he hollers Uncle!


Toby hasn’t asked for a new kitten, which shows good judgment on his part. Until all these grandchildren came to fuss him up, we had the luxury of a bedroom for cats plus two guest bedrooms.  Now the box is hidden away upstairs, and sometimes Toby races up those stairs just as fast as a little kid who played outside too long.

We had a cat door and still do, but it was stoppered up while Purrl was in his adolescence, after a couple of unfortunate raccoon visits to the cat and dog food bowls.  Purrl and his late brother, Jazz, learned to ask at the door to come and go.

Ryon was the next foundling we took in, and Jan deemed him an indoor cat.  He was six or eight months when we got him, and an indoor cat.  He came for his looks; we didn’t think he could outsmart the great outdoors and certainly not the hawk rookery that has been established across the road these last ten years.  Ryon was always on the look out to make a break, but the several times he escaped he was back in a few hours, to go to the bathroom and get his supper.

Toby came as a four week kitten, a certain hawk treat if he left home.  In spite of the coming and going of Purrl and an occasional escape by Ryon, Toby has no interest in the outdoors. Perhaps after that pitiful night he cried away in a parking lot in Pittsburgh he knows out is not place to be.  He’s the inside man.

Today Grandma’s Gardeners pulled a few weeds and spread a lot more mulch.  Toby looked on from one of his windows.



Purrl generally sleeps on the gravel under the studio window, but I didn’t see him when we started on that side of the porch.  Then there he was, under the peony bush.  I called and he did not move.  Not a whisker. My heart sank.

Laura came over.  “Purrl, get out of there.”  The old fool came out and got a belly rub from Laura, while Hamilton put mulch under the peony.  The he went back and resumed his nap.





29 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading about your cats. Your story about how Ryon would disappear for a few hours reminds me of my now departed cat. She loved to be outdoors but looked very much like an indoor cat. When I inherited her from a friend who picked her up as a stray, she would always try to run out the door. I kept her indoors for her safety from coyotes and big dogs.

    When my sister was very ill, I took the cat with me out of town as I didn't know how long I'd be gone. The cat escaped out the back door and didn't come back for weeks. I thought I'd lost her. One day it was raining and I heard meowing at the back door. I opened the door to find my bedraggled cat looking to come in from the rain.

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  2. They bring us joy and they break our hearts.

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  3. Purrl is a cat who knows what he wants!

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  4. I think I'm okay with not having cats (our last one, K.C., died at age 19 three days before we started travelling), then I read blogs such as yours and realize how much I miss sharing my life with them. I hesitate to say "I owned cats" because, truth is, I believe they owned me and dictated their wishes. Your blog sure makes me lonesome for my furry friends.

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  5. Purrl is very sure of himself; great cat!

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  6. My grandmother loves cats too and feeds about 7 stray cats who now live within our premises.

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  7. My heart lurched when I read that Purrl didn't move. And then settled. Delores is right. They do bring us joy - but they wind their paws deep in our heart strings and take a piece of us with them when they go too.

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  8. Cats are funny creatures, can't live without them :)

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  9. Between the cats and the gr-kids, your house is very busy! I miss Scuba.

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  10. May your fine feline friends live long and prosper.

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  11. Oh thank goodness! I'm glad your furry loved one hasn't used up all his nine lives yet.

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  12. My four have been very loving since the weather went cooler...

    loving napping on beds, sofas, chairs ( and Frankie found curled up sleeping husband's new sweatshirts this morning )

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  13. What I nice story - and a happy ending.

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  14. Hari Om
    Oh yes, cats know their path. Nice of them to include us in their travelling! Do give Toby's ears a scratch from YAM-aunty!! xx

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  15. You sure do like cats. We haven't replaced ours after they died.

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  16. Purrl,positive proof that cats have selective hearing.
    Jane x

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  17. My daughter's cat sleeps very soundly too for hours on end, looking like nothing more than a big ball of black fluff. I once touched her gently to see if she was alive and got a slashed hand for my trouble. Now I just leave her asleep.

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  18. I had a similar fright yesterday with Molly, our now 20 year old tortie. She was sleeping in her bed - motionless and eyes open. I scrunched down for a closer look with my heart in my mouth... only to have her come alert and meow at me (as if I scared her).

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  19. I know that sinking feeling ... and the relief. I'm sorry to hear about Ryon. But ... what an ideal way to go. No pain, no suffering for him; no difficult decision for his people at end-of-life.

    All our cats are indoor style. Between the critters killed by them and the critters wanting to kill them, it just seemed easier.

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  20. Your story is full of cats. Duh, I guess that was the title. I can't say I'm much of a cat lover. I like that can keep rodents down. I would definitely not welcome raccoon visitors. I found the scat evidence of a few some years ago. They took refuge under the neighbors porch and they were removed.

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  21. They are all little dictators in their own right but I love all my cats.
    Merle..........

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  22. Our cats have dwindled to two - at one point we had six. Looking back, with five or less our home was a house which happened to have a few cats in it. With six, our home felt like a litter-tray which happened to have a few humans in it. A watershed had been crossed!

    That having been said, I find it hard to imagine life with no cats.

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  23. Oh, and I meant to say - there's a good recent article in The Guardian newspaper about cats:

    http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/14/cat-sense-john-bradshaw-review

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  24. Laura watched my Chappy last night at the picnic table while he got messages and kept going crazy with his tail, a leaf and trees..Cats take over our hearts..I am so glad you shared your creatures. Remember many of them and saddened each time one goes on to Cat Heaven..Remember Tobey crying in the parking lot and cara and I couldn't catch him..Glad you and Carol got him and gave him a wonderful home..Maybe he needs a new ear licker.....

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  25. Laura watched my Chappy last night at the picnic table while he got messages and kept going crazy with his tail, a leaf and trees..Cats take over our hearts..I am so glad you shared your creatures. Remember many of them and saddened each time one goes on to Cat Heaven..Remember Tobey crying in the parking lot and cara and I couldn't catch him..Glad you and Carol got him and gave him a wonderful home..Maybe he needs a new ear licker.....

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  26. The sunflower is BEAUTIFUL..Your next life should be photography....

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  27. loved this---your blog is so charming---and i agree with linda!!!

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