catS

So I know this is not the ideal way to post, but it at least works. Sorry about the spacing.

I wanted to write about the new cat obsession – and no folks, it is not just me. Mom is infatuated as well. It all started last last Wednesday (or maybe Tuesday). I was cooking in the kitchen and I heard this meowing and thought, "wow that is weird." I went to look at the screen door and there was a cat there. I thought, "hmph a cat. Too bad it is not a dog." Famous last words.

The cat showed up on Thursday too, while mom was outside drinking her coffee. This cat is the friendliest cat you have ever met. Mom thought we should feed it, but we were at a loss what to feed a cat. So we gave it some milk, which it lapped up like it hadn't eaten in weeks. Then we gave it some more. Then Carol called so we asked her. She said bread with milk and water. OK. It ate that up too. Mom thought we should name her. I told mom that if we fed it and named it then it was pretty much our cat. Oh well. Her name is Lightning bc her whole back end is black with a white streak through it.

She did not come on Thursday though we did now have cat food. Instead mom caught another cat eating out of the dish! And then we saw another cat in Jane's yard. Are we over run with cats?

Saturday night at my party, she came again. Admist all the people on the porch and tolerating Noel, she enjoyed the party and ate another two bowls of food. Sunday morning she stopped by so Chrissy could get a good look at her and Chrissy informed me that Lightning was a mommy. Hmm. One cat is ok, but a litter?

Since then she has come at least once a day either in the morning or in the evening and always eaten like a horse. Lightning is more like a dog than a cat and loves to be scratched and have her belly rubbed.

Was she a mom? She is. Last night (Wednesday) we finally saw her kittens bc she brought them on the porch. They are about six inches long and pretty skittish, but they ate some of the food we put out for Lightning, so I think they are pretty old. Mom thought we should name them. For most of the evening, we thought there were two, one that looks just like Lightning, that I named Thunder, and a black one with white tipped paws that Mom named Footy. Then we thought there were two black ones, so she named it Socks. Then there were two white ones, one with a perfect black spot on her hind leg – mom named it Tar Heel. Now we are not sure. Bc the second white one looks really black from behind. (realize that we were peering at them in the dim light of the back porch). Now we think there are three. But who knows there could be 7.

Being infatuated with the cat is very time consuming. Mom and I are always wondering if she's out there and if she is going to come and she is run to scratch. Now it is an obsession with looking for the kittens and laughing at them as they run all over the back porch and play in the bushes. And still what do you do with a cat or four? I have to think about spaying, and worms, and shots, and giving the kittens away. It is such a hassle. Yet I look for Lightning every time I go near the back door. ;)