My Story - Part 5

Now that Junior felt comfortably at home with his human family, Mom and Dad decided it was time to take him to the V-E-T. They wanted him to have his shots and a check-up. Mom was worried that Junior might panic in the car, so they decided that as soon as they could get a Cat carrier, they would make an appointment.

A few days later, Mom opened the back door in the early morning to let Junior in. Junior always spent the night out of doors. Every morning he would be waiting at the backdoor, ready to come in for his breakfast. This morning he wasn’t there. Mom didn’t worry about it though, because Junior was often gone for long periods of time. Sometimes he would not come home for several days, though these absences were becoming less and less frequent.

Junior didn’t show up all day. A couple of times Mom went out to call him, but he didn’t come home. When Dad got home from work Mom told him that Junior hadn’t come home. So Dad went out to call him. Still no Junior. They figured that he was on one of his treks, so they didn’t worry.

The next morning Mom opened the door expecting to see Junior, but he wasn’t there. She and Dad both went out to call him. Dad had to go to work, so Mom set out to look for him.

Their house was in a fairly rural area about 10 miles from a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They lived on a long curving road and had neighbours on both sides and across the street. Behind the back yard was a thickly wooded hill which sloped down to a small creek. Mom and Dad had seen opossums and deer in the woods, an occasional dog, and of course Cats. Beyond the woods and across the creek was a dirt road with more homes on it. In the winter you could see some of the homes through the bare trees, but in the summertime all you could see was the woods.

There was a path through the woods which ran behind the backyards of the homes on our street. Mom walked through the woods along this path calling for Junior, trying to think of where he might be. She was starting to get worried when she returned home without him. When Dad got home from work he went out to look for Junior too When he couldn‘t find him either, he started to get worried too.

Every day Mom and Dad looked for Junior. They went outside and called for him frequently. They looked for him everywhere they went, everywhere they drove. They looked on the sides of the road in fear he might have been hit by a car, but no Junior. Dad asked the neighbours if anyone had seen him but no one had. Mom took a trip to the county pound in hopes that someone had found him and taken him there, but no Junior.

The days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, but Junior never came home. Mom cried and Dad sighed. They both Dad missed Junior dreadfully. For months Mom continued to look for Junior. She hoped against hope that he might show up at the back door one day, happy to be home and wanting to come in.

They talked about Junior a lot. Eventually they talked about getting another Cat, but Dad said losing Junior was too painful. He didn’t want another Cat because no Cat could take Junior’s place.

So that, for the time being, was that.

My Story - Part 4

As Junior, the timid feral Cat changed, Dad, the confirmed Cat hater changed too. As Junior discovered that he liked having a human family, Dad discovered that he liked Cats. I've showed you Dad’s poem to me, but his first Cat poem was to Junior:



















Where does Junior go at night?
I see him all the day.
But when the moon is high and bright,
His head where does it lay?

Is there some secret hiding place,
That no one knows but he?
A field or open prairie space,
Or perhaps a forest tree.

Where does Junior go at night?
I sure would like to know.
My curiosity is ripe,
But how could I follow?

His size, his frame is oh so small,
He’s not an ape you see.
A kitten, tiger striped, that’s all,
Without a pedigree.

Where does Junior go at night?
The future it might say.
For now I’ll settle at the sight,
Of Junior in the day.

---------------------------

If things had continued the way they were, this would be probably Junior’s blog instead of mine. But something happened that changed everything. I’ll tell you about it next time…………………

My Story - Part 3

Gradually Junior became a regular part of the household. At first he would only stay for short visits and wouldn’t venture out of the kitchen. But as he got used to the hoots, chirps, and tweets of the bird clock, and got used to being in the house, he would stay longer and longer.

One thing that puzzled Junior was why the humans kept rolling little balls at him and dangling yarn in front of his face. The humans were puzzled too, because he wouldn’t batt or chase the toys they offered him. They thought that maybe Junior didn’t know how to play. They thought that because he had been on his own all his life, he had been too busy trying to survive to have learned how to play. So Dad began to spend time enticing Junior with yarn and catnip mice. Once Junior caught on, they had great fun playing ambush, pounce, and chase.

Mom had some jingle bells hanging on the inside door knob of the back door. Whenever Junior wanted out, he would reach up and batt the bells. When the humans heard the bells, they knew to come and let Junior out.

The more comfortable Junior became in the house the less he wanted to go out. But Mom and Dad didn’t want to leave Junior inside when no one was at home. He wasn’t used to being in for long periods of time and they were afraid he would panic if he couldn't get out when he wanted. So when the humans were ready to leave, they would jingle the bells on the door knob and call "kitty, kitty."

At first, Junior would come to be let out when he heard them call and jingle the bells. Gradually though, he became less and less interested in going out when they wanted him to. He began to ignore them, especially when he was busy taking a nap.


















So Mom had to bribe him with chicken.

Junior loved chicken. He knew where the chicken was kept too, in the big white box where it is always winter inside and full of food. Every time someone opened the door to the big white box he would come running and ask for chicken. If he didn’t get any, Junior would try to jump inside to look for chicken himself.

One day there was a terrible storm. There was no thunder or lightning, but the sky was murky, the wind was howling, and the rain was pouring down. Junior didn’t know that it was storming, so he batted the jingle bells to go out. Mom came to the door and looked outside. She told Junior that he might want to wait until later. He just rubbed against her legs, looked up at her with his sweetest kitty face, and cranked up his purr to high volume. So Mom opened the door.

Ordinarily, Junior didn’t mind the rain. He had spent most of his life outdoors and could even sleep in the rain. This day however, Junior took one look out the door at the blowing wall of rain and stopped short. His purring stopped abruptly. He stood in the doorway and stared outside. Then he casually turned around, walked back through the kitchen, jumped up onto the desk, and settled down to take a nap.
















Mom and Dad decided that Junior was officially a House Cat after that.

My Story - Part 2

Every day when Dad came home from work now, he asked about Junior.

For a couple of days, Mom fed Junior bits of leftover chicken, until she could go to the store and buy him some Cat food. Then she put the Cat food in a bowl and put the bowl in the back yard. Junior would come and eat it, but the other Cats would come and eat it too, especially Whitey Tiger Tail, who would chase Junior away.

Gradually Mom moved the bowl closer and closer to the house. Junior was nervous about this at first, but gradually he began to feel safe close to the house, and the humans wouldn’t let Whitey Tiger Tail or Tough Guy near his bowl when they were around. Mom was finally able to move the food bowl into the carport next to the back door. There, the humans could keep an eye on it, and Junior knew he always had something to eat. Whenever he wanted a drink, he helped himself to the bird bath.













As winter approached and the weather began to get colder, Dad started to worry that Junior would be too cold at night. He didn’t want a Cat in the house, so he fixed up a cardboard box for Junior to sleep in. He chose a cozy sized box with high sides to protect Junior from the cold wind. Then he put a scrap of carpeting in it and some old towels to keep Junior warm. When he was satisfied with it, he put it in a secure spot on top of a pile of boxes in the carport, so Junior could climb up high and feel safe.

Junior loved his bed. He would sleep in it at night and sit in it and look around during the day when he wasn‘t off hunting and exploring. Sometimes he would just sit there and watch the other Cats passing through the carport. They never seemed to notice that he was there.

One day Whitey Tiger Tail discovered Junior’s box. He jumped up into it, sniffed it all over, and then sprayed it. After that Junior never got into his box again.

Whitey Tiger Tail always seemed to be on the lookout for Junior and would chase him away whenever he saw him. But Junior knew that if Mom or Dad or the human kids were around, they would protect him from Whitey Tiger Tail and he would be safe.

One day Mom heard a desperate, wailing meow from right outside the back door. She ran to the door and threw it open. There at eye level, was Junior, who had climbed up the screen door and was hanging onto it for dear life. She saw Whitey Tiger Tail too, slinking away under the next door neighbour’s bushes.

After that Dad decided that Junior would be safer if he could come inside. So the humans began to invite Junior in. At first, Junior wasn’t too sure about being in the house. He was polite, but he kept an eye on the back door. He was very happy to find his bowl of Cat food beside the door, but he was too nervous to eat. So Mom kept talking to him with a gentle voice and he finally settled down to eat some food.

After a few minutes Mom’s Audubon bird clock stuck noon. The 12 o’clock bird was a great horned owl. It hooted the noon hour loudly and Junior panicked. Mom opened the door and let him out real quick. And that was his first visit.

My Story - Part 1

My story begins with this cat:



















I never knew him. In fact he was gone long before I was born. But if it wasn’t for him, my human family never would have adopted me, and Rascal’s world wouldn’t be what it is today.

Dad used to be a confirmed Cat hater. In fact, he was proud of being a Cat hater and used to brag about it. When Mom, Dad, and their human kids moved to a rural suburban home in North Carolina, Dad wanted to chase all the Cats away from the yard. But Mom said Cats were good because they caught mice and moles and snakes. She said the Cats should be allowed to hunt in the yard. So Dad thought about it and said ok.

Pretty soon the family became familiar with the Cats in the neighbourhood and even had names for some of them.

There was a pretty little lady tuxedo whose name was Susan. She lived two doors down the hill and made dainty trips through the garden.

There was a big white tom Cat with a ginger tabby tail and a large ginger patch over his left shoulder. Mom and Dad called him Whitey Tiger Tail. Whitey Tiger Tail was big and fast and so mean that he chased all the other cats away. He chased squirrels too and sometimes caught them. He lived up the hill across the street.

And then there was an old battle scarred grey tabby tom who stomped across the yard like a bull dozer. Mom and Dad called him Tough Guy. They later found out that he lived at Susan’s house and that his humans called him Clarence. But Mom and Dad liked the name Tough Guy better.

Every night when Dad came home from work, Mom would give him the “Cat Report”. One night she told him she had seen a new Cat. He was a young grey tabby who began to make trips through the yard from time to time. Mom thought he was about 6 months old. He was afraid of people and the other Cats and always ran away. He was skinny, but he looked so much like Tough Guy that Mom and Dad started to call him Junior.

The more Dad watched Junior, the more he thought it wasn’t fair that the other Cats always chased him away. He said that maybe if Junior got bigger and put on some weight, then he could take care of himself better.

So the next time they saw Junior in the garden, Mom took some leftover chicken out to him. Junior was scared and wanted to run away when he saw her, but he smelled the chicken in Mom’s hand. Mom set it down on the ground and stepped back. Junior was very hungry and he eagerly went to eat the chicken. Mom kept her distance and squatted down, talking softly to him.

While Junior was eating, Tough Guy came by on his way up the hill. He could smell the chicken too and came over to see what was going on. He really wanted to take the chicken away from Junior, but Mom wouldn’t let him. So Tough Guy and Mom squatted there side by side, watching Junior eat.

Mom said that Junior must have known that she protected him from Tough Guy, because after he finished eating his chicken he allowed her to present her hand for him to sniff. Tough Guy sauntered away, but Junior stayed there and let Mom watch him take a bath.