For the Love of Cat Vol. 6, Shotgun

Halford, 2008

 Okay, we've been keeping a secret.
We have a new cat around. As I've mentioned before, my husband and I live right next door to my parents in a tiny house with our two dogs. I would say the cats are mutual property between the two residents by now. They go to whatever door will open for them whenever they are cold and hungry. Meatloaf, the kitten we rescued last July from under a nearby house, hangs mostly with us. Halford was my cat and he moved with my parents 4 years ago when I moved into a house with Paul downtown. He's now more of my pet again than just a neighbor. He sleeps at our house most nights. Then there is Luci, a beautiful black and white long haired cat I rescued when she was a kitten from a dirty house with no food or liter box for her. I brought her to live with my parents, so she never got the chance to live with me and Louie and therefore never got used to a big slobbery dog that bumps into you when he's looking right at you! Luci has ventured into our home a few times. She'll find a comfy spot on the back of a chair and hold her own when a dog tries to sniff her, but she is definitely not a dog lover like the other two.

Luci, 2008 (notice her extra thumbs)

Okay, so what is the secret?!
My dad brought another cat home. Everyone sighed, we aren't 'cat people'. I love my pets, don't get me wrong, I just don't see our family having loads of cats roaming around. How many is too many? Well, my dad had to explain how the new cat found him and why he put it in his truck and brought it home.

I walked in to my dad's house after a long day of work.
All I knew about the new cat was that it looked like Luci except dirty and my dad had 'saved' it. What I found was a skinny, hungry, scruffy looking Muppet caked in cow manure and stinking to high heaven. How could anyone want to pick that up and take it home? It looked so scared. I did not touch it because I was sure it would turn into a hissing, gnashing fur ball, slicing its way to free itself from my clutches with it's infected claws. I just watched skinny try to choke down food and asked my dad what he was thinking.

He told me he was on a nearby farm with a friend. They were going to do some work on the property. The three men were standing around discussing this upcoming project when a skinny black and white kitty slowly walked by.  The farm hand said 'Oh, yeah. That reminds me I was supposed to get rid of that thing.' and he pulled his shotgun from his truck. My dad quickly asked what he was doing. The man said that this cat didn't belong here and it had been wondering around on their property for a while now and no one could catch it. It was surely feral and diseased. My dad quickly volunteered to take care of this for him. He patiently waiting for the cat to approach. He pet it a little and it seemed fine. He tried to pick it up and then it really gave it to him. Hissing, spitting, clawing, flailing. My dad carried it to his truck, put it in and shut the door.

Okay, I get it.
He could not let that man shoot this cat, it had to be somebodies pet, at least at one time. On top of that, it looked so darn much like his cat Luci. What kind of a man would he be if he stood by and let that happen? I understood, and loved my dad just a little more. I looked at my dad and said 'Well, I guess we call it 'Shotgun'. He smiled with tears in his eyes. The cat purred while it ate the crunchy kibble just as fast as it could. We scheduled a vet appointment for the next day and thought we'd try to find it a home if we could. We'd make sure she was well first. One thing we knew for sure: this cat did not like dogs. The moment Louie or Snorp were in sight, even through the window she flipped out.

Meatloaf, 2012

The first time Shotgun met Louie was quite the scene. 
Shotgun made it known she despised this animal and anyone who looked like it. Hissing, spitting, flailing, clawing again, my dad carried her upstairs and away from the other animals, giving Louie a chance to inspect the new smell and trace everywhere this new creature had been. Louie made zigzags across the kitchen floor, over to the cat food bowl where he was reminded he didn't get to eat that, over to the water dish where he helped himself and wet his whistle, under a chair and table and into a closet, back across the kitchen to the living room where he did some deep sniffing of a blanket Shotgun had been lying one when we came in. Then he went back trough the living room and crossed the kitchen floor to the flight of stairs leading upstairs, no hiding from this dog! No, sorry Louie, you can't go upstairs. Leave that kitty alone.

Shotgun, 2012

So why was this a secret?
Well, it wasn't really a secret actually. More that I wasn't ready to share this story until I knew where it was going. This cat looked terribly sick and hated my dogs. What kind of uplifting story could I spin out of that? How does this relate to Life with Blind Louie?

Well, we took Shotgun to the vet. Shotgun is a 'she'. She had been fixed before, so she was somebodies pet once upon a time. They guessed she was maybe three years old, she did not have feline leukemia but she had such bad fleas that she was anemic.  She was far too thin and was recovering from dehydration. So, I see. The farmer could not take care of another animal and he knew this cat had no home and was sick. They were doing the 'humane' thing and 'euthanizing' her. Farmers and country folk handle things just a bit different than we do in the city. That scenario sounds crazy to me being raised in town and new to this area but I don't think anyone necessarily had poor intentions. I'm just glad my big-heart-ed father was there to give this girl a second chance.

Shotgun, 2012

Now between the two houses, we have four cats, two dogs, three chickens, and two pigs.
Everybody is happy and taken care of so it seems okay. I don't see us adopting out Shotgun, my dad is very attached. She sleeps with him at night and comes when he calls her. The name stuck, Shotgun. I named another cat a weird name. Win! She is way more mellow now, she doesn't hit or spit at my dad anymore, even when he picks her up. She's playing and wrestling with the other cats. The dogs though... well, she still leery. I don't know if that will get too much better. Luci still doesn't like the dogs much and they've been living next door to her for about seven months now. Louie, however is learning to keep his distance. He knows if he smells close enough that he can hear her growling at him that he need to back off. She doesn't run away anymore, she stands her ground. This is really good because it will teach Louie to keep away instead of just chasing and playing hide and seek. Today, I finally was able to take pictures of her because she wasn't hiding. She's a pretty Shotgun.

Shotgun, 2012

Cat Fights Vol. 1, Looking in

Louie & The Loaf, lying in my lap.

This was Meatloaf of the day that we found her. 
 There she is, a tiny sick, weird-looking kitten snatched out from under an old trailer. No sign of mom or siblings in sight. Gross snotty face and icky ears. She was an instant favorite.

This is Louie lying in my lap as I sit on the floor.
 He would not leave Meatloaf's side the first two weeks we had her. It took full time monitoring to get her to dry out at all. Louie wanted to clean that gross little kitty. She would purr and purr and eagerly allow it. Then of course, Meatloaf thought she could nurse from her new mommy. I watched the scrawny kitten wriggle her way under Louie. I could see Louie's eyebrows move inquisitively up and down. Then, suddenly. Eyebrows up! and up Louie jumps as fast as he can. I guess Meatloaf found that what she wanted, she wasn't going find there at all.

Imminent death is upon us.

This is Halford sitting on the front porch.

  A cat that has had the run of our family homes for over three years. A cat that is smart, comes when he's called, asks to be let out to use the bathroom, and basically acts like a dog. He is glaring through the window that lines the side of the front door.
   I sit on the floor in the living room. Meatloaf and Louie in my lap. I feel calm and happy. Louie has finally settled down and stopped trying to lick the kitten. Everyone is comfortable. I take a photo, it's just that cute of a moment. I look up and at little to my right with a slight smile on my face.

 Five feet away, we lock eyes.

Halford.

Sitting on the front porch,

glaring through the window that lines the side of the front door.

For just one split second, I was very afraid. This was a death glare. A wild animal. Halford was ready to kill, stalking prey, in the moment. He wanted that rodent out of his house and now. Halford, the only cat that got Louie attention was, Halford. and that was that. Luci didn't want anything to do with him and Louie came to terms with that. They left each other alone. I can only imagine Halford wondered why we were coddling a mouse, when in fact he brought us them dead and left them at the back door all the time.

Happy Halloween, From Halford

For the Love of Cat Vol. 5, Meatloaf

Doing some deep sniffing, inspecting the new kitten.

Movin' to the Country
In July of 2012 my husband and I picked up and moved a few towns north to a house right behind my parents. I wanted to be closer to family and there was such a big yard and barn so our animals could have an even better place to hang out. Our beloved family dog, Poncho passed away at the age of ten in February of 2012, and my dad seemed sad and lonely without him. We all took it very hard. Poncho went everywhere with my dad and there was a huge hole left without him. My dad didn't want another dog, Poncho couldn't be replaced. I knew that Louie has a way of comforting people in a special way. Moving out there allowed my dad to 'dog sit' for us every work day.

Rescue Mission

A few days after we starting staying out in our new house on 'the farm', my dads neighbor stopped by saying she heard something under her house and thought there might be some kind of animal under there trapped. My dad went over and spent some time, finally coming back home with a little grey tabby kitten in his arms. Later we'd found out it was a little girl. She was clawing and trying to get away from my dad. We put her into a small room with a little bit of food and water. She looked scared and sick. Her eyes were all gooey and she was sneezing. I guessed she was about eight weeks old, probably born around June 1st.

Introduction

Nap Time

I opened the door and sat down on the floor. Louie shoved his head in around me, sniffing loudly. The kitten came to us. She looked so sad and sick, poor thing. She started to purr. It reminded me of Halford the day he met Louie. Louie started to lick this new kitten. She gladly allowed it. Before you know it she was soaking wet, sparkly clean and smelled like dog breath. I decided to call her Meatloaf, since Louie thought she was so tasty.

Clean 'er Up
We took Meatloaf the the vet the next day. She got some meds for the icky eyes, fleas, ear mites and some antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. We scheduled an appointment for two weeks later for her first shots. The receptionist looked at the kitten and said, "She doesn't look like a meatloaf." I responded in a loud exaggerated whisper "Shhh, SHE'S MADE OF KITTEN MEAT." I didn't really get a laugh. Umph.

Meatloaf knows she can sneak away from Louie if she's quiet

She's a Keeper
We weren't thinking of keeping this little kitten at first. I just wanted to get her healthy and try to find her a good home. That was until we realized how well she was getting along with our dogs! Luci and Halford pretty much lived next door at my parents house and Meatloaf tended to sleep with us and the dogs. I wouldn't call my husband Paul a 'cat person' by any stretch, but he really seemed to be warming up to Meatloaf, she seemed to take a liking to him as well. I said to him "Looks like you like that kitten, Paul." He responded, cat on his chest purring as he gently pet her and kissed the top of her head, "No. No, I don't care for her." with a disapproving nod. I think he's lying. I guess if that's what it means, I don't much care for her either.

Me and Meatloaf, I'm just tolerating her. She's not cute at all.

As I write this, she sits next to me. A Meatloaf made of kitten meat. She sure is cute right now, but when she wants to have a fight to the death with my face when I'm dead asleep at 3am, not so much.

I love that Louie gets along with cats, even Snorp has come around to the whole idea. So the family grows. My parents next door, Paul and I, Louie, Snorp, Halford, Luci and now Meatloaf.

What could happen next?

For the Love of Cat Vol 3, Luci Fur

Luci Was An Accident
I don't know where Luci came from. My old roommate got her as a tiny kitten, she was a little puffball. Probably too small to be away from her mommy yet. He brought her home after I had moved out of the house Louie, Halford and I had once shared with a few other roomies. About a month after getting the kitten, he was being evicted and I offered to find her a home. That house was no home for a cat anymore anyway. There wasn't even cat food or a litter box in the house, it had REALLY gone down hill since I'd moved out. It killed me to see this kitten living like that.

Luci was adorable. Jet black and bright white, long white whiskers and a bushy tail. She's short and chubby, much more of a normal cat as far as the cats go in our family. Halford is the pet and Luci is the real cat. She's sketchy, startles easily, is afraid of the vacuum and prefers to be left alone unless she demands petting or food. She acts like such a pedigree.

All in Good Fun with Love
In reality, I think Luci might not be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if you know what I mean. I kindly refer to her as the 'special' kitty. Her eyes seem a bit crossed, and she has several extra toes. What a neat cat, and such personality. I definitely don't REALLY think she's slow, it's just fun to tease. That is how I function, life would be unlivable without laughter. I think it's necessary to make fun of ourselves and each other in a loving way. There is no shortage of blind jokes around my house for Louie.

I renamed Luci when I rescued her. Her old name was Venom, after the metal band. It didn't really seem to suit her. Luci was nice. Luci Fur because she's fuzzy, and because she has six toes on one of her front feet and five on the other front one. Demon cat! She could really grab onto something with the death grip of her giant front paws and kick the crap out of it with her back feet.

The Amazing Fetching Kitten
I fell in love with Luci somewhat suddenly one day. I was over at the house she was living and she was still just a little kitten. There was a toy there that was a small fishing pole with a toy bird on the end that chirped when it hit something. Luci loved it until the string snapped. I picked up the now detached bird and threw it across the room a little ways. It chirped when it his the ground. Luci ran over and batted it around, picked it up in her mouth and was carrying it around. I called, her 'here kitty kitty' and rubbed my fingers together. She brought me the bird. I wrestled it away from her and tossed it again and it chirped as it landed. She ran over, swatted it around a bit and picked it up in her mouth again. When she brought it back to me the third time I almost peed my pants. Was this kitten actually playing fetch with me? We went on for about fifteen minutes. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen a feline do.

A rare moment of Luci and Louie snuggle.

Luci never played fetch again.
I tried so many times, in so many ways, with so many different toys and nothing. I think she knows how and that I want her to fetch but just doesn't feel like it. Snob.

Luci is not much of a fan of Louie to be honest. She tolerates him and knows how to get out of his way. I think all of our other animals know Louie is blind by now. There have been a few adorable Luci and Louie moments and I have only captured it on camera once. Now that I look at it, somehow Luci doesn't look like she's enjoying it all that much. Maybe more just tolerating him, and using him for his body heat. She'd much rather find her own quiet warm spot in a window somewhere where no one can bother her.

Halford and Luci
The story of how Luci and Halford met was a tough one. I think it deserves it's own story. Luci arrived at a strange time in our lives, and Halford took sometime to adjust to having another cat in the house, but for very good reason. I will explain...


Check out the next installment:
For the Love of Cat Vol 4, Halford and Luci