ADSactly Personal - A Tale of Two Kitties
ADSactly Personal: A Tale of Two Kitties
When I was a teenager, I somehow managed to be a magnet to a beautiful stray cat in the village and somehow I convinced my mum to take her in too.
This was our house a long time ago:
The first kitty was a cat whom we ended up calling Smudge. She was back, ginger and white.
She had a very small dainty frame, and was as feline, as feline could be.
When we first met her, she came to our door miaowing pitifully, so we gave her some milk and food outside.
My mum wouldn’t let me bring it inside, instead, she said if it is still about tomorrow, then you can take it inside.
So I spent the whole night wishing that this beautiful creature would still be there in the morning and it must have had the edge on my mum wishing the opposite, as it was still out there in the morning, cold and miserable and only too happy to be let in and hide underneath the nice warm peat burning stove.
It took a few days before she would allow us to stroke her and a few weeks before she would come and sit on our laps, but she was the best cat anyone could wish for.
She would come and sit on my lap, as I’d tell her about my day at school, purring in the right places and stayed with me, while any tears subsided.
My hands used to be permanently covered in scratches from playing with her, my hands were practice mice and she was a good mouser.
But despite all the love and attention she got and a lovely warm stove to huddle under when it was cold, there came a point when she decided to move to pastures new, after several years of us she must have got bored, or something.
We went for a walk on the moors behind our house and she decided to come with us and at some point, she went her own way and that’s was that she never came home.
After days of worrying, we found out she has decided to move in with the next door neighbor.
This lovely lady (said through gritted teeth) was spoiling her rotten, Smudge got her own armchair with a regularly topped up hot water bottle, a cat cozy on the radiator, she wasn’t going anywhere, least of all home to me.
But, there was another cat also who had come to stay with us at this point…
He was a kool kat called Nails.
Nails was completely my cat, he wouldn’t go to anyone else, just me. I liked that.
He did like to get into little tight spots though, he got stuck once for a day or so.
Our house was built the way that my mum and stepfather planned it and so there were stages when it was wood and plasterboard.
Especially finishing touches like my window sill desk in my bedroom, there was a little gap into the wall just above the window sill and guess where Nails managed to squeeze into and he wasn’t able to turn around to come out again.
He didn’t show for dinner, then when I went to my room I could hear this faint miaow. Or so I thought, I thought it was my imagination at first, but then I realized, found him and managed to pull him out.
He was one grateful kitty, but it didn’t stop him getting trapped again one day. (Grrrr)
He’d also disappear for weeks on end sometimes, so long that we’d thought that was that, then he would appear starving, although he didn’t look it in the slightest. He just liked his little holiday, although no-one would admit to looking after him.
He would also like to curl up with Smudge and with Smudge’s little kitten called Waddle (it was called something else, but it waddled so the name stuck).
Cats are independent though, it makes you feel privileged when they want to spend time with you. Just enjoy it while it lasts…
Even when I left the Isle of Lewis to live with my father, Nails remained the family pet, well until the neighbor the other side decided that he was a good ratter and kept him locked in his ample sized shed, and then coaxed it inside for him to never go home either!
When I went back to visit my mum on the Isle of Lewis, I visited both the cats (ok supposedly the neighbors) but the cats didn’t remember me or chose not to recognize me and ran away, it was very sad.
At least they got looked after well.
And there was me leaving them anyway to go to pastures new too. They only did what I did, without looking back.
Words and pictures: @hopehuggs
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First picture is extremely tacky, all other one have poor composition and are very blurry.
We have always had cats in our lives even when I was a kid.. just love cats... and when our last cat past away about 6months ago.. a few months later some little stray cat decided to make her self at home at our place, even tho we got a dog it did not put her off... the Dog and cat are now best friends..
The author used the original photos of her cats, who are long dead now and cannot be photographed. These are genuine paper photos from the seventies or the eighties. We believe no harm is done by publishing original, scanned photos if the object is unreachable today. The first image is a sort off unique in stlye but it fits the story quite well. :)
No problem, Simple disagreement on reward.
I found the story to be very mundane.
Awesome story really. Loved it.
Those are awesome cats @hopehuggs
I was trying to imagine why the name of the cat was nails. Cool but i am not really familiar with that name for a cat. I guess maybe it has thismething to do with the claws.
There is this cat in my neighbourhood that i like so much, i never really knew that it didnt walk on its heels and the balls of its feet like we humans do, it walked on tiptoe. I settled down one day and made th observation. I wonder how its weight is distributed.
Another strange thing i noticed is that they also wake my cousin up at the same time everyday. I went visiting for a week at my cousin's place and we slept in the same room. I noticed that just a minute before the alarm, the cat is all over him. Isn't that genuis :) this happened throughout the whole time i was there. So i dont know how that happened, but it happened. Can someone suggest me a reason why that cat was that good with timing. Is that a trait in all cats? Just asking.
Great post @adsactly.
I have known people's cats like that too, it seems like some have an internal clock, just like we do.
Yes, it was Nails, because of claws and also possibly because my mum and I liked an actor called Jimmy Nail. I also had a cat called Cantona too, but he got run over.
Wow. Sorry about Cantona. Reminds me of a retired footballer named Eric Cantona.
Yes, that's is exactly who that cat was named after.
Wonderful story! This reminds me of our cat Millie. She would also just leave and not come back. The first time she was gone for almost 3 months. We had feared the worse and then one day she was at the back door, purring and waiting to get in. I think she had found a new home to hang out at in the area. We also had one of our cats, an older Persian, who was very old and whose mobility had deteriorated with her age. One day she must have found an open door and decided to take a walkabout through the neighbourhood. We had been searching in hiding places through the house until we got a call from a vet clinic where she had been brought and her microchip checked. This independent cats I say. Thanks for sharing.
They are beautiful and independent animals, that go where the tastiest morsels are placed in front of them, I think.
Absolutely. We have a cat right now who totally acts like a dog. Not independent at all. It’s totally hilarious. Even tries to eat the dogs food.
There is so many homeless cats that need our help! You could help them by only resteeming stories like yours.
Somehow your story reminds me mine.
About five years ago, when we moved to our house and after we finished major renovation, there was this very bone skinny homeless black cat, she was hiding behind the small tree next to our garage and you could tell she was so hungry, we immediately thought that her previous owner must have abused her or something bad has happened to her in her past.We started calling her Sisi. Sisi was so scared. When we opened our storm door she immediately run away. We put some food next to the tree where she usually came and hoped she would come back. A few minutes passed, she came and ate all of it like she never ate before. After while she got used to us and started coming up the stairs of our back entry.
We fed her every single day, sometimes twice, in the morning and in the evening as well. Whenever she came we knew she wanted to eat or spend some time on our backyard. She loved to spend her time during the day in the sun.There was a period for about a month when she didn’t show up and we thought that she was probably gone. Then she came, she was so skinny, but we were happy that she was back. After a week Sisi gained back and since then she was coming to our backyard every day. You could tell she was happy outside as long as she had something to eat. On December 28th 2017 I went to our basement and my wife was talking to someone, I said “what is going on?” she said “we have a visitor” and there she was “Sisi” in our basement. I always knew my wife would try to do something to help Sisi even more, because she is the biggest animal lower I have ever known. Outside was so cold (in NY felt like -8F) my wife got her somehow inside our house. You could tell she was sick. We discussed what to do with Sisi and we decided that after the extreme cold is over we would let her go and keep feeding her every time she comes. She was so scared. When my wife tried to pet her she was shaking and also urinated. She also had both eyes inflammation and difficulties with breathing.The next day She was still scared cat, but she let my wife wash her eyes with the black tea, we heard this would help and since we don't have any eye drops or antibiotics we tried the natural way. After two days she let us pet her and I could tell that she is not afraid anymore. On the new year’s day Sisi ate all her food and you could tell she felt much safer, even though she was still spending most of her time in her little space she chose for-herself. The next day we went to vet without Sisi. We explained him our story, told him that it would be impossible to bring her in, so he gave us antibiotics for her. After two weeks of giving her antibiotics mixed with food she was a healthy cat. No difficulties with briefing and eye inflammation was gone as well. But you could tell she missed her freedom, so we decided to let her go. To this date she comes to our backyard every day and we are happy we could help her. Even though she is a wild cat, we still love her and fell like she is our cat.
I just noticed while writing this it takes so much space in your comment section, so for that I apologize.
It is a beautiful story, perhaps you should make a post out of too. I could easily end up a spinster crazy cat lady!
amazing life adsactly wirting animals story post thank for shearing
Cute ..
Beautiful story .. well done, wonderful participation
Thanks for sharing your beautiful experience
A cat has been mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, for 15 years. His name is Stubbs.
Pets add to our happiness and they are kind of treasure. I see that pets are more loyal than humans actually. But yes, we can't stop the one who wants to go. Its good that u set them free wherever they wanted to be
Yes, cats are free spirits. They do as they please.
Hey dear @hopehuggs, i didn't know when eyes became full of tears when i got to where you said "Nails" also "deserted" you.
At least you "deserted" them as well .lol.
You never mentioned the sex of Nails and Smudge.
I was very scared of cat when growing up but later got to see how beautiful they are.
Smudge was a girl and Nails a boy cat.
Many people recognize that feeling of falling in love. If Kitty gazes at you adoringly with her big golden eyes, pines when you are apart, then greets you with a symphony of operatic purrs when you return, you might find yourself wondering if she’s been struck by the love bug.
Animals are easy to love definitely compared to some humans.
Wow, cats are just like babes to me, with all emotions but like some ladies if they find the guy with the larger care and cash they shift base, while some like Nails will stick with you though there may be hard times and short fights, they'll still come back to you.. But if you stop showing them care and someone else does, they may decide not to remember your face.... Beautiful cats. I do like cats but my woman doesn't, I plan on filling my house with them but I also consider the love in my life. Thanks for sharing.
My landlord won't let me have a cat at the moment, so when we finally get to move, we will get one.
Ok, cats are very pretty pets, it's OK if you don't have them now but when you move and get one I believe it'll be fun