Hello all,
Life is a funny thing....
I have a confession to make: I’m not a cat person. I think they can be murderous little beastys, rough on furniture and I don’t even want to get started on the whole litter box thing.....
In our house we already have two large dogs (Hamish and Jordan), a bearded dragon (Smudge) and an immortal betta fish (Superfish). We also have two pre-teen boys. So, as you can imagine, chaos reigns supreme.
We like to go hiking and have picnics when the weather cooperates. About a month ago we went to one of our favorite parks without the dogs. We had a nice little stroll in the woods and decided it was lunch time. Under a mature oak, right next to the tree line bordering a creek, we found the “perfect” spot. As we were settling in, something started rustling in the underbrush. There aren’t really any dangerous animals around so we were more curious than alarmed. Pretty soon a little orange and white head poked out of the grass. I have to admit that my first thought was not so charitable: “Oh no! A kitten! How is this not coming home with us!” We started to feed him.(Of course) He would not let us get too close at first. A few minutes later, here comes a grey and brown bundle of fur hopping through the grass. Again, not so charitable “Oh crap! There are two of them?!?” The second kitten was very scared and would not leave the safety of the tall grass. They did both eat most of our lunches for us and the orange and white kitten did eventually let us pet him a little. We stayed near until I was able to flag down a park employee and talk to him. He let me know they were aware of the kittens and were in the process of catching them. I let the family know the park had it under control and after setting up a water bowl from a discarded plastic bottle, we left. And, again, not so charitable “Whew... I dodged a bullet!”.
Two days later, I came home from a long day at work and was greeted by “Hi dad, would you like a beer? Can we do anything for you? How was your day?” Hmmm....I have pretty good kids but I’m usually lucky to get any kind of acknowledgment when I get home - video games to play, t.v. to watch, more important stuff to do! Something was definitely going on!. My wife had called the park, and found out that the kittens had been turned over to the county animal shelter. She had also called the animal shelter to check up on them.
When my wife and I started dating, she had a cat (Sampson). She and the cat were a package deal. I decided it was a good deal so we got married. The cat lived with us for about 6 years before passing on. My wife is, without a doubt, a cat person.
It turns out I did not “dodge a bullet”....
We are now the proud owners of two kittens. The orange and white one is “Lion”, his sister is “Rosie”. Because they were feral, they had a few complications. Rosie got very sick and decided I was her mother. I went 4 nights with a little grey and brown fur ball attached to my chest. With some veterinary assistance, some antibiotics and various other things, Rosie is now healthy and happy. We introduced the dogs and cats to one another over the course of a week and now almost everyone is getting along quite nicely. (The lizard is not in the least bit interested - he is happy to hang out in his habitat with a look of mild disgust on his face and the fish looks mildly concerned)
I think I’m in training to be a zookeeper...
There is a teaching in here somewhere....
Gassho,
Shugen
#sattoday
Life is a funny thing....
I have a confession to make: I’m not a cat person. I think they can be murderous little beastys, rough on furniture and I don’t even want to get started on the whole litter box thing.....
In our house we already have two large dogs (Hamish and Jordan), a bearded dragon (Smudge) and an immortal betta fish (Superfish). We also have two pre-teen boys. So, as you can imagine, chaos reigns supreme.
We like to go hiking and have picnics when the weather cooperates. About a month ago we went to one of our favorite parks without the dogs. We had a nice little stroll in the woods and decided it was lunch time. Under a mature oak, right next to the tree line bordering a creek, we found the “perfect” spot. As we were settling in, something started rustling in the underbrush. There aren’t really any dangerous animals around so we were more curious than alarmed. Pretty soon a little orange and white head poked out of the grass. I have to admit that my first thought was not so charitable: “Oh no! A kitten! How is this not coming home with us!” We started to feed him.(Of course) He would not let us get too close at first. A few minutes later, here comes a grey and brown bundle of fur hopping through the grass. Again, not so charitable “Oh crap! There are two of them?!?” The second kitten was very scared and would not leave the safety of the tall grass. They did both eat most of our lunches for us and the orange and white kitten did eventually let us pet him a little. We stayed near until I was able to flag down a park employee and talk to him. He let me know they were aware of the kittens and were in the process of catching them. I let the family know the park had it under control and after setting up a water bowl from a discarded plastic bottle, we left. And, again, not so charitable “Whew... I dodged a bullet!”.
Two days later, I came home from a long day at work and was greeted by “Hi dad, would you like a beer? Can we do anything for you? How was your day?” Hmmm....I have pretty good kids but I’m usually lucky to get any kind of acknowledgment when I get home - video games to play, t.v. to watch, more important stuff to do! Something was definitely going on!. My wife had called the park, and found out that the kittens had been turned over to the county animal shelter. She had also called the animal shelter to check up on them.
When my wife and I started dating, she had a cat (Sampson). She and the cat were a package deal. I decided it was a good deal so we got married. The cat lived with us for about 6 years before passing on. My wife is, without a doubt, a cat person.
It turns out I did not “dodge a bullet”....
We are now the proud owners of two kittens. The orange and white one is “Lion”, his sister is “Rosie”. Because they were feral, they had a few complications. Rosie got very sick and decided I was her mother. I went 4 nights with a little grey and brown fur ball attached to my chest. With some veterinary assistance, some antibiotics and various other things, Rosie is now healthy and happy. We introduced the dogs and cats to one another over the course of a week and now almost everyone is getting along quite nicely. (The lizard is not in the least bit interested - he is happy to hang out in his habitat with a look of mild disgust on his face and the fish looks mildly concerned)
I think I’m in training to be a zookeeper...
There is a teaching in here somewhere....
Gassho,
Shugen
#sattoday
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