Tuesday, June 12, 2007

My dad has a cat.

My dad is not much of a cat person...me either for that matter, but he has a few wild cats at the horse barn to help keep the mice population down.

I think there has always been 1 or 2 cats around, but at one point this year he had a cat that had kittens. One day out of the blue he commented to me, "I think I'm gonna neuter that cat." That comment now lives in infamy in our house, because at the time he said it...nobody was talking about cats, and he just brought it up as general conversation.

Try it sometime, when a conversation goes dead during a party, during a boring meeting, or in bed just before you kiss your wife goodnight...just throw this out there, "I think I'm gonna neuter that cat." then see how many people look at you strange or just bust out laughing at your obscure Bob Barker remark.

So anyway, after laughing at him and finally with him, I ask him if he is going to take it to the vet or what...he says, "Are you crazy, I wouldn't waste money on that...I'd just shoot it." Now you have to understand this comment came from a 60 year old, native Beadle county, farm-raised boy. Pretty typical thing for a person around here to say.

For the record Webster defines neutering much differently: To render incapable of breeding by surgically removing reproductive organs--the testes in males, the ovaries and uterus in females ("spaying"). (Not by drilling it with a .45 slug)

So now that you have his background with cats...about 2 weeks ago I was in dad's garage and I hear this meowing sound. It was a couple week old kitten! This guy flopped from cat killer to kitty foster parent like Lindsay Lohan goes from sober to plastered! On top of it all...he was bottle feeding it...once every 3 hours!

So on Sunday I see the once homely orphaned kitty, is eating kitty food and lapping up milk out of a bowl, jumping, climbing and running around. She has been named "Shaky" by Maxim. She occasionally comes into the house, climbs on the screen doors, and despite mom's efforts to give her every chance to run away, the kitty lives in the garage.

Dad said after my niece Cassidy leaves he's going to get rid of it, but we will see. It will be to lazy to hunt for food on the farm, and I'm not taking it. I think it should stay in the garage. After all, I think he is attached...I kind of like the little thing as well...just not enough to be a cat person.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

For the record...I am a great animal lover...4 horses...sometimes 20 roping calves...a barn full of cats...pet ever dog I see...have protected a robin nest in the middle of my barn yard for a month till the baby robins hatched...and on and on...my sister Gloria and I even worked for an hour one time when we were kids giving a baby pig, that had be laid on by the mother sow, artificial respiration and got it back to life (and death later a butcher hog). The cat that is the subject of my son's blog was slowly dying from a virus that wild barn yard cats were being infected with last summer....When I blurted out that "I was going to neuter that cat", it was my PG rated way of telling the world I had decided to humanly put it out of it's misery...too late though,the next day when I went to the barn...it was dead. Really, I felt bad about that!!! Sometimes its just a fact of life!!!

Anonymous said...

i think it's impossible to give a pig mouth to mouth

Anonymous said...

I have to stick up for you Bob after reading the note from the second anonymous. we did bring that little pig back.. Bob was right- she was almost dead but we saved her. I know you love animals Bob - remember the funeral service we gave Whitey, our dog. very meaningful service. so if you need any more help convincing people you love animals - let me know : ) Gloria

Anonymous said...

wonder which one blew in the pigs mouth

Anonymous said...

OH, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy!!! I knew you were in trouble when I first read this a couple of days ago. Oh well, when your Dad dis-owns you, I will take you in, mostly because I do not have any grandchildren and yours seem like ones that I could help spoil rotten. As far as you goes, you would have to sign something that says I would filter everything you say and do.

Love your blogs, keep them up.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Tom I found it hard to believe that dad would bring a cat to the house, just so he could feed it more often and nurse it back to health. Must be the cat whisperer in him!
I just remember you and I pretty much killing a little bird named Flo, chasing her around the house with a garabage sack taped to two yard sticks!! Must have been quite a sight! Thanks for keeping us all conntected with this little blog. Sal

Anonymous said...

I AM A ANIMAL LOVER TO AND I THINK THAT ROPING IS HARD ON THE CALVES. YOU PEN THEM IN THE CHUTE LET THEM OUT AND ABOUT RIP THEIR HEAD OFF AND THEN THROW THEM ON THE GROUND AND TIE THEM UP.