Sandra Larson’s Blog

Oh, thank you Sandra!!! That makes me feel good.

I was told many years ago that I had some writing talent (oddly enough, by a friend who was taking up the hobby of handwriting analysis and did mine) but never did much about it until I started writing these little pieces for you. The closest I came was writing instructional materials at work (informally!).

I enjoy telling you the stories about my babies!!!

I have a few sweet memories of my old cat Mishie that I’d like to share. He was a chubby little tuxedo cat who looked a lot like Pie looks now, and he was just as much a character, but in different ways. I loved him so much. I have one I’ll work on called “Mishie Climbs a Tree” (about Mishie and his friend Squirrelly) and another about “Mishie Enjoys a Nature Show” (he actually sat and watched and enjoyed a whole hour of Animal Planet one night with a very sweet little documentary film on river otters — little people much like Mishie and it was clear he was relating… he sat entranced through the whole story, and I was as delighted with his obvious emotional responses as I was to the documentary itself). I also need to sit down and think about how to write the stories about my cat Andy and his little “wild buddies”. As you know, we live in Mesquite. The city. Yes, we are near a creek, and I guess that is how we get the “wilds” in, but Andy, who is “Mr. Come-on ‘a My House” and makes friends with the wild creatures. You have to know Andy. He is the “leader” of the house now, and looks after everyone. And everyone loves him. Especially his outside girlfriends (he is fixed but the girls just adore him, and he is friends with all the boys too). He likes to go outside to use the bathroom, and, I suspect, to socialize with everyone in the whole area. Somehow they show up and make friends with Andy. He has a buddy (Edgar) who happens to be a possum, who is the cutest thing going. If Andy won’t come in at night, I know to look over his shoulder, and there will be little Edgar on the porch (that is the name I get for him, was calling him “Possum” for awhile but he seems to be an “Edgar” for sure). Andy won’t come in till he goes home. You can’t be rude to your friends like that, he tells me. And awhile back, during a really cold spell (and I know things were short in the forage department) we had our friendly neighborhood skunk come for dinner with the kitties. He was VERY polite! Had a nice meal and drink, thanked everyone for their hospitality, and waddled off, very full. We have a photo of him enjoying himself. Jeff kind of got freaked at first, but I told him, well, we have a friendly soul there in Andy and he never wants to see anyone go hungry. They get a standing dinner invitation for our house if they can’t find food. I really do love that cat! He is such a sweetheart. He just has a big heart!!! I’ll have to send some photos of them if I can get anyone to stand still long enough (a problem at our house….).

Thanks again, I am so glad you enjoy my reminiscing about my kids! That will give me some new stories to work on about “Mish memories”, Andy and the crew!

Hugs,

Fran

KEKE, A MALE CAT MAMA
By Barb Barreto

It was the summer of 2005. My brother had a couple of barn cats at his small farm in Southern Wisconsin. They produced a litter of kittens.

One Saturday afternoon, my husband and I decided to drive over to see the kittens and ended up bringing one home. We chose a female black-and-orange calico, very petite, with unique markings.
We named her Lucy.

Lucy adjusted well to her new home and got along well with her siblings, three adult male cats who we already had at home. So well in fact, that she fell in love with one of them.

Before we had a chance to have her neutered, she was pregnant. She had her five precious kitties in our front entry closet. We had the opportunity to watch the births and helped her however we
could.

We had recently lost my husband’s brother and mother. Lately our minds were filled with thoughts of life coming to an end. Now we were witnessing the miracle of birth and life just beginning.

We fixed up a box and moved Lucy and her babies to our bedroom, so she could have a quieter place to care for them. She was an excellent mother for her young age. She was very attentive and fed them well.

Then Keke stepped in. At that time, Keke was a four-year-old male domestic short hair who had been neutered at a young age. He was fascinated with these five little fur balls and wanted to be their mother. Every chance he had, he would climb into the box and cuddle with the kittens and clean them and watch them squirm around.

We really did think that he had some sort of mothering instincts. Lucy didn’t seem to mind sharing the babies’ care with Keke. Maybe she welcomed the relief!

As the kittens grew and became a part of the family, Keke became very attached to them and would often cuddle up with one or two kitties in a chair. He seemed to be watching over and keeping them safe and out of trouble.

Sometimes, as Lucy was lying with the babies feeding them, Keke would lie next to her as if awaiting his turn to take care of them.

The kittens were a joy to watch as they explored their new world and began showing their personalities. It was also very interesting to see how the three adult male cats reacted and interacted with these tiny, active little creatures who climbed and jumped all over them and anything else they could find.

One old cat was tolerant and one was curious. Keke was attentive and nurturing. It is amazing how each and every cat I have met has his or her unique personality.

When the kittens were ready to leave the nest, we found good homes with family and friends for all of them except for one. We kept the gray and white kitten and named him Baby Bear. He was the baby of the family, and his little face looked like a fluffy teddy bear.

Today, four years later, Keke and Baby Bear are very close. They often cuddle up together. Does Baby Bear sense the nurturing and care he received from Keke when he was so very tiny? We wonder.

Visit www.angelanimals.net/nlimage31.html to view Keke with Patches.

BIO:
Barb Barreto lives in rural Sharon, Wisconsin with her husband and four very spoiled cats, each one with their very own unique personalities — KeKe, Harley, Thumper, and Baby Bear who all get plenty of attention.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

When have you seen male nurturing in animals?

Dear Fran,

Blessings,
Sandra

The Story of ‘The Moon Pies’, by Fran

Hi Sandra — first let me say thank you again for your wonderful newsletter and sharing all the animal stories. I enjoy reading about them, and I do appreciate having a place to share my own stories as I remember them. I don’t remember if I told you my own “baby animal” story about our youngest two kitties, Miss Mew (”Moo”) and Pirate (”Pie”) collectively known as the “Moon Pies” at our house. They are quite unusual little people and have really changed our household for the better.

We had their mom as an outside young feral kitty who we cared for. (She is now installed as a barn cat and undoubtedly having a good time out in the country). She is the daughter of a neighborhood feral that we have never been able to catch. We could never catch her either, to have her fixed, although we tried many times. She was great at evasion and at getting out of our arms whenever we did catch her and try to put her in a carrier.

We noticed that she was gaining weight…. so we knew we’d been unsuccessful at preventing more kittens, but not much we could do at that point. Then she got “skinny” again, but no sign of babies, and we were afraid that being so young, she had not known how to care for them and they did not survive. So we weren’t expecting what happened next.

We work with Kittico to care for our local ferals, and my contact, Leigh, was over one evening to bring me some donated food for my group. We were talking on my front porch, when suddenly, out of the flower bed came a little black long haired kitten — Miss Mew! Following closely in line were two more tiny kittens, a grey and a tuxedo. Mew just marched right up to my friend and put her tiny paws on her leg and mewed to be picked up, and expected the others to follow. We were surprised and delighted that three tiny kittens, who we were sure had had NO prior contact with humans in any way, were marching right up to us and asking for affection!

We decided not only to grab the kittens to care for them, but to get Mama at the same time, so we put the kittens in a carrier and set a trap for their mom, and had them all inside within a couple of hours.

Sadly, the little grey kitten did not thrive and we lost that one very soon, but the brother and sister were healthy and active. Once they were weaned, we all decided a barn cat position would be ideal for their mom, and we were going to try to place the kittens, but they simply stole the hearts of the whole family and we just could not let them go. They have made such a difference in our household. Everyone loves them, and it just seemed that once they joined our household, everyone else started getting along better as well.

They are the delight of our lives. Their personalities are so funny…. Miss Mew is cute, smart, and there is more going on behind those innocent wide gold eyes than you would expect. She is very sweet, but she knows how to get her way when she wants it! She can take her brother down in a tackle (and often does) and can outsmart him any day! Pie is just a happy go lucky little guy, loves to play, loves his brothers and sisters, and is always getting into mischief. They are totally spoiled by our dog Ralphie, and at night you will see Ralphie spead-eagled on his back, with a “Moon Pie” on either side of him, (using Ralph’s stomach as a pillow), all fast asleep. They have brought out the best in all of the family, and we are so blessed to have them in our household. They have brought out the playful side of our older kitties as well, and it’s so much fun to see how they all relate.

So much for “no more pets, we have enough”. But these guys were just meant to be with us, they bring so much love and joy to our family!!

Looking forward to more of your newsletters and I have remembered some more sweet memories to share with you when I have time to write them down.

Hugs,

Fran