TGIF
I have too many cats.
I don’t think I do, but my cats do.
They think I have one too many.
They all hate Smokey.
They all fear him and fear turns to hate quickly among fur bearing creatures.
He’s different than the rest of them…he’s an unneutered old tom cat with the dream of a home they all once had.
My beloved Miss Kitty fears him so much that she only comes in during the night to eat…she now lives in the brush she lived in before she had a home.
She’s lost a lot of weight and I’m worried sick.
The rest of them scorn him and spit their contempt out whenever he’s in the area.
The vet says I should “rehome” him, maybe take him to the shelter.
Get rid of him.
I changed vets instead…
Smokey is doing everything he can to accommodate the other cats.
He seems to know he’s an outsider, perhaps because he’s always been one.
He is too timid to come inside, so he liked sitting right outside my door…it gave him a sense of closeness and belonging.
They demanded he move, so he up the sidewalk he went and camped out in front of a different door.
He has yet to return their scorn in kind…and he’s big enough that he could.
He greets me every morning as I leave to take Trey to work… I feed him and pet him and he gives off a palpable sense of gratitude for what the rest take for granted, take as their due.
I love him as I love all my cats, but I don’t want to lose the others, either.
What to do?
He has an appointment with the vet to get “fixed” soon and I’m spraying cat pheromones about the area to try to make the others feel more comfortable.
I spend time with the others to make them assured of their place in my heart and my home.
Despite all that, it may not work out .
Cats, like people, tend to forget where their master found them.
They like to feel better than someone else.
They think that sharing what they’ve been given will diminish them.
They fear the “other”…then they hate them, then they try to destroy them.
The whole creation groans…
I love them all anyway…and thank God they can’t vote.
Make your own application…
Bless you Michael for caring and loving on these fur babies. I share your love of cats, deeply. I don’t know if it’s my age but I find I am very sensitive about animals these days. I can’t bear to see any of them suffer in any way. Mr Smokey sounds like a very good guy… humble old tomboys are truly precious. ???
Midwife,
Thank you…I seem to be more sensitive as I age also…even though I’ve loved animals 9especially cats) all my life.
Smokey is a very good guy…life has beat him up, but he still has a good heart.
We all should be like Smokey… 🙂