TGIF
Chester has been home for a couple of weeks now and for the most part, things are good.
For the most part…
He picked up an upper respiratory virus at the pound, which he’s now over.
Miss Kitty, who received the virus as an unwanted gift from Chester, is not doing as well.
She has a runny nose and runny eyes and I have to warm her food up so she can smell it or she won’t eat.
She’s an older cat and such things take a toll on her.
It has cost her to share her home with someone else.
Chester must stay inside and that means that we now have to have a cat box.
A very large cat box.
Chester is a very large cat.
I had never experienced the joy of cat box maintenance until now…and it’s one of those things you must “count” as joy because it is quite unpleasant in reality.
Chester is very good about using his box…multiple times a day.
Which means his box has to be cleaned… multiple times a day.
A call for volunteers has produced no results…
Chester buries his waste with vigor, as a good cat should.
He does so with so much vigor that the area around the cat box must be vacuumed multiple times a day as he kicks sand out over a two foot radius of the box.
Again, the call for volunteers has been met with silence.
I tell you all of this to tell you what I’ve learned yet again.
Mercy always makes a mess.
Grace is never free, it always costs somebody something.
The mess and the cost are part of what love looks like.
Miss Kitty is sick and I’m worn out…but Chester knows he’s loved.
It’s worth it.
It’s also easier to give both to pets, rather than people…but the people are worth it more.
Make your own application…
the call for volunteers goes out every sunday morning with much the same response.
fil…and for the same reasons.
Good application..
Michael you give to people here and the skate park all the time.without asking for anything in return ..that sounds a lot like grace to me.
Praying for miss kitty to get well soon
Thank you, Dusty…she needs it.
I need to be able to get a whole nights sleep without her sneezing in my face four or five times…
Awe, poor guy…first your own illnesses and now your little ones illneses keeping you awake…you must be so worn-out. Keeping you in prayer…still….always big brother
Love this. Of course. Thank you. Lord bless you, and your beloved cats.
What you’re doing for Chester is such a good thing. So glad to hear he’s home.
Yesterday Chester walked up to me , put his paws around my leg, and laid his big ol’ head on my foot…a cat hug.
Those two do more for me than I’ll ever do for them…
Awww that is so sweet. Unconditional love. A little taste of God’s love for you.
We maintain 4 cat boxes at my house. Non perfumed clumping litter works great but there is the mess outside the boxes that gets all over the place. Only nightly maintenance keeps things in fine working order.
My furbabies make it all worth it.
Finicky kitty appetites and constant brand changes to keep up with their phasic meal desires.
And yet kitty love covers all of our human chores to keep them healthy and well cared for. Nothing like a meow and some great purring to soften the heart.
How wonderful to come home and find some of the cats waiting for you on the driveway.
Or when watering the lawn they just seem to appear out of no where to get some love.
Ah yes the joys of having rescued cats!
I love Chester from afar. Sounds like he’s filled with the Holy Spirit….
Dear Lord, bless and heal our beloved Miss Kitty… grant her a reprieve from this upper respiratory sickness. Please bless this lil ol gal with renewed health and strong longevity, as a blessing to both her, her Servant and Yours, Michael and to us, loyal cat lovers…. Thank You Creator of the Heavens and Earth, including all they contain. Merciful Lord. Amen.
Amen, Paige…amen, and thank you.
Surfer51,
The driveway thing…amen.
When I was a boy I had twin Siamese who would wait for me at the bus stop after school…that was my initiation into the crazy cat person world…
my introduction to cats…
i was a child, maybe 8, it was fairly early in the morning and i was sound asleep – lying on my back – i awoke to something on my chest, i opened my eyes and there nose to nose staring me in the face was a green eyed pure white cat … we didn’t own a cat…
Grandpa said that he’d opened the service porch door and the cat rushed in, ran down the hall and straight up the stairs and, from the passage of time between when he opened the door and when he heard my scream, this stray cat had made a beeline straight for my room and onto my bed – my chest – i was not charmed
that said, our old cat, Axle, is becoming confused and i just came from tucking him in for the night with a kind word – he’s not used to kind words from me, so it probably added to his confusion
God keep the cats and those who love them
Michael,
Good on you, brother. It seems Chester’s time in your kitty rehab has done both of you well.
On another note, I’ve often felt that, although the Word seems to be silent on this issue, it just wouldn’t be fair if our loving pets don’t have eternal souls……
Michael
Bless you!! I’ve been reading here–lurking–for a few years, so I guess it is okay to comment.
What works well for me and my three cats who are indoor/outdoor cats is a large plastic storage box w/o the lid. At least one cat has the right idea–bury the mess–but the wrong technique–dig vigorously on the sides of the box rather than in the litter. The storage box with deeper sides pretty much solves the litter scatter problem. It requires some extra litter to start out with, but I also have found that the clumping kind works well. Also with the larger litter box, one doesn’t have to immediately remove the deposits. However I am kind of a slob, so there is that. I’ve been thinking of adding some baking soda to reduce the odor because even tho my old nose is not offended, others have graciously (and I mean that) told me that a change would be good.
Ah, yes–there is nothing quite like dropping little smoochies on the little earsies to delight one’s heart. But enough of that!! I hope that you know that I mean well and have tried to stay within the proper lines for my comment. I LOVE eavesdropping on you folks and appreciate you all sooo much!!
p.s. If I lived closer, I would volunteer for littler box duty. But words are cheap!!
i think nancyjane’s words are wise ones – i mentioned Axle, he was my late husband’s cat before he became my daughter’s and that was what he did (Axle was kept in the garage at night to avoid the coyotes) a very deep tub as the standard litter box, even with a door couldn’t contain this cat’s vigorous efforts (i think it was malice as he much preferred finding his own spot outdoors LOL )
on that subject, i’ve often thought that one could rig a “basket” of sorts out of a piece of hardware cloth… a piece cut with tin snips big enough to cover the bottom of the pan and up the sides… take a pair of pliers and bend up the sides, so that one could grasp them and lift, sifting the messes out of the sand… then just pour the sand in a container, replace the wire grid and pour the sand back in again…
maybe i should try to rig one before offering advice here (and before old Axle or i die 🙂 ) can i put that on my list of things to do before i die? towards the bottom of it?
Well, John 20:29, I’m sure that is a truly unique item to go on a bucket list!! But more power to you!! Even the best Power!!
All things bright and beautiful,
All things great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.
The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water
To gather every day.
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty
Who has made all things well.
Nancyjane – ?