I shared this picture when this blog was brand new of the stray tomcat who'd captured my heart. He belongs to a neighbor, but he likes to visit my porch.
He is very affectionate and friendly. I would step out on the porch and sit in a chair on sunny days and he'd climb in my lap and cuddle and purr. He was an un-neutered tom, so he got into lots of fights, had lots of scars and boo boos. He was a lover and a fighter.
A couple of weeks ago he showed up at the feed bowl with a limp. The next day he was still holding his paw up. Several more days and he wasn't getting any better. I told hubs that I thought he may have dislocated his shoulder. Hubs said he wouldn't last long that way.
The next day he didn't show up at the feed bowl.
Or the next day.
Or several days after that.
Meanwhile, remember this kitten?
I wrote about her
here. She is the scaredy cat who is warming up to us.
She and I have gotten to spend a lot of time getting to know each other since it was now just the two of us. She comes when I whistle and call. I recently discovered that she hides under my porch. She likes to be around us, too. She no longer shakes when I pet her. She purrs a lot. She is crazy about being petted. She loves it more than the food I offer her. She very much likes the special kitty treats that Kate bought. She sits in front of the door like this and waits and watches for me. She truly can't get enough attention. Hubs will go outside to pet her. Tim will go outside to pet her. But every noise, every blowing leaf, every passing car makes her jump. And if two of us are outside, she stands off to the side--it's too much for her. We can't pick her up and she doesn't jump in the chair to be beside us.
Yet.
The day before yesterday she started sitting in the cat box that I had put on the porch at the beginning of winter for the tomcat.
She must know that he's not coming back.
:-(
Meanwhile, I went shopping yesterday and picked up some supplies to re-make the Christmas wreath that a friend had given me (thanks, Karla!).
I wanted to get some fake gold coins, but of the two stores I checked, I couldn't find any. Oh, I found a bag of coins at the Dollar Tree, but it had silver, gold, and brown coins all together...only 3 or 4 of each in a bag. I wanted only gold ones. Lots of them. I ended up getting a shiny green derby hat (which I spray painted flat black), a green and gold shamrock garland and some clover cut outs at Crafts 2000. I added them all to the green wreath last night and ...
viola! My St. Patrick's wreath.
I also picked up something at JoAnn's to change the Valentine's wreath I made into an Easter wreath. I'll share that another day.
So this morning while I was getting ready for church hubs came in the bedroom and said,
"Guess who's on the front porch!"
I looked at him and said, "REALLY!?!?!"
He said, "Yes, and he's missing something."
My precious tomcat has had surgery. He is a tripod kitty now. It looks like his stitches were just removed. I covered up the area with a butterfly because frankly, it's a bit of a shock.
When I stepped out on the porch he came RUNNING from next door, talking to me as he jumped onto the porch and purring and rubbing against my legs. But I couldn't stay long.
When we came home from church he was still on the porch. I sat with him for a while, but it became apparent that his pain meds had worn off. He was agitated and couldn't find a comfortable spot. But that didn't keep him from checking on the female kitties in the area and following us around when we were outside. Losing a leg has not slowed him down a bit. He clearly was over-doing it his first day out. By evening he must've returned to whomever is caring for him because he didn't come back to the food bowl.
But the female kitten did.
Enjoying life, one kitty at a time. :-)
