Monday, January 3, 2011

A Misty Moon and a Butterfly

Queen Misty Moon

Princess Butterfly

One morning about three years ago, I was about to leave my tool shed, when a kitten as wild as fox sped past me and ran under the floor. It was an especially brief encounter, but I was able to see the kitten quite clearly and it was wonderfully marked with every color of the royal cat kingdom. Several days or weeks later my wife came in contact with the little stray and in time caught it with food. The kitten was a female and scrappy and independent. She knew how to take care of herself more or less. My wife named her Misty Moon for her beautiful colors. She was taken to the Vet for a checkup, shots and made sterile and it wasn’t long and she began sharing our home with us, but mostly on her own terms. She finally settled down and became a queen, pampered and petted and she grew into a most beautiful cat and devoted to my wife. I on the other hand was her servant until one day she decided to up my rank a bit and we became friends. My wife and I were perfectly happy with Misty and did not considered adopting another cat, one of the reasons being we did not want to upset Misty.

One morning my wife and I started on our walk, when from the window of an old store in town we saw a tiny cat sitting in a window of the building mewing plaintively. The cat was extremely beautifully marked with many colors that most calicos are. The sight of the cat and obvious distress of the animal trouble her. Later and it may have been the same day in the evening the little cat came to the front porch, mewing I suppose for food. The process began again. The cat was female and pregnant, much too small for that. She was named Butterfly for her many colors. My wife and one of our daughters combined their efforts and soon Butterfly was housed in a large maternity cage. Butterfly gave birth to six kittens that soon became a bit much to handle. But all went well and when it was time to wean them, the kittens stayed with our daughter and Butterfly came home with us to live in the barn. All six kittens were taken in the home of our daughter and oh are there stories to tell. She, like Misty was taken to the vet for a checkup, shots and made sterile. Butterfly went through a winter in the barn, harassed often by opossums and raccoons and even though she was secured in a cage at night it must have been terrifying to the small waif. I will fast forward to the present. After much discussions and concerns for Butterfly, she was brought into our home to live with us, much to Misty’s objections. Butterfly was afraid of me, which did not help matters, but a few months have passed now and the transition is still an on going process and slowly Butterfly has become a truly wonderful friend to me. She is a princess, loving and devoted to us and her new home. Only time will tell as to what kind of relationship the cats will have, but hopefully, at least tolerant of one anther. Adios.

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