Hi again!
I thought I would take a minute and tell our cats’ stories
Beau’s Story
Beau is my “firstborn”. My husband and I had been trying for a baby for a year with no luck due to a medical condition I have. Our marriage was becoming a little strained under the pressure.
It was the summer of 2004 which was a great summer for Greece (we won the Cup in football, we were hosing the Olympic Games) but a terrible summer for me. My husband had been deployed since May and on July 4th I fell down some stairs and really messed up my knee. A few days after the accident I lost the baby I didn’t know I was carrying! (I had NO symptoms other than a missed period which is very common for me due to my condition). Plus with hubby gone I was all alone since I had moved to this new neighborhood recently and didn’t know anyone…and all my friends were back in Glasgow! My husband and I had decided to send my dog to my mom’s because she was elderly and really hated my husband and created havoc in the house and we were constantly fighting, me defending the dog… I worked in animal rescue for years and I have experience as a dog trainer/handler (we bred show dogs before I got married) but I just couldn’t get these two to get along!! George was against having a pet (although he loves animals, cats specifically) … “except a Siamese” he said…
I was in a dark dark place that summer… Then one day in August, I kinda flipped and thumbed through the paper looking at the pet ads and I landed on an ad “Purebred Siamese kittens for sale”. The next thing I know my sister in law is driving me to the breeder’s house.
I enter the apartment and I sit down and the next thing I know, this teeny tiny, white thing is approaching me… takes one sniff at me and uses the brace on my leg (remember I had a busted knee) to climb up and he curls in my lap and falls asleep.
That’s how Beau came to live with me… he chose me!
Beau is the easiest cat in the world. He is clean, well behaved, and acts more like a dog than a cat. He is extremely intelligent and comes if you call his name. He will let you know what he wants each time and he is very careful around the house. He is very attached to me and my husband but not so much to the kids. He will not hurt them but he will not play with them at all either so the boys get no pleasure from him
Beau will turn six in July.
Dewey Luckycharm’s story
Dewey (named after a famous library cat after the boys insisted on it!) came to our family a couple of days ago. I really wants a kid friendly pet and a suitable dog would have been perfect, except we live in a teeny apartment and between work and taking the boys to school and therapy, I have no energy to walk and groom a dog and it wouldn’t be fair to any dog… My husband again was against a second cat and to be honest I am a little broody myself (but we can’t have another child at the moment)…
So we were getting out of the car with the boys to visit a friend when we were “greeted” by two huge stray dogs. My son Cody (4 ½) wanted to pet them, he really loved animals, and then we saw something in the white dog’s mouth… a little kitten!! The other dog was trying to take it from him!
I somehow managed to extract the kitten without getting my hand bitten off and chase the dogs away (I was afraid they would attack the boys!). The kitten was terrified and was hissing at me so I took my son’s shirt and wrapped him in it and held him close. He seemed in one piece, I couldn’t find any teeth marks or blood on him!
The next day we took him to the vet who confirmed he was in fact unharmed. He is about 6 weeks old and in a remarkable condition for a street cat. She thinks he was most likely born in a home and them cast to the street where the dogs found him. I found him in a rather remote area and I didn’t see any siblings or other cats nearby.
My husband at first didn’t even want to look at him, but he warmed up… The little mite sure has a big purrrsonality. He is funny, adventurous, boisterous and fearless. All boy for sure!!
And I remain the only female in the house which is now filled to the brim with testosterone.
We go back in two weeks for his first shots.
Beau is getting there… today he played a little with Dewey… Dewey really wants to get close to Beau and today we only had a little bit of hissing and some playful swatting (they were playing hide and seek). The boys are doing an awesome job and Dewey had really relaxed when being handled. I’ve shown the boys how to carry him and pick him up/put him down and his body is now very relaxed in the arms of the boys. Of course I don’t leave them alone with the kitten, especially with John who has mild CP and his movements are jerky sometimes but we are definitely getting there and I have a new “baby” to take care of lol.
Thanks for reading!
Tina in Greece
(mom to John and Cody, 4 ½… Furbaby Beau Hugs, Blue Siamese, 5 ½ and new member, Dewey Luckycharm 6 weeks rescued from the street)
