Go read my friend Julie's post today: Redesigning Partly Sunny. A year ago she was working on a quilt with grey and yellow half square triangles. I thought it was glorious, but she didn't and sewed it into something pretty, but lacking in magic. I kept silent for a year about it, and finally when we talked over New Year's, I spoke up and told her what I thought. It's hard to tell your best friend you think she screwed up. Wait till you see (hear) what happened.
For those of you who don't know, Millie is a rescue cat. She was a feral cat** when she was hit by a car and left for dead in the middle of a busy street in New Haven CT. A passerby rescued her and brought her to a nearby animal hospital. It's a long story (but a great one!); she needed a titanium rod inserted into her leg to fix it, and cat lovers all over the world helped pay the enormous bill. In the end I adopted her, and she has lived with me for 12 years. As my vet says, "You have a tame feral cat." She won't come when I call her, she won't be backed into a corner, or blocked from an exit. She won't let me pick her up, and I can't touch her with two hands. She goes where she wants and does what she wants. When she wants to cuddle with me, I let her, and when she get comfortable on my lap, I love it.
Oh, and by the way, if it wasn't for Millie, you wouldn't know anything about me.
** A feral cat is a cat who did not have any contact with humans in the first 12 weeks of life. Cats learn to be social with humans in that time, and if they are NOT handled and exposed to people in that time, they will stay that way. They may adapt, but will never be like the usual house cat.
9 comments:
You say, Millie lived with me for 12 years. How is Millie?
Pops is a bit like that too and she isn't feral. She hates being picked up and only sometimes comes when I call her. Give Miss Millie a big pat from us.
julie and poppyq
xxx
Millie is fine.
We have a cat that we call feral because she was a neighborhood cat born after someone decided that they didn't want their whole male any more and we captured after she was out hunting on her own. We ended up taking at least a dozen cats 5 hours away to a free spay/neuter program. We donated $75 for female and $30 for males. Most were returned into our backyard and have died outside cat natural deaths some within weeks and one who was a favorite died a couple of months ago. My cat, Brie, who lives inside and Meredith Gray Cat lives outside have survived 13 years with attention from my husband and I. One we didn't catch had a litter which she nested in a drain block and they all drowned and she died of a broken heart curled up in the same drain block. Now we have someone dumping cats in our area again, but the guy down the street is capturing them and having them fixed. He heard our story and decided that it was his turn
Yes, I know you because of Millie. Lovely lady cat!
I have 2 feral cats. They are a lot of fun, but they're not housecats. My question to you is how do you take Millie to the vet? We have a very difficult time with ours because as you say you can't put both hands on them or catch them and they will have nothing to do with a carrier. Thank goodness for Millie or we could not enjoy reading your posts!
Millie is such a sweetheart. Looks like no work will be done until nap time is over. We can't believe Tom Brady made it again to another Super Bowl. It really is amazing. Thanks for the share. Have a wonderful day.
World of Animals
Thanks for sharing about Millie. She's been a good housemate for you.
Love this post -- and yes, I really truly am taking Partly Sunny apart, back to the HST level. Slow going because my hands only let me unstitch for short periods of time. But the result will SOOO be worth the effort. Scritches to Millie and hugs to you.
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