This old cat

[ER00z]

Fifteen years ago this July, I came home from work and the woman in my life (at the time) was sitting on the couch with a smirk on her face. I asked the usual "did you cook?" Got a no as an answer, then I asked what she was up to, still having that smirk on her face... She looked down to her hands which were cupped then lifted the hand above revealing a small fur ball in her palm. I realized what it was, a kitten that was two weeks old at best (possibly 10-12 days old). Immediately I said take it back, as it still needed it's mamma... Well, I didn't win that battle. Wasn't even sure I could keep it alive.

This little critter wasn't quite at the stage of eating solid foods yet, and after it did (soaked in milk), eventually needed assistance going #2, which mamma cats usually assist in stimulating... I'll let y'all look all that up to if interested, Lol. The funny part was this kitten was too small to get into the litter box, had to use a plastic Chinese takeout container as a litter box. In short order it was eating everything, and I named it Mike (as in "Mike likes everything" cereal commercial). To top that, he was wild/temperamental/hyperactive... More so than your average kitten, well at least when it came to aggressiveness. Fairly common with mama-less cats, guess it has something to do with not having mamma cat to keep them in line.

Skipping ahead a little, that relationship didn't workout and I was stuck with a cat I didn't really want. So I did the best thing I could think of... Drop it off at moms in the country, Lol. She likes cats and always seems to have a couple. At first things were good, but mom decided to move to a more urban area which required the cats to stay indoors. Not something this critter was used to. Shortly after, I get a call to come get "my" cat before it "un-alives" her other two cats, being overly aggressive from staying couped up. Plus he had grown quite a lot.

Years passed by this point, I had married (different girl, Lol) and we acquired a property out in the country, so taking Mike back was no problem. At the time my wife had a black lab, it wasn't aggressive towards cats but made it clear she didn't like them. Didn't take the dog long to figure out Mike was no cat to mess with... Luckily after a short time they learned to tolerate each other, eventually even enough to snuggle (near the last years the lab was alive).

Anyways, I only have three semi-close neighbors, all of which know Mike. The one neighbor is not found of cats, but Mike would tend to the rabbits/other critters invading their gardens and apparently this made him "a good cat". The opposite neighbors gave up on keeping cats (they usually don't live long out here) but are more than happy to have Mike tend to critters in their barn.. Up to raccoons, but has got into it with a coyote or two in the area.

Now approaching 15yrs old, this country cat is wearing out. Arthritis, slipped spinal disk, dislocated it's right shoulder twice, a ton of scaps with all kinds of critters resulting in scratches/deep punctures (needing shots/medical attention), blinded in right eye. Now he's susceptible to respiratory infections.

I never wanted this cat, but I've gone through a lot keeping him alive. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't a good companion. Especially with my daughter, he would be just of protective of her as if he was a dog. Never seen anything like it, but have read about it before. It's getting towards the end of the line for this cat, hoping he'll make it to summer at least, if not another year or two. I just don't want to keep him around longer than he should. He's getting to be a grouchy old cat...

[bantam5s]

Cats sure are something else.

Having to care for an orphaned kitten can be a bit of an experience,  I've done it a few times and you are absolutely right about the temperament.
When I was 14 my moms husband worked cleanup duty on the side of the freeway where one day he found this newborn black kitten.
I would feed him his bottle every day before school, and do all the other things that little fluff ball needed.
I already had a cat named Zeus who was getting older and had no desire to pal around with a bratty little kitten so he went to my 2nd oldest sister who fittingly named him monster.

My grandmother lived with us and her pit / ridgeback mix named Cali was a diehard cat killer, but having met monster as a closed eyed little kitten she actually grew to like him and was a bit sad when my sister took him.
About a year later though she moved to an apartment that didn't allow pets so we took monster back.
Monster and Cali were absolutely best friends for a few years until one terrible Halloween.
They ended up getting into a bit of a fight over a corn dog that monster had taken off the counter and sadly Monster didn't make it.
Cali knew what she had done and there was a good 3 or 4 days where she wouldn't eat.
From then on any time she heard a cat meow she would run and hide.
Monster was the only cat she didn't hate.

[farrlarr]

Your cat has lived the life he wanted to live, as he wanted to live it.  Give him the consideration and comfort he has given you, keep a close eye on him and help him to go when the time comes that life becomes a losing proposition.

[ER00z]

Cats sure are something else.

Having to care for an orphaned kitten can be a bit of an experience,  I've done it a few times and you are absolutely right about the temperament.
When I was 14 my moms husband worked cleanup duty on the side of the freeway where one day he found this newborn black kitten.
I would feed him his bottle every day before school, and do all the other things that little fluff ball needed.
I already had a cat named Zeus who was getting older and had no desire to pal around with a bratty little kitten so he went to my 2nd oldest sister who fittingly named him monster.

My grandmother lived with us and her pit / ridgeback mix named Cali was a diehard cat killer, but having met monster as a closed eyed little kitten she actually grew to like him and was a bit sad when my sister took him.
About a year later though she moved to an apartment that didn't allow pets so we took monster back.
Monster and Cali were absolutely best friends for a few years until one terrible Halloween.
They ended up getting into a bit of a fight over a corn dog that monster had taken off the counter and sadly Monster didn't make it.
Cali knew what she had done and there was a good 3 or 4 days where she wouldn't eat.
From then on any time she heard a cat meow she would run and hide.
Monster was the only cat she didn't hate.

Indeed, cats are something else. Sorry to hear of Monster and Cali, although it seemed they had a connection.

[ER00z]

Your cat has lived the life he wanted to live, as he wanted to live it.  Give him the consideration and comfort he has given you, keep a close eye on him and help him to go when the time comes that life becomes a losing proposition.

Yes, this has been on my mind. He seems to be doing alright for the time being, when the time comes I hope it's as peaceful as possible.

[subscriber]

[KevinJBrown]

Glad to hear you had a good animal in your life. My wife and I have two cats, both of which are cast offs from our children who said they couldn't get along with other animals - "impossible to manage - didn't get along with people  - destructive - etc." So my wife brought them home so they wouldn't go to the humane society and we took them in with our two very happy little rat terriers. To make a long story short, they all eventually found their place from our little farm dog at the bottom and are little martinet dog running the show. All disputes were regulated by the dog in charge, they played together etc. until the two dogs died in 2023 of old (ancient) age. Then the cats started disputing everything. Again long story, but I started missing a dog and so did my wife I think and we ended up getting Crockett the Rocket, not a true rat terrier, but maybe 1/2. A rescue dog that probably only us and his mother could love, a real street stray. Bottom line is Crockett is now learning to be the regulator, I can't remember the last time the cats actually faced off. One cat follows Crockett around to play with him. The other cat doesn't like Crockett and will only be around him early in the morning to get fed and late in the evening when Crockett sits with us.

[ER00z]

Funny, Mike is a tabby cat also. Looks very similar to the one in the video.

[ER00z]

Glad to hear you had a good animal in your life. My wife and I have two cats, both of which are cast offs from our children who said they couldn't get along with other animals - "impossible to manage - didn't get along with people  - destructive - etc." So my wife brought them home so they wouldn't go to the humane society and we took them in with our two very happy little rat terriers. To make a long story short, they all eventually found their place from our little farm dog at the bottom and are little martinet dog running the show. All disputes were regulated by the dog in charge, they played together etc. until the two dogs died in 2023 of old (ancient) age. Then the cats started disputing everything. Again long story, but I started missing a dog and so did my wife I think and we ended up getting Crockett the Rocket, not a true rat terrier, but maybe 1/2. A rescue dog that probably only us and his mother could love, a real street stray. Bottom line is Crockett is now learning to be the regulator, I can't remember the last time the cats actually faced off. One cat follows Crockett around to play with him. The other cat doesn't like Crockett and will only be around him early in the morning to get fed and late in the evening when Crockett sits with us.

Crockett sounds like a good dog. Thanks for posting.

[Sqrl Klr]

Crockett the Rocket

I like that. Will Crockett the Rocket put a squirrel in your pocket?

[Blowpipe Sam]

God bless.  We had to put out last cat down after 16 years last November.  Semi feral out door cat.  Great ratter.  Nature will provide us with another eventually.

[KevinJBrown]

Crockett the Rocket

I like that. Will Crockett the Rocket put a squirrel in your pocket?

He truly hates squirrels with a passion and we have a lot of them in our neighborhood. He gets close, but we also have a lot of trees and the squirrels have figured out the safe distance to be up a tree. He tries to get them all up trees at once but there are too many.
I think the foxes appreciate his actions though because they don’t make any noise, and we have seen a couple of successful kills. A point of interest is the foxes leave no trace of their kills. They were carrying them off, but I now see them eat them in place.