WebKittyn Warbles
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Happy Anniversary, Templeton!
Please allow me to start this post with a plea for sponsorship. People have commented that I've got a large sponsorship already but it's not enough. There are so many animals in the US that need help, need to be rescued, need to be adopted and loved. I'm not asking you to give your money to me, I'm imploring you to reach deep into your hearts and sponsor me a few doubloons for the Blogathon. Thank you.
Two years ago today Darkstar was lured outside by the howling of drowning felines. It was raining, they were stuck in a drainage ditch under a fence. The mother cat was desperately trying to free a stuck kitten and get the other two out but she was failing miserably.
He ran over and applied a rescue technique we had seen on Animal Cops. The mother cat ran off with one kitten in her mouth, the other two were left behind. He rescued them and stuck them in a box with blankets, water and some food he sent the stock kid out for.
The kittens came home and a choice was made to keep the grey one and give the sister to a close friend who is a serious cat lover.
They grey one had been stuck under the fence, his side was ripped open and he had gashes on his head and neck as well. He was a tiny thing only 10 weeks old (give or take a week) and he was dying. Plain and simply put, he was dying.
I fed him kitten milk through an eyedropper. I gave him 3 different medications 3 times a day. We pulled the mattress off the guest room bed and plopped it in the middle of the living room floor and there I slept with the kitten for 3 months. I agonised every day as I watched him, listless and obviously in pain as he teetered into the litterbox we had stuck in the living room for him; every time he walked he fell over onto his stitched side.
Slowly - very slowly - he started to recover. He discovered a dark place he liked to hide in that we couldn't get to, I would see his long tail disappear behind the table. He reminded me very much of the rat in the original Charlotte's Web movie, played by Paul Lynde, Templeton so he became "Templeton the rat cat."
Claude didn't know what to make of him. He seemed to understand the little guy was hurt, he was surprisingly gentle and protective of him as he healed.
Eventually Templeton overcame his near brush with death and before my eyes morphed into a healthy (for the most part) young cat. There was one thing that concerned us though, his tilted head. He walked with his head tilted, he sat with his head tilted, he was constantly crooked. Back to the vet.
The vet told us it was a form of brain damage from being under water without oxygen. He said it was nothing to worry about but chances were that Templeton would "never be graceful" and he advised us "not to expect him to jump very much." The vet was wrong.
Two years later Templeton is a graceful jumping fiend. His head still tilts but not as much and it's very much a part of his charm. He jumps like a pro and very rarely misses the mark. He runs, plays and does everything a normal happy healthy cat would do.
He's also very much my cat. Momma saved him when he was sick and he's imprinted for life. He's sweet to Darkstar and my parents but his love is 100% mine. He's a vocal cat, Claude didn't meow much so I'm not used to it and he makes these strange noises when he's walking around.
He loved to abuse Claude. Poor Claude would be sleeping and Templeton would come out of his rat hole just to go over and jump on Claude or bite his tail. Claude took it well for the most part and the two of them would run and play and occasionally even get along and hang out together.
Truth be told, I didn't save Templeton. Templeton saved me. Six months after Templeton came to us Claude died after a surgery to remove a cancer and my father went into the hospital and was put on oxygen. It was one of the hardest months of my life. Through all the sadness there was one constant source of joy, my only source of pure joy at the time - Templeton. He missed Claude, he howled for a week looking for his friend. Yet he seemed to sense that his momma was one whisker away from going off the deep end.
Everywhere I went he went, making his strange noises and looking at me with that tilted head. Jumping up on the desk to plop on the keyboard and purr. Staying still and letting me cry on him no matter how much I soaked his fur. He brought me out of a serious bout of sad and no matter how shitty the day, there was at least one guaranteed smile courtesy of the rat cat.
I have no words to express how much I love this cat or how much he means to me. How one little stray cat can come into a person's life and make such a difference still blows me away. I would do anything to keep him healthy and happy and always loved.
Yesterday was the 7th, the 7th is the day Claude died so there is always a bit of sadness on the 7th. Imagine my surprise when I found Templeton sleeping in the soda cabinet for the first time ever - this was one of Claude's favourite spots for its warmth. Seeing that made me feel a little better, like Ghost Cat had come and told Templeton about the wonderful warm cabinet.
People who don't have pets don't get it, they don't understand how powerful the bond is between pet and owner.
My choice to blog for the ASPCA this year has many roots. The main one is to give back a little something to the animal world, to thank the Fates for gifting me with the best grey and white cat in the whole world. Claude was a rescue cat from a shelter, the next cat we're getting next month will be a rescue cat.
So please. If you don't want to do it for me, click the link and do it for the animals who give us so very much and ask for so very little in return.
Happy two years, Templeton the rat cat. Thank you for being my cat. And Claudie, I still miss you more than words can describe.
This picture was one of the few times they hung out together calmly, it's one of my favourites of the two of them.
Please sponsor me.
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I totally agree with you that people who don’t have pets (and some that do!) don’t get the connection between a furbaby and their Momma. When I was a little girl, 7 I think, my parents adopted a beautiful black and white kitten for me. We were the best of friends. She was my confidant and heard every complaint I had in me. When I’d cry, she’d come around and sit with me until I felt better. Since then I’ve adopted 2 more kittens from the (BC) SPCA. I’m going on a week’s vacation this coming week and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go a full week without them! Throughout the year and year and a half that I’ve had them, I’ve not been away from them more than a night or two.
I’ll sponsor you if you sponsor me?
+o)Tracy on 07/08 at 04:54 PM
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