Billy Lou
Billy Lou came to us as a hitchhiker…lol. I was on my way home
from Santa Fe to a little Spanish town, called Galisteo. It is about 25 miles outside of Santa Fe. Not thinking about anything specifically I suddenly turned into a big parking lot at a mall. I
didn’t really have a reason, but here I was. I opened the car door, and out of the blue something black came flying onto my lap! A kitten!!! All black and very sweet, meowing, as if he was saying: “I
have been waiting for hours, where have you been???”
It was rather bizarre! I walked around the lot with the kitten,
trying to figure out who he belonged to. He was very good looking and groomed, so I thought for sure he had a home, but nobody had ever seen him or claimed him.
We had lost Wisdom, the dog, that year to cancer, and Rose had been
pretty lonely since then. So I thought, oh well, may be this could be her new friend.
So I decided to take the kitten home. He sat on the passenger seat,
as if he belonged there, all the way home. It was so cute! Casually I asked: “so, who are you?’, and the very first thing that popped into my head was “BILLY LOU”. Really??? I started laughing, but
the kitten looked at me like: “really!”
So here he was, my co-pilot Billy Lou [:)] . He really
did become my co-pilot lol, but I will tell you about that later.
So, we got home, and I remember Rose sitting on the kitchen counter
in expectation of dinner. I held the kitten up to her, and then let him down on the counter. She sniffed him over, and then started licking his head in approval. Puh! That worked out
well!
Rose and Billy Lou were my only cats for a long time, and we had
many adventures together.
Billy Lou passed away about 4 years ago at the age of 14 from
kidney failure. He is dearly missed by all of my cats and myself. Everyone loved his him!
More about his life with us to
come…..
Benny
Surprisingly my 3 cats seemed to have expected Benny and had no objection to him jumping on the couch and making himself comfortable. MMMHHH! I thought: “I guess I have 4 cats now”.
Mira and Benny were real buddies from day one! They played and snuggled together, as if they were soul mates, (and may be they are…)
Benny is one of the sweetest and kindest cats I have ever known. His disposition is very calm and reassuring, and he is now the “leader” of my cat community. He has helped me raise all my other kittens, and taught them gently how things around here work. I will share more about that at a later date.
Just one of my favorite Benny stories for today:
One day I came home from work to find a rodent lying next to Benny in our enclosed outdoor cat area. My heart sank, as I was concluding in my mind what a horrible death this poor thing must have had with 13 cats around. Well little did I know! The rodent was peacefully sleeping next to Benny, who was completely exhausted from protecting him from all the other cats! Benny is the living example of “be kind to ALL living creatures”.Type your paragraph here.
Mira
Mira was rescued by a friend from her neighbor in 1998, same year as Benny came to us. Mira was born in April and the neighbor didn’t want the litter. We found homes for the other 2 kittens and Mira came to live with us.
She immediately turned the house into a disaster zone with her activities and constant need for attention. She would knock over anything she could find, and climb every curtain there was! OH boy, she was a piece of work, and Billy Lou and Rose, my other 2 cats at the time could only shake their heads. We named her “Mira”, which means “peace” in Russian, in hopes it may have an effect on her.
One night a big plant pot with wet dirt “fell” on the white carpet, and I decided that Mira needed to find a new home.
That very next morning was the day Benny showed up at our door step, and I truly believe that he arrived to her rescue. As I mentioned in Benny’s post, Mira instantly became friends with him, and the 2 of them played and chased each other, but the furniture and household items were mostly spared from then on. So Mira got to stay with us, and I haven’t regretted that decision for one minute!
She is such a delightful character and has made us laugh so many times.
Rose
I have mentioned Billy Lou and Rose several times in my other
stories. So, although they have crossed the “rainbow bridge” several years ago, I would still like to share their stories.
So here is my beautiful Rose! She was found by my dog Wisdom in
1991, as a kitten stuck in a barb wire fence with her long coat. We lived in Santa Fe at that time, and the beautiful outdoors of the Land of Enchantment were more accessible for my pets at that
time. So Wisdom came running to the house from a stroll outside, and very obviously wanted me to go out with her. She led me to the fence, where Rose was stuck.
We untangled her and took her home, she was about 4 months old and
forever grateful. Rose and Wisdom became great friends, and where Wisdom went, that is where Rose went! I used to take them on walks together, no leashes needed. One time we walked on a tiny path in
a big wide open field. I went first, followed by Wisdom, followed by Rose! It must have been a very peculiar site watching the three of us following the narrow path, although there were no
boundaries. LOL
We even went up to the ski-basin into the woods for hikes. Rose
never went far from us.
One day however, I had sat down on a rock to rest, Wisdom right by
my side….and Rose no-where to be seen. I called her name…and called..and searched…and called…Wisdom sniffing around and searching with me. NO ROSE! It was getting dark, and we had searched for 2.5
hours. So very sad I turned to Wisdom and said: I think she is gone!”
We went back down the mountain to the car, Wisdom kept looking
back. No Rose! When we got to the car, I let Wisdom in, and decided to go back one more time. I just couldn’t believe that we had lost her.
When I reached the spot where I had rested on the
rock….SURPRISE!!!! There she was!!! Sitting on that very same rock with an expression on her face that very clearly stated: “YOU WERE NOT GOING TO LEAVE ME HERE<
RIGHT?”
I was overcome with relief and joy, grabbed her, kissed her….etc.
When we got to the car, Wisdom was already barking up a storm with excitement. I think she knew all along….but never the less was so ecstatic that Rose was back.
Rose was a very sweet and calm kitty, but she sure was a
character….more Rose stories to come….
She lived with us for 16.5 years!
Cleo
Hi everyone,
My cats reminded me that it is time to tell their stories
again.
Today I would like to remember sweet Cleo. She is no longer on
planet Earth, but I know she is watching from heaven!
Cleo was a friend’s outdoor kitty, and when the friend moved, she
became my indoor kitty. My friend didn’t want to take her to the new location, because she was afraid, Cleo ( her name then was “mamakitty”) would run away. So I agreed to take her and she moved in
with us. She went immediately under the dresser in the 2nd bedroom,and spent 6 month there. She was afraid of the other cats. My other cats didn’t do anything to her, they were just curious about the
newcomer. But Cleo didn’t want anything to do with them. I believe she lost a litter of kittens once to some weird outdoor circumstances, and I really don’t know what happened. But I remember my
friend telling me, that all of a sudden one day the litter she had had was gone.
MMM? I am not sure that the hiding under the dresser episode had
anything to do with it, …who knows. To help her release the memory of whatever happened and being “mamakitty”, we renamed her and she became Cleo.
Anyways …every day I would spend an hour, what we called Cleo time.
I closed the door to the guest room (My other cats were all sitting in front of the door, wondering what was happening….lol), and I spent one hour laying on the floor, reading to Cleo. Yes, that’s
right! I read books and stories to Cleo, so she could get used to my voice. Soon she came out for me and let me pet her, but she would go back to her safe spot, when I opened the door. It guess in
retrospect, it must have been pretty scary to see 12 other cats sitting on the other side of the door.
Cleo had her own litter box and food station behind the dresser, so
she could feel comfortable and didn’t have to share.
To make the story short, one day, after 6 months, I came home, and
guess who was sitting ON the dresser!!!1 Yes, that’s right! Cleo!! She was so proud!!!! My other cats were awesome and accepted her right away into the family. Of course to them she wasn’t new
anymore. So she fit right in!!! Accepted and loved by everyone!! That is most definitely to be contributed to Benny’s incredible leadership skills!! I am serious!! Benny has taught all my other cats
to live in peace together. He is amazing!!! (his story is written here too)
She never went back under the dresser, and instead she followed me
everywhere I went. At night she would gently knead my shoulder or my hair. She was so concerned that I got my sleep…lol!!! If I woke up in the middle of the night, she would be there immediately to
soothe me back to sleep! She was the sweetest, most caring and probably most grateful kitty!!! She lived a long life in our household, and she completely conquered her
fear.
I am not sure, how old she was when she developed stomach cancer,
but she must have been probably 12 or 13. Unfortunately for us, we had to put her to sleep last year, but she is with us in Spirit every day! I can feel her hanging around some
times.
Toasting to Cleo!!!! Love you
sweetie!!!
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