Day 9: Animals. Pick an animal and write about it

Day 9: Animals. Pick an animal and write about it.

How about I write not just about one animal, but about four of them? My four cats.

Mickey

Mickey is the eldest and was my parents' cat. When mom died and dad decided to move into a retirement home, a home had to be found for Mickey. I didn’t even try to find a home for him because I knew nothing and nobody would be good enough. Mickey would come to Canada with me. Not only would he be loved and be safe, my dad would have peace of mind that his cat would be happy for the rest of his life.

Mickey adjusted from day one. While he used to be an only child, now he had the company of other cats and assumed the role of papa cat.

Charlotte

Charlotte was born an accident. A couple adopted two cats, they assumed that both were male, but apparently, they didn’t look very closely because sometime later one of the cats was pregnant. Family and friends adopted the kittens, but one kitten stayed behind. The couple was about to contact a cat rescue organization when I showed up. After that, there was no need to contact the organization. I took one look at the kitten and decided that she would live with me.

Despite the love and care Charlotte received, she is a scary cat. Afraid of the vacuum cleaner, afraid of the wind, terrified of thunder, and of a number of other things. You could say that she’s afraid of her own shadow.

Gabriel

Gabriel was born to a breeder of Ragdolls. In principle, I don’t approve of designer cats. Thousands of cats are waiting to be adopted and often lose their life because nobody wants them. So why go spending $1,000 or more on a purebred cat? Not that I did. By pure chance, I came across an ad online of a breeder who finished with the breeding business. When I talked to him he said that he was keeping his cats, but that from now on they would only be pets. However, he did have a kitten left that he couldn’t place. Did I want it? Did I want it! I went over to his place like a bow from an arrow and when I saw the kitten I wondered why nobody wanted this adorable little thing. “He’s not perfect,” the breeder said. “He’s ….” I didn’t hear the rest because I was already cuddling the little one.

Gabriel is a bit of an aloof cat and only wants to be cuddled when it suits him, and only when our hands are clean. I'm not kidding, when I reach for him, he pulls back and sniffs my hand. When he's done sniffing he'll present his cheek. He's very sweet though, every night, around 10:30 he'll jump next to Dieter in the chair and demand to be petted. He looks at Dieter and cries, something that sounds like "Mayo!"

Holly

Holly is the baby of the family. I went down to the management office of our condo building one day and walked in on a conversation that someone had dumped a box of kittens on a ground floor balcony. The woman who had taken the kittens in was looking for good homes for them. Within 24 hours all the kittens had found homes, one of them mine. I took one look at this little fuzzball and decided she could live with us. She received a bath upon arrival, was taken to the vet and declared in perfect health.

Holly's nickname is Ms. Pepperpot. While she's a sweet cat, she does have a bit of a temper. She's very vocal, and growls and even hisses. She hisses especially when she's kissed. For some reason, she doesn't like that.

In addition to these four cats, I am a fundraiser for the Toronto Cat Rescue shelter cats. Every year, for the past ten years I take part in the organization’s Bowl-a-thon. We raise funds for the cats and kittens and then all get together for an afternoon of bowling. This year we raised just under $25,000. Should you wish to adopt a cat or kitten or make a donation, the website is:  https://torontocatrescue.ca/

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