June 26, 2013

• Julie Cat - Repost from 2009

  

  Some may not understand how a mere "pet" enters your heart. I do not know about other "pets", but Julie Cat was a little angel. She was a constant reminder to me of God's blessings.

  Julie Cat came to us as an outdoor kitty. She may once have been an indoor kitty. I believe someone abandoned her in the park across the street from where we live because she had a problem with her tail. When she was stressed or nervous she would attack her own tail - about the only thing she ever attacked. She would nip at her tail until it bled, and then the flipping of the tail would spread blood like a paint brush - coloring everything red - as if a psycho shower scene has occurred.

  Flash was very patient with Julie Cat, taking the her to the vet, even for numerous acupuncture treatments. I think if the tail problems had not abated, kitty-psychotherapy would have been next. But in then end, I believe it was simply reduction in stress that cured Juliet's tail problems. She was safe at our house. Safe and loved. And she loved us back.

  Her two favorite places to be were the back porch and the garage. There were at least four different ways she could travel from the porch to the garage and back. She could walk her way around either side of the house, jumping up on and over the chain link fence at the border of the front and back yards. She was an agile kitty and this was no problem for her, even in her later days. Another way, was to climb the old cedar tree at the edge of the back porch, scamper across the roof top like a squirrel, and then climb down one of the live oaks trees at the front of the house.

  Perhaps her favorite way to go from the porch to the garage, was to meow at the door until someone let her in. She would often stop for a conversation and a brief petting if she permitted it. Sometimes she would linger in the kitchen on her way, as if to inquire if there might be some scrap she could attend to - but she would not beg. She WOULD be cute! She would be affectionate. If we had failed to open the next door in a timely fashion, she might start to scratch a piece of furniture, for she knew that would get a door opened immediately, along with a firm invitation to go outside. But that was our problem - not hers. She was not going to own our issues with our furniture, and besides, it was a good way to get the door opened that did not involve begging.

  Julie Cat had the sweetest meow. At first, when she came to live with us she did not talk much. But over the years, that changed. Everyday when I came home from work, she would greet me with the day's story. Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! I always asked her what else happened, and she would usually add in a few more meows, particularly as I approached the back door for one of her trips through the house.

  Julie Cat slept in our garage at night - for numerous reasons. We live across the street from a large wooded park. Coyotes are known to frequent the park and eat cats. So Juliet had to come in at night. But she was a long haired cat, and several family members have allergies. But our garage is large, and with proper ventilation, just purr-fect for a cat at night!

  Every night, kitty would repeat the same ritual. She would come in the back door from the porch. Flash would spend time talking to her and caressing her, and then present her to me for final nightly scratches. Then she would go out to the garage and her nightly snack! Kitty might have preferred to sleep on the back porch, but either the coyotes or raccoons would have gotten her eventually. She was safe in the garage. And the midnight snack was there too. She did not have to come in every night, she could have easily run off every night to avoid the garage - but she seldom did. Maybe once or twice a year she would elect to spend half the night roaming.

  Every morning, before going to work, I would open the back door, and kitty would tell me a short story again. Then she would head off for the shower. For some reason, she loved to lap water from the bottom of the shower.  While Kitty was in the shower, I would freshen her water dish on the back porch. Then she would come out, and we would have another conversation and scratches. She loved slightly warmed water fresh from the faucet. The first thing she would do upon going out the back door, would be to examine the water dish carefully, to be sure the water was fresh, and meow at me if it was not right. Then she would wait for me to go back into the house before lapping more water from the bowl. Kitty loved rituals. And she would look at you funny if you changed them in anyway.

  If there was a leaf on the floor that needed to be cleaned up, Juliet would walk up to it and sniff and at and look at you - as if to say - when are you going to clean this up?

  

  I will miss Juliet. She always greeted me when I came home. Always had a sweet meow to say - never scratched or bit me. She was a constant reminder to me of how God loves us - even when we are unlovable. She was a little angel. Maybe she is an angel now? She knew how to be one!

  • 9:40 am
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