Boots our rescue kitty

The back story

Before I get to the details of my recent adoption of a 2 year old tabby cat I want to share my personal back story that led to this moment. When I was a teenager I lived in the county. One spring just before I turned 14, my cousin’s family had someone clearing their land so they could plant a garden. This cousin lived about 2 blocks away and there were at least 3 other houses on the land between her home and ours. We could walk through the yards and fields without stepping into the road if we chose to visit each other.

While the land was being plowed and the brush cleared it was pretty noisy and obviously scared my cousin’s cat. This multicolored feline and her brood of kittens trekked across the field bypassing other houses and came to my home. One day I opened the back door and there the mama cat was mewing as if to ask if they could stay. They became a part of my family that day and I guess you could say this was an unofficial adoption of 5. At one point I had 14 cats at one time so I understand the necessity of neutering and spaying.

Caring for too many cats

Mama cat and her female kittens just kept reproducing and populating our property. I worked during the summer and saved money so I was able to keep my pets in food. We also gave them table scraps because in the 1970s no one ever said this was bad for animals. I'm sure they ate field animals because sometimes they would show up at the back door with a mouse. My grandma would sometimes purchase cat food and that helped.

My great grandma donated those cans of salty pork that were given to the poor by the government in those days. It looked like Spam but was stringy and even the cats turned up their noses unless nothing else came their way. Some days they looked at it then up at me and meowed as if to say they wanted something else. I still cannot believe the US government produced this awful, unhealthy food product for human consumption. I am told that it is still being given out in some areas today.

My critters slept under the back porch and basically lived outside. There were many trees to climb and acres of land where they could roam and wooded areas to hide without bothering or being bothered by anyone. The neighbor's dogs and my cats all got along so it was win win. Mama cat had several more liters of kittens and during the spring when I turned 16 I caught her eating a kitten that had been born dead. I can still recall the sound of the skull crunching each time mama cat took a bite and it still disgusts me.

The tabbies

In one of her litters there were 4 tabby kitties. I did not know this at the time but Tabby cats are not a breed. They are distinct among felines because it looks like the letter M is ingravef in the fur between their eyes. I wrongly assumed that tabby was the name for all orange cats but Tabbies come in many colors. We named our orange Tabby Thomasina because she looked like the Disney cat of the same name. ftom the movie The nine lives of Thomasina. The other 3 were gray and we named the large one Buster,

The tiny kitten with the white paws we dubbed mittens because her feet looked as if she were wearing white mittens. The middle gray kitten had feet that looked as if he were wearing white boots so that’s what we named him. Boots like his siblings simply disappeared one day and we presumed he died but we never found the bodies and I never forgot him.

My current situation

Now that you know the back story I can bring you up to speed. My husband died on March 7 and we had been together a total of 45 years. There is no way to describe the gtief I am enduring and I don’t believe I will ever be the same. Having said that, life goes on and I recalled how a puppy helped me through the process afte my great grandmother passed away. You cannot replace people with animals but having something to focus on that is not a constant reminder of the pain does help.

My children and grandchildren are extensions of my husband and my relationships with them often involved him. This new cat that I adopted is a clean slate and will not bring up any memories that will make me cry, I did get teary eyed last night as I stroked the kitty’s coat because it brought up a recent memory. During my husbands last weeks he was not talking. All I could do was love on him by rubbing his head, back, legs and feet and holding his hand. Every touch to the cat reminded me that can no longer touch my spouse but I’m sure in time it may become easier to deal with.

I obtained my adopted cat by going online to the local ASPCA. As I looked at the gallery of felines the one named Boots caught my eye. He looked exactly like my kitty named Boots that I had owned almost 5 decades earlier. My youngest son looked at the pets who were available for adoption and he chose Boots as well. We made an appointment for that very afternoon to meet and greet our possible new family member. My grandsons went with us and we could visit with the cat 2 of us at a time. He was huge and beautiful and very shy. We were told he enjoyed affection so I knew he would fit in with my clan.

The first evening Boots kept running from us and hiding. Whenever he did come near we gave him lots of love. He initially pulled awsy but now he is enjoying our company. The grandchildren spent the night and by the next day our newly adopted kitty began feeling right at home. He would meow when I talked to him and climb in my lap. He enjoys laying on whoever is seated on the couch and sleeping on the chair. I don’t know his back story and was only told that he came from another shelter. Boots is a large healthy cat and has such shiny fur. He is so well behaved and warmed up to us very quickly. I believe that he must have been someone’s house pet.

He has however had the tip of his left ear tipped. From everything I have read, “tipping” is done to stray, feral, and community cats to indicate they have been spayed or neutered. These animals are captured, then ‘“fixed” and set free. I have not read anything that says this is done to house pets so I am perplexed. Wild cats are not able to eat properly so they don’t retain a lot of weight. The size of my adopted cat and his mannerisms indicate that he must have been well taken care of at some point.

His tipped ear, however, is evidence that he at one point was not a part of a family. I guess all that really matters is that Boots now has a forever home where he is loved and cherished and treated as if he is the king of beasts. I highly recommend adopting a pet from a shelter and giving them a home full of love. Even if nothing else you are rescuing them from living behind bars. Boots has a microchip so that if he is lost or stolen we can find him. We received a card so that his first checkup can be free. The shelter has called to find out how we are doing and we appreciate this so much. I hope you have enjoyed the story of my adopted Kitty Boots and if so please leave a tip.