The Photo Hunters theme this week is: Drink
My boy Shadow loves his milk. When he was a kitten his mother, Smoothedge, didn't wean him at the "normal" time. When I had her spayed she wouldn't allow him to nurse as she was sore from the surgery, so I of course figured it was a "done deal". You can imagine how I was surprised about a week later to find them laying on the floor together with Shadow nursing again. It was really odd to see when he was bigger in size than she was and still nursing. I was wondering what in the world I could do about this and phoned a vet to ask. The woman I talked to told me there is some stuff I could buy to put on Smoothedge's nipples that tastes horrid and he would leave her alone. Before I had a chance to buy the stuff, unfortunately my beloved Smoothedge was hit by a car. This broke my heart and Shadow's, and we both did a lot of grieving. Smoothedge was the first one, but unfortunately not the last one, in my "pet cemetery" in the orchard.
That was 1991, Shadow was about 6 months old when his mom died, and will be 16 on April 29th 2007. Every night he has to have a drink of milk, and he yowls terribly until I give it to him. Someone told me not very long ago that it is bad to give cats milk, very unhealthy for them... yet at this "ripe old age", just this past fall I had him checked over by a vet who gave him a perfect "bill of health".
April 28, 1991, I was out dancing, as I was most nights at that time in my life... two stepping and line dancing. My life was mostly about country music and country dancing. It was pretty late, or I guess you could say early the morning of April 29, when I finally got home. Smoothedge met me at the door, yowling.
Smoothedge was pregnant, and obviously so. A couple weeks earlier I had put a box of clean rags into the spare bedroom, put Smoothie into it and told her that when the time came for her to have her kittens she was to have them in this box. She jumped out of the box and walked away, never to return until that night.
As I removed my cowboy boots, Smoothie kept yowling at me, then walking towards the spare bedroom, coming back to yowl some more, then walk away again... over and over until I had the boots off and followed her. I could actually see the kittens protruding from her sides; big, moving lumps making their dear mother look very odd indeed. Once I was following she went straight to the box in the spare bedroom where she proceeded to have 2 kittens very quickly. After awhile, with no more kittens being born, I figured I could go to bed, so went to my room and started to change out of my jeans and matching jacket, with a muscle shirt underneath. Almost instantly, Smoothedge was there yowling at me to follow her back to the box again. I followed and as soon as she was back in the box she quickly gave birth to two more kittens, unfortunately, one of them was dead. With 3 live kittens from her first pregnancy and no sign of any more coming, I figured I could now go to bed. Wrong! No, she didn't have any more kittens, but she did want me to stay with her and her new litter of beautiful life. Several times I went back and got her comfortable then tried to sneak off to my bed, by this time it was around 7am and I was wanting to sleep. The last time I tried to go to bed I thought "if it doesn't work this time I'm bringing the box full of cats to bed with me." Luckily Smoothedge decided to stay with her new family that time.
The little kitten I had picked from the litter when she was less than 24 hours old was now a mother and I had 3 beautiful baby grandkittens. It was with a heart full of love and wonder that I drifted off to sleep.
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39 comments:
Lovely pictures and the stories behind them too!
What a lovely story Alice ! Just read it through. It reminded me when once my friend called me to help her feeding 4 newborn half Siamese (I say that because of the nice discreet voice they have !)The mother refused to nurse them. We both had doll bottles and special cat milk from the pharmacy ! what a story ! but two days later the new mum came back climbed in the basket and did her job. She even got very angry when we approached her babies ! Late motherlove.
What a touching story! Looks like you have a special friend. We have a
kitty name Ashley but my pic's are not of her this week.
This is a beautiful story filled with love for your cats. I too have cats and they do add lots to our life. My three wake me each day expecting their handful of treats! Great pictures! Welcome to the group!
Beautiful Cat!
Happy St. Patricks Day :)
What a sweet post for sweet pictures. What a wonderful cat!
I'll tell ya -- I can see why you haven't had any comments yet... I had a heck of a time finding the link to leave one! Fabulous Feedbacks isn't a good reference - because feedbacks are usually something else entirely...
Anyway -- your photo's are darling! That milk was nose-lickin' good!
My cat always wanted me with her when her kittens were born. It makes them feel safer I think. They want you watching out for them.
What a sweet kitty -- and a nice story.
Thanks for visiting!
Cute! Cats and milk are the perfect drink photo!
Wow he's 16!! Looks like milk does a kitty body good :)
What a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing it. I agree with you: he deserves his milk every day at his age!
Welcome to the hunt! I enjoyed your story. :-)
Welcome to the Hunt and thank you for sharing your photos as well as the story...
:-)
An excellent story thank you for sharing it with us. The last picture seems to capture that "Are you done yet?" look.
:)
H/H
Happy Hunting
Your story was both funny and sad. That Smoothedge waited for you to come home before having her babies, well that's just too sweet.
And Shadow and his milk :) I can see he's an old cat, but he's still very handsome. And that cute little pink tongue...
I like photos of cats with their toungue out! hehe I capture some of my cat like that, sometimes.
If ever you find a site - while Photo Hunt viewing - that is inactive - kindly drop a comment or email to me and let me know and I'd be happy to remove it. It is hard to keep up with so many but I try!
Welcome to the photo hunt. What a lovely story. I know milk is not supposed to be good for cats, but sometimes they just need the comfort. Good luck to your Shadow.
What a wondeful story you have of your cats. I have never had a cat that has been from a mother that i have know. That must be very special.
Jennifer
What a nice story. Great photo for today:) Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend.
:-)
I love that you put your cat's favorite drink on here! Unusual after seeing so many people only drinks.
My cat will not touch milk at all for some reason and I've never understood that as I thought that all cats loved milk! Looks like yours definitely does and it's funny that he yowls for it every night!
Great take on the theme this week!
I love the pictures but I have to say I love the stories that are attached to the photo hunt pictures. Your story was outstanding. Thanks for stopping by mine and I am so glad I came to visit.
Loved reading your story...I love cats, too :))
Ours won't drink milk but our Snowshoe Siamese nurses a blanket every night...she's 5 yrs. old.
Thanks for visiting my Photo Hunt today and have a great weekend!
Looks like my Morgan!
Thanks for stopping by mine :)
What a great story, thanks for sharing it!
Great photos and stories! I would say that if you have a healthy 16 year old cat, I wouldn't worry about letting him have a little milk every night. Great take on the theme!
I really enjoyed your story of your kitty and her baby! Thanks for visiting my site today
Enjoyed your story behind the photo! The kitty's are adorable. Thanks for stopping by my blog - till next week!
I loved the story and the cute pics of Shadow drinking his favorite drink. Sorry to hear about his mom but he seems a very happy and healthy cat now!
Happy weekend!and thanks for your visit :)
Shadow is a lovely cat! How sad that his mom went to the Rainbow Bridge when he was only 6 months old. Wonderful story about Smoothedge having her kittens.
Thanks for visiting.
Thank you to each and every one of you for visiting my blog and for the very nice comments and compliments on my photos and story about Shadow and his mother Smoothedge. I very much appreciate all of you and your input. If I haven't already visited your blog, I will very soon. If I have visited your blog, I will likely be back again :o)
a. - Thank you.
Gattina - what an ungrateful cat, being snarly with you after all you did for her babies... haha. I believe there is Siamese in Shadows background too, because of the yowl.
Amy in NY - yes, a very special friend. Give Ashley a nice petting for me.
Debbie - thanks for the nice welcome. Aren't cats just wonderful. Give your 3 some loving for me.
Cats~Goats~Quotes - three of my favorite things :o) Thank you.
Amy - Thank you. He sure is wonderful. He gives me so much love.
Melli - Thanks for your input. "Nose licking good", haha.
Barbara - In my experience, most cats want to be left alone to give birth, but maybe that was just the old farm cats when I was a kid. They had good reason to hide. If my Dad found the kittens she wouldn't have them for long :o( However, I think the ones we are real close to trust us more and want us there for the comfort of our presence, for sure.
Barbara H. - Thank you.
Lauren S. - Thanks, glad you liked my post.
Suzanne - in this case it sure hasn't hurt him anyway :o)
Meeyauw - at this age there's no way I'd try to stop giving him his milk, that would be just plain cruel. The only time he doesn't get milk is if I have something like canned salmon for dinner and give him the juice from that instead.
Jenny - Thanks for the welcome. Glad you enjoyed the story.
Lisa Renee - Thank you... and you're welcome :o)
Roman - I'm glad you liked my story and photos. Ya, Shadow seemed to think it weird I was taking pics of him drinking, so maybe that's exactly what he was thinking.
Waspgoddess - funny and sad... pretty much the story of my life, LOL. Thanks for noticing how handsome "my man" is. :o)
tnchick - I totally agree :o) And "will do".
srp - thanks for the welcome and the good wishes for Shadow. Ya, there are exceptions to everything aren't there.
Jennifer - yes, it is special to have a cat from a mother you've known or shared your life with. Smoothedge's mother was with friends of an "at that time husband", then Shadow... the end of the line and I dread the time he passes on.
Julie - Thank you and thank you. :o)
Angelika - I'm really glad you liked my post. Come on back any time and you'll often see photos of my various "critters".
Linda - that is kind of odd, but just as well that your cat doesn't like milk. One of my nephews doesn't like chocolate, and that to me is very odd too, haha. Shadow sure does make sure I don't forget to give him his treat. Glad you enjoyed my post.
Barman - Thank you so much for your nice comment. I am very glad you came to visit, too. Come again any time.
Deb - glad you liked my story. That would be cute, though a bit odd, to see your beautiful cat with it's "blanky". One cat I had liked to suck on the stomach fur of the dog I had at the time. I think it was taken from it's mom too early. D-O`-G didn't mind at all as she loved cats.
Teena - Then your Morgan must be very handsome indeed. I'll look for him when I visit your blog again.
Indiana Amy - Thank you. Glad you liked it.
Whitney - Thanks... very glad you liked it. I'm enjoying Photo Hunters a lot :o)
Powerstwinb - Glad you liked my post. Thanks for visiting my site too.
SJ - Thank you very much. Glad you liked it. Yes, til next week :o)
Mar - Glad you liked it. Yes, he sure is a happy and healthy cat. I was bless to be "stuck" with him when his brothers found new homes :o)
Dragonheart - I love the story of the Rainbow Bridge. It really is comforting to believe this kind of thing really does exist. There are several pets I've had in my lifetime that I look forward to being with again one day.
I invite all of you back again, and I wish each of you a wonderful day... week... Until we meet again!
definitely a beautiful story and she's so spoiled with that milk, great pics! thanks for stopping by!
Adorable pictures and a great story. So sad about the Mom. It's heartbreaking to lose a pet.
Hi Alice- thanks for stopping by my post for the drink theme. If milk hasn't hurt Shadow by now I don't think it's going to either. I say let him have it- he deserves all the treats you can give him at his age.
Sweet story and precious pictures!
expat traveler - I'm glad you liked the story and the pics. Yes, he is a very spoiled little man, and that's just the way I like it, lol.
Sue - Thank you, thank you. Yes, it is very heartbreaking to loose a pet. It just about kills me every time it happens. I almost quit having pets after Smoothedge was killed. I just couldn't stand the idea of being hurt so badly again. And in the end I couldn't stand to be without animals to love and to be loved by.
Cindy - you're welcome, and thanks for dropping in here too. I totally agree and will continue to give him his milk. I don't give a lot (well, not usually anyway), but just a bit in the bottom of his bowl.
Vader's Mom - thank you very much for the nice comment and for coming to visit.
Many years ago, my Dad said I was just like my Aunt Mable and would spend the rest of my life living alone with a house full of cats. Well, I've proved him wrong! I only have one cat! (and 1 dog, 1 rabbit, 2 budgies, 3 Betta fishes, 5 chinchillas and 1 chicken in the house... and chickens outside too, haha). And now I'm going to go feed them all and get Shadow in for the night. :o)
Wonderful story! I love cat pictures, especially when I can get a glimpse of that cute little tongue!
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