Calico

 

I know this photo is not the best.  In fact it has even been enhanced.

I did not snap this myself which I will explain later.

In the late 70's, when I was about 27 years old, I lived in a small apartment near the Greater Pittsburgh Airport.  One evening I was visiting my sister and this beautiful calico cat came to her door.  I could tell she was a mature cat and she was hungry. Definitely a stray.

My sister felt sorry for the cat but she isn't a cat person.  So I took it upon myself to save this feline.  I always felt that if a cat needed a home they would find me.

So, I took the cat to my little apartment. That is when I came to the realization that my landlord did not allow pets.  I couldn't let them know the cat was there.  Another realization was.....I didn't have cat food.....I didn't have cat litter.

Okay.  I came up with a plan.  In the morning I'll take Calico (yes I named her Calico) to my parent's farm.  In the meantime I will give her some milk, which she slurped up quickly. And I'll take dirt from a potted plant, put it in a box, and instant litter box. Genius!

In the morning I snuck Calico out of the apartment and placed her in my '72 Malibu.  I got on the expressway enroute to my parent's farm.

Well, maybe it wasn't such a great idea to have given Calico all that milk (I found out cats are generally lactose intolerant).  While going 70 mph Calico became frightened and started jumping all over the car. And while doing so was having diarrhea everywhere-backseat, frontseat, back window, and all over me.  

When I got to the farm I was close to tears.  I opened the car door and Calico darted out.  I spent the rest of the day cleaning the inside of my car.  I took a shower and luckily I had left some clothes at my parent's house.

But some good came out of all this.  Calico loved living on the farm.  She hunted and brought little presents to the back door (mice, chipmunks, birds).

She always ran up to my car when I visited my parents.  It was like she was thanking me for saving her. 

My parents welcomed her and when they decided to sell and move to South Carolina, Calico was made part of the deal with the new owners.

So now about the photo.  I moved to California. The new owners took a photo of Calico with her first litter since the sale.  Calico had now lived there for about 7 or 8 years.   

I am so glad the new owners kept her.  Unfortunately we lost touch and that was the last time I saw Calico. But I knew she was loved.

If anyone out there has some unusual cat stories I'd love for you to share.

Until next time.....