The Kitty Cat Bandwagon

Recently CeeCi and PK have written cat stories. As I read PK's it occurred to me that I just HAVE to tell you all about PJ.

There's not going to be a single spanking reference in this post so you're free to leave if you like but gosh, I'd love it if you stayed.

Back in the early fall of 1993 two stray cats showed up on our porch. Adam has always loved cats and decided that they needed food.

You know what happens then. You feed a cat, you own a cat. It's that simple.

For the next two months they lived on our porch. I refused to allow them in the house.

It was a cold, windy, rainy, sleety, crappy November night. We had company. Liz pitched a fit because I would not allow these cats in the house. She asked "If I take one of them home with me, will you let them in?"

Sigh.

Deal.

For two weeks my kids ping ponged back and forth between two names. One day the cat was named Phantom due to the black and white mask looking face she had. The next day they would call her Jasmine because they just liked the name.

Finally one of them said, "I know!! Let's call her PJ!"

PJ it was.

She was given the best of both names.

For the first year PJ had an attitude of "Look, I really appreciate the food and shelter but I'm really not all that interested in being touched." She couldn't meow. She was one of the smallest full grown cats that I've ever seen.

We were quite broke back in those days. By the time we had extra money to have her fixed she had two litters of kittens. Keep in mind she came to us full grown. We have no idea how many previous litters she might have had or how old she was at the time.

She made a fantastic mommy cat to the first litter. The second litter? Now that's another story.

I don't remember all the details but the delivery went way wrong. She had them one right after another, way too fast. Cats need time to clean one up a bit before the next arrival otherwise you'll have the mess which we had. (some of this is graphic, you might want to stop reading)

Hers were all tangled up in their umbilical cords and afterbirth. As hard as we tried, we were not able to free them.

PJ did what her instinct demanded and freed them the best she could. For some of them that meant she chewed their legs off. It was gross and disgusting but most importantly it was very, very sad.

We managed to get hold of our vet. This was on a Sunday. He gave instructions to bring them in right away. Some died there. I couldn't watch when Adam drowned two of them. It had to be done. In the meantime 3 of the 8 survived and were perfectly fine.

There was something sad about PJ though. I honestly believe she always knew there should have been more.

Meanwhile, Adam's sister's cat also had kittens about the same time. Four of them. They were adorable but there was a problem there too. His sister's cat was hit and killed by a car when the kittens where just ten days old. She called her vet.

"You'll have to put them down, they can't survive."

She called another vet.

"Well you can try to feed them with an eye dropper but you'll have to do it every two hours." After three days of that and very, very little sleep, Adam's sister couldn't take it anymore.

She called the vet again.

She asked "My brother's cat has kittens also. Would it be possible for her to feed them?"

"No that doesn't work."

My sister in law was crying and frustrated.

Finally the vet said "you can try it but don't get your hopes up."

He gave her instructions to hide the mother cat. Then we were to take ALL the kittens from both cats and bathe them in order to make them all smell alike as best as possible. After that we were to put all the kittens in the place where the mother was keeping them and then bring in mama cat.

Amazing.

It was really amazing.

The new additions were starved and couldn't get to PJ quick enough. Meanwhile her own babies seemed to sense the urgency and let the others eat. And PJ? She looked at us like "I KNEW there were more babies in my bunch. Where the hell have you been hiding them?"

We all cried.

PJ went on and raised both litters together as one. I don't think she ever knew they weren't all hers.

And PJ? Oh, she's still with us. She's old and frail.

Ever since 2000 when our oldest comes home for the holidays she hugs PJ before she leaves because she just KNOWS this will be PJ's last year with us. It's hard telling how old she really is. We've had her for 14 years and she was full grown when she found us.

And the pup? He loves her. He loves her so much in fact that he likes to hump the heck out of her. She runs and hisses. And Adam yells things such as "Pup!!! She's OLD. Leave grandma alone." And although she isn't quite the center of the universe (that job belongs to Ceeci's cat) she is definitely the center of our world.