Cat-Tales GOLDEN

Over the years we’ve had a lot of cats.  I thought I’d share some of our cat-tales for your amusement.  I am not a big cat lover.  I think there are cat lovers and dog lovers.  Although a bit afraid of dogs I don’t know, I would definite by a dog lover.  I’ve written before about our little dog Pebbles.  Maybe someday I’ll tell you more about some other notable dogs like Gilligan and Wolfie, Daisy, Canine, and the assortment of puppies we’ve had over the years.  Or my first experience with a dog, Duke.  But those tales are for another day, today we’ll talk about our cat Golden.

Golden is a cat of notoriety in our family.  He looked like Morris the Cat.  I have no idea how we came to have Golden.  It was during a time where we had a lot of cats in and out.  Unfortunately, most were part inside and part outside cats.  While outside, they often would meet their maker on Nooks Hill Road.  If the time ever comes when they excavate the hill behind our house on the Nooks, they’ll see we gave a lot of cats a proper burial.    

Golden was a nice cat.  Not too lively, not a scratcher, and he was pretty.  He also would frequently go outside.  One day while at work I got a call from my mother who was at home.  She said that Golden had followed his predecessors and had been hit by a car in front of the house.  Good news was, he was still alive.  Bad news was, he was meowing with pain.

My secretary was a cat lover.  She came with me.  Wrapped in a towel we took Golden to the Vet.  We knew Dr. Efron, he had children in school with ours.  While Golden had not been to the Vet, we had taken other stray cats to him.  One of our daughters was such a cat lover that she would use her report card money to get these stray cats checked out.

That day, we saw Dr. Lynch, his female assistant veterinarian.  She gave me the grave news.  She said that Golden needed surgery.  He would make it and be a “normal” cat again if he had the surgery.  I asked the logical question – how much?

I honestly don’t remember the exact figure she gave me.  I gulped.  One of our other daughters, still a cat lover, really loved Golden.  I couldn’t imagine telling her that we couldn’t afford to bring her cat back to health.  I asked if we could think about it.  Golden was given a bed in a cage at the Veterinary hospital.

I talked to my husband.  He said what I already knew.  We couldn’t afford Golden’s surgery.  With 8 children, we did well to feed and clothe them.  I called to see how much it would cost for Golden to have a peaceful end.  Dr. Lynch soon called.

Much to our delight, she felt she could repair Golden for about $200.  Amazingly she found a way to cut costs.  I was relieved.  For the sake of our daughter, we said okay, go ahead.  Golden had surgery and was good as new.

Golden came home.  We recycled our playpen into a cat pen.  We kept him inside and gave him his meds.  He recuperated well.  A cat that has known freedom doesn’t like a play pen.  Soon the swinging of the doors by children running in and out resulted in freedom for Golden.

All was well for a short while.  Eventually, yes, you guessed it, Golden found his way to the winding curves of Nooks Hill Road.  Once again we dug a hole in dirt of the hill.  Once again we had an impromptu cat funeral.

As if by ESP, the Vet’s office called days after Golden’s burial.  They were told that Golden had died.  Next day the mail brought a sympathy card and words to help us with our grief.  That is the only time we’ve received a sympathy card on the death of a pet.  However, as you’ll learn later, we got a letter from a cat named Angel one time. 

Over the next few days you’ll learn of Angel, Gizmo, Smooth Chocolate, Nike and Kisses.  You’ll also hear about the cat rescued by the fire department and the cat I prayed for so it would eat.  Ah yes, cat-tales abound.