Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Hi smile You don't know me but I know your friend RyRy. I know what you mean about having a soft spot for pets. We had 6 cats. Three were fixed and three weren't, and of course, the three that weren't all got pregnant. eek In fact, two of them had their kittens on the same day (June 10th, 2004) starting at like 1 am. It was kind of wild becuz they wanted to be in the same box and they comforted each other while in labour, but I was afraid they would get their kittens mixed up, so once they started having them, I seperated them into two boxes and sat them side by side so they could still see each other.

The first kitten to be born was from the grey and white cat and I had to help her deliver it becuz she was such a little cat herself and this was a big kitten, so I helped by pushing on her hind feet and then ultimately ended up pulling it out. That was my favourite cat becuz I feel like, short of birthing him, I had brought him into the world. He was all black which was kind of strange becuz the other Momma was all black, and she kept trying to steal him from his mother as if she thought becuz he was all black, he was hers. 3nodding The next kitten born was to the all black Momma and it was (get this) grey and white. neutral Weird, huh? xp

All in total, the two of them had 10 kittens eek 4 for the grey and white Mom and 6 for the all black Mom. I knew that there really was no feasible way I could keep 16 cats. When they got old enough to be weaned, I was made to give some away cry One was given away by a family member while I was taking a nap and they didn't even know which one they gave away! I had to do a head count to find out who was missing. Yes, I had them all named and I knew which one was which, too. The person who gave her away didn't even get a name or anything of the person they gave it to. I cried half the night and yelled at them for not waking me up so I could say goodbye.

Luckily, the next day they came back with a friend who also wanted a kitten and he took another one away, but at least I got to meet the ppl who took the first one and tell them if they ever can't keep her to bring her back to me. I felt better then.

Around this same time, the third cat that was pregnant had her kittens outside somewhere. I don't know where she had them or how many. All I know is one day it was starting to rain and I went out on the porch to talk to someone. When I turned to go back inside, I saw 2 scrawny little kittens in the corner of the porch. The tiniest one had gunk on its eye all matted and gross, so I took them inside to warm up and to clean them up. I still have them both and they are about a year and a half old now and not so little anymore. xp

I gave another 2 of the firstborns to my friend in Canada. I drove them 3 and a half hours up there from Ohio. I didn't really want to give them both to her becuz I wasn't sure she could even handle having one of them, let alone two, but I did becuz I couldn't keep them and I wanted them where I knew they were safe and I could still keep a watch over them. She said the one (the first born black one and my fave) was scratching her little 3 yr old son. I said if she wouldn't let him carry it around by it's neck and tail, maybe it wouldn't scratch him rolleyes Knowing I couldn't take it back, she had her step-dad take it to a barn somewhere in Canada and didn't tell me til like a week or so later when I went up to visit her and noticed she only had one of them.

I tried not to be upset, tho I sat there and cried most of the time, just like I did when I first left them there. I really tried not to go find him, but before I left, I ended up having her step-dad drive me to the barn he left the cat at, and within five minutes I found him and brought him back to Ohio with me. A month later, he was hit by a car or a snowplow out in front of my house. I was devastated. He was only 7 months old. My doctor had me on Xanax for a week and I actually had to take time off work becuz I was that upset. My friend still has the other cat, which she named Amy Lee.

I also gave two of my other favourite ones to another friend I met online and then in person, becuz we lived about 3 hours away from each other. He was a single guy who lived alone and needed some company. He kept the names I gave them, which were Dionysus (Dion for short) and Mysteh (yes, that's where my username came from, not the other way around).

He had them until right after their first birthday, then he brought them back to my house for a visit. I kept them for a week while he went to Las Vegas on vacation, which was kind of fun. He came and got them and I was sad to see them go, but he had been so good to them and they were happy so I figured I had nothing to worry about. Well, a couple weeks later I get a phone call from him. It seemed while he was at work, he got forcibly evicted from his apartment becuz of some screw up with his rent (Yeah, you don't pay it for a few months, they tend to do that rolleyes ... sorry, still harbouring some anger here over this). He said they removed all of his belongings while the cats were locked in the bathroom, and then left them in the apartment with a cat carrier and their food. He went to go get them and apparently he said they were gone. He had no idea where they went but said that the landlord or the ppl who moved his stuff out left a window open. A window that had a hole in the screen the cats had scratched in it another time. He had come home and found them sitting on the second story ledge and almost had a heart attack. All he could figure is they went out the window this time and jumped from the second story ledge. neutral

I can't imagine... but he says they weren't in the apartment. So, lots of drama ensued. I told him they would not go far and would come home when they got hungry... to just wait in the parking lot, but he wouldn't. He claimed he drove all over looking for them, but I can't believe they would have tried crossing any of the busy 4 lane roads that surrounded his apartment building. Personally, I don't feel like he tried at all. Instead, he did stupid crap like contemplating driving his truck off a bridge and ended up in a psych ward (so he said). Eight days later, after not having heard from him for a week, he called me and said he found the cats. I asked if he had them with him to bring back to me since, for the most part, he was homeless.

He claimed he was going to get them as soon as he hung up from me. He said there had been a message on his parents answering machine saying the maintanence man had found them sleeping together in a box then next day and for him to come get them. I asked if he had called the maintanance man yet and confirmed, after eight days, he still had them. I mean, come on, ppl don't just keep stray animals for eight days and wait for an answer or a return call. So, I was really upset becuz he got my hopes up only to bring them crashing down like a ton of bricks onto my heart. He said no, he hadn't called the guy but he was going to as soon as he hung up from me, then he would go get them becuz he was soooo sure the guy would still have them. I yelled at him and told him to call the guy and find out and to go get them if the guy still had them and not to call me back until he had them in his hands to bring back to me. That was August of 2005 and he has never called me since that day we hung up. I have no idea what happened to them, if they found new homes, were turned over to the humane society and adopted out or euthanized, if the guy gave them away or if they tried to cross the road and got hit and the truth is, I will never know. I still have dreams about them, I still cry over them, tho I try not to.

It just really sucks not knowing and truthfully, I never believe in hating anyone or even knew the true meaning of the word hate until that day. The only way I would ever speak to him now is if I got an email with a pic of the cats with the days newspaper or something so I knew it was just taken or if he showed up at my house with them. Otherwise, he better never darken my doorstep ever again. evil I still have 6 of the 12 kittens, and 5 of the 6 adults. One of the adults died of old age at 14 ppl years old. The all black one that got killed is buried in my back yard with the other pets we have lost. It's like a pet cemetary out there. And I miss each and every one of them.

But yeah, sorry to spam your comments and bore you to death with my cat novel. It's just that I know how you feel. I'm sorry for your loss of the kittens and the Momma cat. Losing a pet is like losing a family member. I hope you get to feeling better soon.

<3 Mysteh

Thanks?

-=Hugs and knows what you're going through=-