HOW TO ACQUIRE 5 CATS IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS!

by Valarie Weigle, Jacksonville, Florida

continued

One day I had the window wide open, and had turned to get another piece of chicken for Johnnie. He decided that he no longer want to be served on the window ledge. He just walked right in through the kitchen window and declared himself home for good! Delilah jumped for joy when she saw Johnnie walk in! She ran right over, and Johnnie jumped down to her, and they began their grooming ritual, playing, washing, kissing each other...sigh...well, if it made her this happy, why not? It couldn't be any harder taking care of 6 cats instead of 5 - right??

Another trip up to the vets, (and the bank for a small loan to pay for all these trips), and Johnnie, was declared healthy. He got his shots, howling the whole time, and came home to assume his role in the Weigle household. What was really fascinating was that Johnnie and Joey seemed to sense they were related. They became very close very quickly. Joey actually watches over Johnnie, and it's touching to see how much they love each other. Eventually, the rest of the kitties outback had moved on, and we had none out there for Sampson and Delilah to play with, nor tame. I breathed a sigh of relief, and went about the business of caring for, (and loving every minute of it), 6 cats, two dogs, and a husband.

Little did I know what lurked around the corner.... we did have 7 kitties at this point, one of them...little Monica, asked if we could adopt her while we were at PetSmart one afternoon. We had her for 3 years, but she had a lot of physical problems and seemed to be allergic to everything...we lost her on March 17th, 2004.

By March of 2004, we all were in a regular routine. Every morning I got up, and all 6 cats, and 2 dogs would get up with me. To keep tabs on them, I took a head count every morning. They got a kitty treat, and they each got a little rubdown. If I'm not up by 6am, one of them always comes in to remind me that it's treat time, and what was I thinking sleeping in so late? What have I gotten myself into, I would think some mornings, as I rolled out of bed.

Well, it happened again! March 15th, the treats were all given, the rubdowns done...time to take the babies out for a run in the backyard. We were headed back inside when I suddenly heard...MRRROOW??? Did I just hear a cat? Noooo, it must've been my imagination...MRRROOOWWW??? NOOOO!! It couldn't be??!! Could it?? I walked over to where I heard the sound...Drat!! I heard a cat!! I turned around to see what Jim now calls, the funniest looking cat in America. There she was - sitting there, just looking at me. Then she said the words I dreaded hearing. "Hey lady! I heard it was a lot of fun to live in your house...and I've found myself in a bit of a spot, on my own here without a roof over my head, and no food in my belly. Could I trouble you for a morsel of food, and perhaps a soft, warm place to live?”

This confirmed it for me. There really is an underground tunnel In Jacksonville, with a map leading cats right to our backyard. Dubbed Maya she was just the sweetest thing! So gentle, and so calm. I thought to myself, she has to belong to somebody for her to be this tame. Delilah of course ran right up to her, but this one didn't seem to know what a dog was. She gave Delilah a curious look, sniffed her over, then promptly bopped her on the head! The look on Delilah's face was just too precious!! I couldn't help but laugh, as she just wasn't used to this kind of rejection, I picked Maya up, with the dogs dancing around me, and brought her in. She had the sweetest face...a tortoiseshell, tri-coloured, black, orange, and tan, with an orange line down the centre of her face, dividing her face in half, and orange slashed over each eye, making her look as if she had a permanent scowl on her face. She was so happy to have a new home.

We did try to find out if she had a family. I put an ad in the paper and we got several calls, none of them matched the description. Kitty number 7 has made our family complete. Sampson, Delilah, and Maya, are now good friends, both being very persistent in letting her know that they were there to care for her. As of this writing the population remains 7 cats, 2 dogs, and a husband...but who knows what’s lurking just around the corner…

Submitted by
Valarie Weigle
Jacksonville, FL
Mother of the following furbabies...

Sampson-6 year old lhasapoo
Delilah--4 year old cockapoo
Sabrina-14 year old kitty main coon I think
Sabastian..12 year old hymalian
Endura-4 year old grey alley cat
Benji--4 year old tangerine kitty
Joey..3 years old...well he's a cat but looks more like a furball with legs
Johnnie 1 year old, Joey's nephew...his sister had him, but disappeared.
Maya...well, she is a tortoiseshell kitty with the most interesting markings and she just showed up one day...these are our indoor kitties. We think Maya is about 5 or 6.

Addendum...The map is still there...I went out one morning..(I've GOT to stop doing that), and there was a beautiful white kitty with 3 kittens!! She came right up to me, and mrooowwed all over the place asking please, please could I have a bite to eat...So Phoebe and her 3 kittens, plus another litter she had, all reside outback. Manny Mo, Jack, Kukula, Fran and Ollie, all enjoy themselves out there. We have been trying now for months to catch Phoebe, so we can get her fixed...but she somehow senses when I'm trying to get her, as she dodges my grip every time...and I do hope that there will NOT be another chapter to this story!!

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