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By now you all know that I love cats and always have room for one more, but hubby doesn’t always feel the same way. He loves cats, but is always content with less. Things were a little different with Millie.

My husband’s father started Ware machine Works in the 1940’s, a company that made backhoes and hydraulic earth moving equipment. When he passed away in 1999 my husband and his brother did their best to keep the business going. Unfortunately, with the cost of insurance and other factors, they were closing up in 2004. That is when Millie was born.

Millie’s Mom was a stray, possibly feral because she wouldn’t go near my husband, David. She had kittens in the parts department at Ware Machine Works in the spring of 2004. There were 3 kittens, a tabby striped, and 2 white ones. Millie was one of those white ones and he wanted to be friends with David.

David put out food and water for Mama every day and once the kittens were old enough, they were joining Mama at meal time. Over time, Millie was getting closer and closer to David and clearly wanted to be friends. He loved to run through the tunnels of the old mill and play in the cardboard shipping boxes. My hubby jokes that Millie’s fur traveled all over the world to Guam and other countries in the parts boxes.

For several months, David told me how cute and friendly this white kitten was, but I wasn’t allowed to see any of them because I would want them. Well guess what? When September came and they were closing Ware Machine Works, David decided Millie needed to come home. I didn’t have a problem with that, I never met a cat I didn’t like.

Fortunately, there was a holistic vet in the same mill yard. He trapped the Mama and his technician caught Millie’s 2 siblings. The poor technician was a bloody mess because those kittens were quite wild and fought being caught. They were fixed and eventually placed in forever homes.

The day we brought Millie home was very traumatic for him. David had him in a cage in our vehicle and I can still see the look of fear in his eyes. He has never adjusted to car rides and every time he needs to go to the vet, he messes the carrier. He cried the entire time he was in the car. We had to take him to the vet for proper shots and FELV/FIV testing. Fortunately, he was disease free, but he was also covered in fleas.

On the ride to the vet, we discussed names for him. We already had Barney from the barn so I suggested Millie for the mill yard. We asked him if he liked it and his response sounded like “Mill” so Millie it was.

I don’t know if it is a coincidence or the fact that he has a girl’s name, but Millie loves fabrics and shoes. He never met a shoe he didn’t want to try on. You can never leave an article of clothing unattended near him either. I can’t tell you how many times we have hung a coat on the back of a chair only to have him slip underneath it and knock it down. He loves to nap inside clothes like that. We always joke that it is windy when he is around because all clothes end up on the floor.

Shoes are Millie’s real favourite though. He is always sliding his paws into our shoes or sleeping on top of them. Apparently, he has licked them too. Last year he had roundworms and the only way he could have gotten them was to have been off my hubby’s shoes that had been in the garden.

Millie is a very vocal boy and loves to wake us up in the morning. He is usually in the kitchen with his friend Penny. As soon as the automatic coffee pot is finished, he starts meowing so we know it is ready. He also cries in the evening to come into the living room and watch TV with us. He is a social guy.

Millie is a white kitty with a touch of gray on the sides of his head. In his baby photos though, the gray is right in the middle and much more prominent. He is very unique with one blue eye and one green eye. Unfortunately, the blue eye always shows up red in photos. He also has a very long tail, 14 and a half inches. I often wonder if he is part Siamese because he is so vocal, but I will never know who his Daddy was.

I am sure that if I had met him when he was first born, I would have wanted to bring him home. I sure am happy that he was smart enough to make friends with my husband. They definitely bonded from the start which makes me a little jealous, but as long as he loves me, I am content.

 

Dogs Come when Called

"Dogs come when called. Cats take a message and get back to you."

"Of course, every cat is really the most beautiful woman in the room."

Edward Verrall Luca (essayist)