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Memorial To Our Feline Family Members |
When Chiquita was about three years old and Spud and Fifteen one year old, we found it necessary to move to a town. The town we chose was Pyote, Texas, located about fifteen miles west of Monahans, Texas in West Texas. We bought a very modest house in Pyote which served us well for about six years. I believe Chiquita, Spud, and Fifteen were happier at that location more than at any other place where they have lived. Our house sat on four lots, one of which was a corner lot, and there was no other house on the entire block, though there were houses across the street. I think that the relative isolation plus the fact that the house had a pet door so that they could come and go as they please (no litter box either!) was what made all of them so happy there. |
On the evening of the third day, I discovered that the kitten had died, but Chiquita and Fifteen did not seem to have noticed - they continued their "mothering" as before. And I was suddenly faced with the task of disposing of the dead baby. In an effort to distract the two "mothers," I opened some strong-smelling canned food and set it out in the kitchen. I then went back to the box in the living room. Fifteen soon smelled the food and left the room. But Chiquita refused to budge. In desperation, I grabbed the dead, stiff kitten and hurriedly left the house, headed for the garbage can by the side of the street. For the rest of my life, I will never forget Chiquita jumping toward my hand, every step of the way, trying desperately to grab the kitten away from me. At our first opportunity, we had Fifteen spayed. The world didn't need any more experiences of that nature. |
We encountered a problem with Fifteen after our move
to the second house. It seems that Fifteen decided that she had rather
not move with us. The old house and the new house were only a few blocks
apart. After moving Fifteen, and keeping her contained at the new house
for a few days, she
decided to go back to the old place (which was vacant) as soon as she was set free. Being a dutiful cat owner, I went after her and brought her back, only to have her go back again as soon as she got a chance to get out the door. This repeated several times until I decided to just leave her at the old house for a few days. "Perhaps that would teach her a lesson," I thought. Well, three or four days was all I could take. I went after her. When I drove into the driveway at the old place, she obviously recognized my car because she ran to it, meowing all the way. I didn't have to open the door to get her. She jumped in an open window, and "talked to me" all the way home - probably telling me how hungry she was. Satisfied that she had learned her lesson, I put all worry about the situation out of my mind. Fifteen stayed at the new place for about a week, then went back to the old place. Several more times I left her at the old place for a while, sometimes even up to two weeks. Each time I went after her, it was a repeat of what had happened the first time, and it went on like this as long as we lived in Pyote. She was always ecstatic to see me, always jumping into the car and ready to go home. For a few days after returning home, she would seem satisfied, but then I would notice a faraway look in her eyes as she scanned the horizon in the direction of the old house. She would walk a few feet in that direction, then stretch her neck forward as though trying to see the old house in the distance. The next I knew, she would be gone again. |
While living at the courthouse, Fifteen wormed her way into the heart of the Terrell County Sheriff, Dalton Hogg. He would "babysit" her whenever we were away on trips. During the Christmas parties for the courthouse employees, there was always a present under the tree for "Kitty Fifteen" from the sheriff. The only time that Fifteen was lured away from her own yard was to go with the rest of us on our daily walks. We no longer had an alley to walk and not many wild flowers to look at, but we had an entire city block of green grass and pecan trees with a large flowing fountain filled with huge goldfish. |