Ode to Smokygirl

In remebrance of my beloved Smokygirl I wrote this poem

We got you when such a small little kitten
Yes I admit I was quite smitten
The softness of velvet was your fur
Your stubby little tail as a manx
I knew I had to have you for sure
I miss you my friend, my beautiful silver girl
I miss you jumping on my back
Playing with my hair as if on a attack
I know that you are now truly free
and in my heart forever you will always be
My Beautiful Smokygirl

We took the little tuxedo kitten home. Feeling sorry for him, the first thing I did when we got home was to take him into the bathroom and inspect him. As I did so I seen something moving in his fur turned out he was covered in fleas, literally. Poor guy, I set out to get the water in sink warm then proceeded with the cat flea shampoo I had. I washed him for what seemed like a hour, but at last no more fleas. I dried him and cuddled him next to me. He purred the whole time, it seemed like he already knew he had a new home. My husband came in and said well what are we going to name him. I smiled and said "Wally, since we found him at Wal-mart." I gave him a saucer of warm catsmilk and some catfood. He ate and purred, then fell asleep in a catbed we had. The next day he seemed like he wasn't very perky. So my husband took him to his first Vet's visit. The doctor said he had a cold from being exposed to the weather and from mewing so much. He was given antibiotics and his first examination and shots. He blossomed into such a beautiful cat with what looked like a hershey's kiss planted on his nose. He is a wonderful addition to our home.

Enter the Wally

It was a cold and rainy November night in 2004, that Wally entered our lives. We had gone to the local Wal-Mart Supercenter to do our weekly shopping. We had got out of the car and headed to the store when I thought I heard what I sounded like a cat. My first thought was that it can't be. I was so used to hearing my cats meow I thought I was imagining things. So we was half way to the store and I heard the meow again, this time louder and sounded very urgent. I turned to my husband and said " I think I hear a cat meowing. He said he heard it too at about that time a skinny pitieful looking black and white kitten ran right up to me. His sad little eyes pleaded with me. I picked him up and said "You poor little baby, who could have the heart to just dump you off like this." Well I turned to my husband and we both could not beleive how this could happen to the little guy. I told my husband to put him in the warm car, someone had also put a rubberband around his neck which I promptly removed. We agreed that our shopping would be really quick. We already had 3 cats at home. Princess a sweet older grey and white cat. Tigger a older longhair cat and Smokygirl a silver grey manx. At the time I wasn't sure if another cat in the home was going to be a good idea or not. We finished our shopping within 15 minutes. As soon as I opened the car door the little baby jumped in my lap with a loud meow and purr.
He melted my heart right then and there.

After being married for a ew years, I decided to adopt a new kitty a beautiful female calico with soft flowing long hair. I named her Booboo, and after a year she became impregnated. She had a lovely litter of kittens with same gorgeous fur. I decided to keep one of the kittens, as Booboo decided to take up residence elsewhere. The beautiful orange and white kitten I kept, I named him Pumpkin. He was so awesome, he loved paper sacks and loved to shred them. He was a very special cat to me. But when I was growing up I was never advised back then it was wise to spay and neuter your pets. It was the early 80's, I loved Pumpkin dearly. But he liked to roam and go outside at night, I thought it was what cats do. Pumpkin came in one morning covered in blood, it scared me terribly. I tried to clean him up as best I could, I took him to a local vet after he started to refuse his food that afternoon. The vet told me when tomcats fight they can get what is called feline anemia, at the time the vet said the best thing we could do is not let him suffer. He was put to rest that afternoon. It hurt me really bad and I cried for weeks on end. Months went by, finally my mom told me of a lady that had a momma kitty and some kittens that needed a good home. I fell in love with the kittens the momma cat was on the wild side and only allowed me to feed her and play with the kittens in a shed we kept her in a bed with a towel. I managed to find loving homes for the kittens but decided to keep 2 female tabbys. They almost looked alike, I named one T.C., short for Tiger Cat and the other one was Misty. This time both of them got spayed when they turned 6 months old. These 2 turned out to be my nearest and dearest friends. Wherever I went they went. The next 12 years they moved with us numerous times. T.C. was like my baby, she had the freedom to go outside when we lived in the country we went on hikes together all the time. Misty followed along too. I couldn't beleive it these cats behaved like dogs, they even liked to go to the creek and I would wade in the water, and they would try to find a tree that had fallen so they could cross and not get their little cat feet wet.

My cats throughout my life

As a little girl I always remember having cats around. My earliest rememberence was of a big black and white cat named Tom. I also had 2 dogs at a early age, I remember one was a small tan dog named Sandy. I am not sure about the color or size of the other one. However, also at about this same time, I was scared very badly by 2 mean big nasty German sheperd dogs from somewhere in the neighborhood. I remember they chased me into a garage and I escaped by climbing up a big pile of wood. Their growls and barks embedded in my mind at the time that dogs were scary, they wanted to bite. Thence my love and adoration for cats.

We had many cats while I was growing up mostly outdoor, feral type cats. Then my next remembrance of a cat was when I was sixteen. We had a beautiful female tabby, we called her ms. kitty. I noticed her tummy was growing and it was only a matter of weeks before she gave birth to 5 kittens, which she delivered no less on my bed. I got to watch the whole birthing process which was so amazing and wonderful. I begged my mom to let me keep one of them as they was being weaned from their mom. She did let me keep a gorgeous striped male tabby that I promptly named Tornado. He was a whirlwind of fun and pleasure for me. He was rambucous just like his name foretold.

I had started dating at the time Tornado was a kitten, when my boyfriend came around with his automobile, Tornado thought he should be able to hitch a ride. It was hilarous when many a time my boyfriend would be halfway home when out from under the seat Tornado would pounce. Of course he would bring the little guy back home to me. I think my parents wondered if I was putting the kitten up to it. Of course I wasn't. Tornado was my cat, but my brother harassed him and pulled his tail like boys will do. I kept telling my brother that one day Tornado is going to get you back. Sure enough after 4 months of having his tail pulled, one day out of nowhere Tornado was watching him from the roof. My brother rounded the corner and Tornado jumped right onto his face and scratched him from head to shoulder. He was treated by a doctor for cat scratch fever, but it taught him a good lesson not to mess with the cat. My parents never scolded Tornado they knew I had kept telling my brother to stop it and he wouldn't. Tornado was truly my best friend, then I decided to marry and we lived close to my parents. But, Tornado would not stay at my home and eventually he must have run off, I looked and looked for him.