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High winds took out my original 1941 bay window in the living room at the front of the house. (Well, the high wind and more dry rot than we knew existed within the wood...)
While I was unaware of the broken window - the missing pane - the feral cats all stepped outside... all but one. Nike deliberately chose to stay behind. She watched her family leave, one by one, and she stared after them as they left - but she stayed inside, on the bay window ledge, and remained here. I guess she really digs my housecat Alice Cooper more than we realized? Or maybe she just digs the warmth, the human food she gets from my fork each evening, and the cushy indoor home?? Dunno...
Anyhow, when I returned home and entered my living room, and felt the wind inside, I instantly knew a window was broken. It didn't take me more than a minute or two to find it. I stared at the missing pane in dismay as I realized, with dawning horror, that the cats must have gone out the open hole. I prayed that none of my housecat pets did the same. I turned my head, feeling without hearing that I was being watched: It was Nike, one of the feral kittens grown up now, and she was curled up into a tight kitty hunch, in great fear. I could almost smell the fear coming off of her in waves.
I spoke to her softly. "Nike? Nike? Who left? Who went out? Cobby? Did your daddy leave us? How about your mommy, Blackie? Is she gone, too? And Tiger Mac? Your brother, Tiger Mac?"
Nike cried out.
"Yeah? What about your sister, Midnight? How about Midnight? Did she leave us also?"
I started to cry.
Nike yowled again and made herself even smaller.
I cried harder, at the window, my tears almost freezing to my cheeks in the bitter wind coming in.
I looked about for something - anything - with which to cover up the open pane hole. Nothing in reach. Nothing big enough in sight. I had to leave the room and go down to the cellar for some plywood I knew was down there.
"Nike," I whispered, "Please don't leave me... please... I have to go get something... some wood, some plywood... to cover up this hole... please... please don't leave me... please won't you stay? Please? Nike?"
I was sobbing uncontrollably.
The cat didn't budge, didn't even blink.
I blindly hurried downstairs to the cellar, grabbed some pieces of plywood and some nails and a hammer, and a roll of gorilla tape, and hurried back upstairs again.
Nike was still in the bay window, shivering in the cold wind. She hadn't budged. She was still staring through the open pane hole where her entire family had left through.
I covered over the hole with plywood while Nike watched me, staring, as if in shock. She stayed there for hours and hours, reacting to nothing - not even when my carpenter came in to assess the damage to my window. She didn't budge when he spoke to her kindly. (Animals like him.)
My City Animal Control Officer came, also, and spoke to Nike. Nothing. No reaction at all.It was if she had turned into a statue.
Mr Witchy came home, and we sat down to eat supper.
Nike came out of the window to play with our old housecat, Alice Cooper (who looks just like Nike and her mama, Blackie). Alice always gets a recurrence of his old FeBart every winter, if it's a very cold winter... sure nuff, Al's got it again. sigh He's on strong antibiotics, again. Nike started a game of Tag with Alice, and they began to chase each other around the dining room, having fun. Then, Nike jumped up onto the dining room table. (she's never done that before!) She will eat tastes of our human food from my fork, without touching the tines... I've taught her good table manners. So tonight, she came over to my plate and stuck her furry little nose right into it to see/sniff what I was eating! Wow! She never made herself that much 'at home' before! We know she likes fish (it's Lent) and eats it right from my fork. We know she also eats most vegetables from my fork, as well. Well... guess what else she likes? Eggplant Parmesan! And spaghetti! Yep, this cat likes plain spaghetti without tomato sauce on it... go figure! She sucks the noodle right up after grabbing the tip/end in her teeth, and then she chews it up.
And Nike let me pet her for the first time, tonight, too!!
Mr Witchy and I are wondering if she's gonna come up to the bedroom, tonight... since it's gonna be empty downstairs... her family being gone and our housecats always sleeping up in the bedroom with us? It's doubtful that she's gonna like sleeping/being alone all night long. NO cat likes that - being alone all night long. Cats are nocturnal.
I pray that God will look after Cobby, and Blackie, and Tiger Mac, and Midnight, and Big Velvet and Little Velvet... and keep them safe... and lead them safely back home to me! I hope they make it back here and back inside again safely! There are SO MANY dangers outside... I pray that God will help them. I hope Cobby isn't too old to fight to maintain his kingly status and keep his family safe from the other (younger) toms out there. I hope he isn't injured in a fight. I don't think the cats realized that they were gonna be stuck outside when they went through the window today; I saw Big Velvet outside on my front lawn, staring up at the boarded-up bay window in dismay or surprise, as if to say, "Oh, wow! Now how'm I gonna get back inside?" But by the time I got out there, she was gone... PLEASE, God, keep them all safe and bring them back to me! Oh, my poor kitties!!
While I was unaware of the broken window - the missing pane - the feral cats all stepped outside... all but one. Nike deliberately chose to stay behind. She watched her family leave, one by one, and she stared after them as they left - but she stayed inside, on the bay window ledge, and remained here. I guess she really digs my housecat Alice Cooper more than we realized? Or maybe she just digs the warmth, the human food she gets from my fork each evening, and the cushy indoor home?? Dunno...
Anyhow, when I returned home and entered my living room, and felt the wind inside, I instantly knew a window was broken. It didn't take me more than a minute or two to find it. I stared at the missing pane in dismay as I realized, with dawning horror, that the cats must have gone out the open hole. I prayed that none of my housecat pets did the same. I turned my head, feeling without hearing that I was being watched: It was Nike, one of the feral kittens grown up now, and she was curled up into a tight kitty hunch, in great fear. I could almost smell the fear coming off of her in waves.
I spoke to her softly. "Nike? Nike? Who left? Who went out? Cobby? Did your daddy leave us? How about your mommy, Blackie? Is she gone, too? And Tiger Mac? Your brother, Tiger Mac?"
Nike cried out.
"Yeah? What about your sister, Midnight? How about Midnight? Did she leave us also?"
I started to cry.
Nike yowled again and made herself even smaller.
I cried harder, at the window, my tears almost freezing to my cheeks in the bitter wind coming in.
I looked about for something - anything - with which to cover up the open pane hole. Nothing in reach. Nothing big enough in sight. I had to leave the room and go down to the cellar for some plywood I knew was down there.
"Nike," I whispered, "Please don't leave me... please... I have to go get something... some wood, some plywood... to cover up this hole... please... please don't leave me... please won't you stay? Please? Nike?"
I was sobbing uncontrollably.
The cat didn't budge, didn't even blink.
I blindly hurried downstairs to the cellar, grabbed some pieces of plywood and some nails and a hammer, and a roll of gorilla tape, and hurried back upstairs again.
Nike was still in the bay window, shivering in the cold wind. She hadn't budged. She was still staring through the open pane hole where her entire family had left through.
I covered over the hole with plywood while Nike watched me, staring, as if in shock. She stayed there for hours and hours, reacting to nothing - not even when my carpenter came in to assess the damage to my window. She didn't budge when he spoke to her kindly. (Animals like him.)
My City Animal Control Officer came, also, and spoke to Nike. Nothing. No reaction at all.It was if she had turned into a statue.
Mr Witchy came home, and we sat down to eat supper.
Nike came out of the window to play with our old housecat, Alice Cooper (who looks just like Nike and her mama, Blackie). Alice always gets a recurrence of his old FeBart every winter, if it's a very cold winter... sure nuff, Al's got it again. sigh He's on strong antibiotics, again. Nike started a game of Tag with Alice, and they began to chase each other around the dining room, having fun. Then, Nike jumped up onto the dining room table. (she's never done that before!) She will eat tastes of our human food from my fork, without touching the tines... I've taught her good table manners. So tonight, she came over to my plate and stuck her furry little nose right into it to see/sniff what I was eating! Wow! She never made herself that much 'at home' before! We know she likes fish (it's Lent) and eats it right from my fork. We know she also eats most vegetables from my fork, as well. Well... guess what else she likes? Eggplant Parmesan! And spaghetti! Yep, this cat likes plain spaghetti without tomato sauce on it... go figure! She sucks the noodle right up after grabbing the tip/end in her teeth, and then she chews it up.
And Nike let me pet her for the first time, tonight, too!!
Mr Witchy and I are wondering if she's gonna come up to the bedroom, tonight... since it's gonna be empty downstairs... her family being gone and our housecats always sleeping up in the bedroom with us? It's doubtful that she's gonna like sleeping/being alone all night long. NO cat likes that - being alone all night long. Cats are nocturnal.
I pray that God will look after Cobby, and Blackie, and Tiger Mac, and Midnight, and Big Velvet and Little Velvet... and keep them safe... and lead them safely back home to me! I hope they make it back here and back inside again safely! There are SO MANY dangers outside... I pray that God will help them. I hope Cobby isn't too old to fight to maintain his kingly status and keep his family safe from the other (younger) toms out there. I hope he isn't injured in a fight. I don't think the cats realized that they were gonna be stuck outside when they went through the window today; I saw Big Velvet outside on my front lawn, staring up at the boarded-up bay window in dismay or surprise, as if to say, "Oh, wow! Now how'm I gonna get back inside?" But by the time I got out there, she was gone... PLEASE, God, keep them all safe and bring them back to me! Oh, my poor kitties!!
But then Rufus came screaming 'round the corner from the front hall into the kitchen just as I made it up the last of the cellar steps into the butler's kitchen... There it was again, almost like police banging on the door!
The cat with the biggest belly got the hungriest first! dwl
Have I??
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