Mar 04 2009
Catastrophe
I have been neglecting to mention on of the most interesting characters on the farm. Her name is Catastrophe.
Catastrophe has been with us for nearly 10 years now and she’s probably between 11-13 years old. She was originally supposed to be our barn cat. She got her name because she showed up as a stray and within a week her arrival was a catastrophe to the local mouse population in our barn.
Catastrophe finally wormed her way into the house and demands all the attention she can get from her servant who is my hunny Keith. Catastrophe earns her keep out side keeping the mice at bay, and demands her spot at the foot of the bed as payment.
Every farm should always have at least one good mouser and this Catastrophe will be quite difficult to ever replace.
Farm cats are essential!
A couple of summers ago, I spent several days stretched out on my side in the parking lot next door to the apartment complex wooing a little black feral kitty out of the bushes (I found out later that people in the apartment complex thought I was on drugs or drunk and passed out every evening out there…LOL!) Eventually, she agreed to come upstairs with me. Her name is Rangey Lil because she’s such a flirt. She’s a small, narrow, intense, murderous person and while she was glad to have a home again, the studio apartment was obviously not big enough for that personality.
My dearest friend, who is boarding my livestock, had a mouse problem out at her place. Some neighbors provided her with some barn cats, but that didn’t solve the problem in the house. I spent so much time out there last summer that I brought my kitty out with me…and she is a hunter-killer kitty supreme! She eats all but the mouse butts; those she leaves under the corner of the bed, no matter where she catches the mouse.
Here’s the kicker—she’s front declawed! Yes, someone mutilated that young cat and then abandoned her in the bushes when they moved. Found kitty posters and ads got no responses for weeks. They probably moved to someplace that doesn’t allow pets.
More fools they! Lil Cat is an important household member who does an indispensable job. Besides—she owns me. Fortunately, I’m a biddable cat slave.