SWEET KITTY Morning

As I sat and drank my morning coffee, I began to think of how blessed we are to have our animals. We have three and today I would like to tell you about our cat Sweet Kitty. We've had her for 3 years now. She was found in the snow and was very thin. They brought her to a foster home on a farm with many other animals and she lived in the barn with the others in a very loving place.

I had been thinking, as I always do, about getting a cat, a thought that would just reappear for weeks and months. At the time we had two dogs and I wasn't sure we could handle another animal or that my husband would go for it but I found myself looking at shelters on the net, something I just couldn't help. One day I went to the post office and there was a picture of a cat in our local animal rescue publication. There she was. I was drawn to her face and I had to find out about her. I called, we met, we fell in love.

I was told that she really needed a home where she could get more personal attention and I knew we could do that. She was adopted and melded into our home which she knew was hers now. The very first night she nestled with joy into her own bed as I laid with my face next to hers welcoming her home. I know she felt my happiness and I felt her joy.

The next couple of months were a challenge for us both getting to know each other. I've never had a cat quite like her and she was truly a sweet kitty as they had named her at the shelter. But, she also had issues and had to adapt to new rules. Thankfully I love to work with animals but I have to admit she is a cat with a mind of her own, as cats are known to be, and she had issues as a result of her early life. She still doesn't like to be held too much but loves to come and lay on my legs and sit near me or lay behind me on the back of the couch or walk right in front of the computer to get me to notice her. My husband works near a window that she likes and as she sits there she bounces her tail up and down on his keyboard. He lovingly allows this for a while. She will sit with him and watch hockey and likes to bat at the Yorky who sits on the other side of the couch sometimes and of whom she is rather jealous. They are friends though and play with each other. We have many window sills for her to look out at and she loves this. We like to look out the window together. Of course, being a cat, she sees and hears so much more than I ever could but I love the comradship of two friends sharing something they enjoy together.

Here are some interesting things that Sweet Kitty does and I wonder if there other people out there whose cats do the same thing, such as: I don't know how this got started but she has trained us to stand by her when she eats in the morning - I think this is a comforting thing, that it makes her feel safe, another thing she does only happens when she goes to the water bowl that isn't in the kitchen and she meows in a way that sounds like a baby talking. She has brought birds to the door, as all cats do, but I can not congratulate her for that as I love birds but I don't scold her either.

She is both an indoor and outdoor cat and loves to climb the trees in the yard and the limbs that we put on the porch to hang plants on. I always know when she wants in because she sits at the glass door with her little face peering in and waits for us to open it. Being outdoorsy people the door is often open when not too cold for the fresh air that can't be beat so between the three animals and me and my husband there is a good bit of traffic throughout the day.