Rhino’s Ramblings - Katie The Wondercat
By Robert Thomas OpinionCommentary
This is a story about a cat. But not just any cat. A Wondercat if you like.
It’s a story about a grey tabbie cat and how she ended up at my house close to 14 years ago.
Katie was a cat that belonged to one of my daughter’s school friends.
Her friend was moving from a house to an apartment and couldn’t take the cat with them. So the cat needed to be re-homed otherwise it was off to the Humane Society and back in those days it meant euthanasia for many cats.
“Please dad can we keep the cat for three months otherwise they’ll kill it,” my daughter pleaded.
So I gave in and the cat moved in.
Well to make a long story short three months turned into a year, then two years and then 14 years.
Katie the Wondercat
“What can I name it?” my daughter asked.
I told her anything but Kitty as I remembered that was the number one name for a cat in the US. Never in my house.
Two days later the daughter proudly announced the cat’s name is Katie.
It’s something she laughed about knowing she had me. I was outmanoeuvred by a ten year old smart Alec.
Like so many childhood pets when my daughter moved out I inherited Katie.
And no I’m not a cat dat, cat mom or cat whatever people say. I’m just a roommate for a grey tabby cat.
Sorry Katie the Wondercat.
Katie is a cat that likes her food. If she doesn’t get it or she’s teased her common response isn’t scratching it’s biting.
Not to strangers just to me.
I’ve been bitten for umpteen dozen reasons - fight for bed space, teasing, not giving treats, accidentally stepping on her tail. You know everyday stuff.
But still she’s OK.
A few years after my daughter left my health began to slip. The best way to describe it in simple language is my heart is shot.
Both bottom ventricles are full of plaque. My blood pressure is lower because my heart cannot compress like most people’s hearts.
If I walked straight up the 12 stairs from the basement when I got to the top I fell asleep for two to three hours. I just slept on the porch floor I never made it to my chair let alone the bed.
A medical professional once told me I was likely to pass away from heart disease in the next three months.
Another told me to “make peace with god.”
Quite homestly I’d given up.
I made a deal with someone to give them half of my life insurance if they looked after Katie when I passed on.
I even ordered up the MAID documents if it looked like I was headed for a major care home situation.
I announced the closure of MJ Independent. Something I’d done before due to medical concerns.
My affairs seemed in order.
But in reality they weren’t.
I personally thought everything was great until someone told me they heard my “friend” had planned to put Katie down soon after I passed and then pocket the cash.
I felt horrible.
Katie the Wondercat is more than just a cat it’s more than her biting.
It’s about her never leaving the yard unless it’s to follow me down the street to get the mail.
It’s about sitting on the deck taking in the sun.
It’s about purring and being petted.
She insists no door in the house is ever shut. Hates water but sleeps in the dry bathtub.
She likes to go out on the back deck and look up at the stars for hours.
Just a common everyday tabby Wondercat.
One day I felt a bad pain in my chest and laid down on the bed. I was awakened by a sharp series of bites.
In my awake dream state I thought maybe what I read was true and that I was dead and Katie the Wondercat was eating me.
Then I thought maybe I was in hell and Katie was going to bite me for eternity because I let her be euthanized.
Then I woke up. It was two days later. Katie had been biting me because she was out of food.
So I got up and fed her.
It turned into a daily affair.
Purring, meowing and that look backed up with a good bite got me out of bed.
I remember thinking I’ve got to get out of bed and feed that fucking cat.
It quite literally was if I died she would die of hunger that is after taking a few weeks of consuming me.
Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months as I got up to feed Katie.
I got up with a purpose or at least the threat of a good bite and started taking my medication at the same time as she ate I will be honest.
In a roundabout way my health improved because I had a reason to get up and not give up.
I went from taking 20 minutes to walk upstairs from the basement to just over a minute.
And that’s it in a nutshell the story of an everyday grey tabby cat that was only suppose to stay for three months to escape being euthanized and ended up finding a forever home.