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| Hiya! I am Oliver Twist, and my story is a bit complicated. You see, Comet, Toby and Sky are my cousins...(though I like to call Comet my Uncle. Unca Comet is my Hero!) I'm the baby! Gotta love me! Well...we don't count that furry dog-thing. I AM THE BABY! After mom came and caught Sky, the old cat-lady fell, and her family had her put into a home. They say they caught the momma cat and put her and her kittens out at a farm, but momma cat's two sisters (longhaired calicos) were far too wild and would only sneak into the porch through the window for food when no one was around. The old lady's family were going back and forth from the house, squabbling over all her things. It was Winter, and there were snowstorms almost every day, and the poor cats didn't get much shelter or food. My human mom would sneak over at night when everyone had left and put down food and warm water for the cats, but then one of the daughters moved into the house and shut the porch window! The poor cats would huddle together against the door with snow blowing over them, and some nights it got down to 40 below! Mom tried to talk to the woman in the house about the cats, but she wouldn't listen, and when mom called the Humane Society, the woman said she had no idea where the cats came from. They were far too frightened to be trapped or lured away from the only home they had known After a while the cats split up and tried to find new homes under nearby trailers and garages. From time to time one would be seen raiding a garbage can and looking pretty rough. In the Spring they got pregnant. My human mom found where one of the cats was living, and when she disappeared suddenly, mom trapped her two 12 week old kittens and got them out to a friends farm. A few weeks later mom heard that the other cat had been killed, leaving 5 kittens who were about 4 weeks old. We had been living on raspberries for 2 weeks. She came out to trap us but only found 3 kittens and we were pretty sick. I went into the trap first, but in my panic I squeezed out through the wire on one end of the trap before she could reach me! It was a makeshift home-made trap so mom sat out in the long grass in the rain for hours a day, holding a rope that would close the trap door....but it was almost 2 weeks before we risked going into that trap again. Of course she left the food for us near a tree when she went home each evening. Eventually we were caught, but we were terrified and wild and sick. She put us in a small, warm room with things we could hide under, and every day she would come in and catch each of us in turn and feed and groom us. My brother, Robin, was pretty sick, but he began to get better and she eventually gave him and my other brother, Christopher to some friends. She didn't know that being so long with only fruit to eat when we were so tiny gave us brittle bones, and one day I broke my femur right where the ball sits in the hip socket. The ball joint was removed and it took me a long time to heal and form the callus that was to be my new hip joint. A while later one of my brothers broke the same leg in the same place. I am fine now, but some days I limp a bit and I lie down funny. Mom says I milk it for all it is worth...but I'm the baby! Gotta love me...I have a brokey leg! I adore my Unca Comet and do everything he does. Mom says why couldn't I have picked Toby who at least has some brains, but Unca Comet is so big and strong and we do such neat things together. When mum brought a puppy home I packed my bags and hid for two weeks, but you can't hide forever, and mom says that I will always be the baby....no matter what. Besides...I am a whole lot cuter...and if he messes with me I will just tell my Unca Comet! |
| Footnote: Dear Oliver developed some problems stemming from the broken Femur. The callus head at the top of his femur had developed calcium deposits and several had broken off. Also, due to his leg being shorter than the other, and having spent years walking with the knee joint much straighter than it should be, he developed Patellar Luxation (see Sophie's page) which is unusual in cats. Some days he seemed to be twisting the leg dreadfully, but on days when he felt well, he raced around chasing the girls and leaping about, thus making the leg worse later. Arthritis was also setting into both the hip and knee. |
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| 1997-2007 |
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