Saturday, September 18, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

in memory of flossie: an old xanga post

Flossie: A Cautionary Tale

The first thing you will notice about Flossie is that she is fat. You may have seen fatter cats, but only on the front of funny birthday cards with a joke about too much cake. Next you will notice that she is out of proportion. Her head is too small and her tail too short for such a large cat, she was never meant to be this big. She balances her furry rolls on improbably skinny legs. The third thing you will notice is that she is an attractive tortoise shell, as in: "She has such a pretty face!".However, like all of us, Flossie has a story, a past that will help you to understand her better.

Flossie is a foundling. One early July evening, I was out for a stroll when a tiny scrap of fur came skittering in front of me, frantically crying, obviously lost. I did what you do at the sound of an infant cry, I scooped her up, cradling her in one hand. She was that tiny. Her eyes were open, her umbilicus healed, but she surely had a mother somewhere close by. I have to admit my search was feeble. I knocked on a few doors and poked around a nearby office building but no one knew where the kitten belonged. I folded my hands around the bitty thing and held her against my chest for the walk home.

We were relieved when she ate and drank because we weren’t real sure how she would do. She seemed to adjust well with one weird exception. She was adopted by a burgundy colored afghan. We would find her snuggled up to it, kneading it with her paws and nursing! I finally threw it in the corner of the living room so she would know where to find her "mother" whenever she needed her.

Sadly, Flossie’s surrogate mother did not provide her with the emotional support she needed to overcome her early abandonment. Flossie became a floozy. She started hanging out with the neighborhood bad boy, a dirty white tom cat that had obviously been around the block a time or two. We tried to tell her that she was too good for him, but she wouldn’t listen. Late nights of wild animal behavior and before her first birthday she was pregnant.

She carried her kittens well, and had an uneventful pregnancy. Late one night she gave birth to four kittens in Mia’s bed. Mia was in the bed at the time. As surprised as Mia was, no one was more surprised than Flossie. She let out a yowl that seemed to say "Look what just popped out!" Our dog, Riley, who up to this point was Flossie’s best friend, was amazed as well. He went on to become a favorite uncle, but that comes up in another story.

We had the little mother fixed as soon as she had her kittens weaned. Most of the kittens went to a farm where one of her daughters has been the mother of countless litters of kittens. Riley County, Kansas is littered with tortoise shell kittens. Flossie has aged as well as can be expected. A very needy cat, she craves affection as much as Meow Mix. She carries herself with the demeanor of someone who did all her living when she was just young.