Yesterday was national cat day so in honor of that
here is a story about my tough little kitty...
His name is Nemo he was a stray that my Dad spotted
on the side of a back country road called "Rice Candle" (notorious
for animal dumps) when I was in eighth grade. Nemo along with two other kittens
were abandoned in a ditch. At the time we were living on the farm in Spanaway,
which was thirty acres, so three more barn cats was no problem for us. Out of
the three kittens Nemo was the only one who survived the other two were sick
and passed away. Eventually when Nemo was old enough we let him out of the
grain room where we raised the kittens and let him roam the farm to keep mice
out of our barn. Nemo lived on the farm for about eleven years. He is a tough cat!
I am pretty sure he has had some run-ins with wild animals whether that is
other stray cats, raccoons, or coyotes. He has a little nick on his ear and
well he looks a little scruffy in his old age of twelve.
When my parents moved from the farm to their new
home, they were not able to catch Nemo. So one night Paul and I drove out to
Spanaway and I walked into the abandoned barn which was pretty traumatizing it
really hurt to walk through the barn empty, cold, and dark. Out of the darkness
though as I called his name I heard a little meow and then saw Nemo’s little
white face as he trotted up to me. He let me pick him up and sat on my lap as
Paul and I drove back to Tacoma wondering what the heck we were going to do
with this raggedy little animal.
Well it has been two years now and Nemo is doing
great!!! We had a few fiascos with him, where he had to have all of his teeth
removed because of a disease called stomatitis. Now he is happy, healthy, and a
little ray of sunshine, he is a reminder of my home, which I desperately
needed.
I always thought that when I left the farm, I would adopt some “stylish”
pet and stop ending up with strays but I guess that’s just who I am. I love my
old tabby cat and I am so glad that God put him in my life. Nemo never has to
go outside unless he wants to, sleeps pretty much all day, and has very expensive
organic cat food, and well his little life I'd say has improved tremendously. I
know Nemo has been through a lot in his little kitty life, therefore Paul and I
have given him the full name of Nemo Mountain
Lion Miller.
P.S. not everyone is lucky enough to just stumble upon an amazing cat on the side of the road. Here is a link to the Seattle Humane Society where there are tons of cute kittys waiting to be loved like Nemo... adopt a kitty
