Catherine Bussiere: Cats

I don’t know if I ever told you about my two cats
once upon a time about two years ago
after mourning our previous cat, Miche, for a good year
– by the way I use Miche’s pretty face for my profile picture –
my daughter and I embarked on a very short journey to find a cat

It was I believe a Saturday morning when I slyly asked my husband if he would mind having a cat again

there was a time when we had goats and chickens and a dog and several cats
the kids were babies, we were home all the time, we gardened, we did the whole self sufficient thing and it was good
then one by one the pets left or passed away, we ate some chickens and gave a few and we sold our goats
we were all itching to go traveling
my husband and I maybe more then the kids but they didn’t know that then
they hadn’t been bit (by the travel bug)
now they have

When Miche passed away I was devastated
she was the best cat ever
she had been born from one of our cat and picked from the litter to be kept
she was beautiful and smart and was an incredible mouser
she would somehow know when the kids were in distress and would sit between them to elevate tension
Pets do that

After she passed away we thought (my husband thought) this is it, no more pets, freedom to go whenever, where ever, no pet sitter needed

…

So that Saturday morning as I presented my question, there was no definite answer
there was not a clear “no”
That was all I needed
the house, after a year of cat vacancy, was crawling with mice
it’s an old farm house and has plenty of entrance for the little critters
I had two teens still at home, one of them being my daughter, whom I thought could use the love of a cat

My husband was to be gone for a few hours that morning, he was to pick up his sister at the airport
Daughter, I called, let’s go find a cat
On a mission we were
drive, drive, look around
I swear if I had seen a wandering cat I would have snatched it
I was looking for a young female
I wanted a good mouser and didn’t think a Tom would do the job

We drove to Pugwash, the nearest village, and looked around for kitten adds
None were to be found
when you don’t want a cat everyone has kittens to give
of course that day with little time on our hand we couldn’t find any

Pugwash has a vet clinic so we decided to look there
the clinic should have been close but by chance the vet was there
We inquired about a cat and she said that she had two Toms that needed a home
her next door neighbors had moved and left their cats behind
My daughters eyes lit right up
I thought two Toms
of course they were coming together
they had once been separated but the one that had been sent away came back
…sigh…

So off we go to see the cats and of course my daughter falls in love with them
and so home we go with two grown cats, two male grown cats,
and I’m hoping my husband isn’t home yet
and of course he is home yet and not at all impressed with my find

It’s been two years now
Buster the very large, unbelievably soft, most sociable cat
and Charlie, much smaller and reserved
have not only capture everybody’s heart, husband included, but there isn’t a single rodent to be seen around
so there
now I’ll need a cat sitter for next fall
what was I thinking