CAT TALES

While the Laird was in the hospital doing battle, Mr. FOG was on a Chemo Treatment Holiday at his Asheville home.  Mr. FOG had heard Chemo treatment # 3 had been the worst yet and was expecting cancer war carnage.  When he reported back to Vinings Mountain Castle on Monday evening, surprisingly, all seemed well.  Apparently clever Mr. FOG timed his days off well, missing most of the Chemo treatment aftermath.  All seemed near normal.. Mr. FOG returned to scene of domestic tranquility with the Laird and Nurse Sherry in bed watching TV. 

FOG can report that the Laird's blood work on Monday morning was actually good, with both white and red blood cells at about normal levels.  The Cancer Weight Loss Program is also working well, with Laird having lost about 25 pounds so far, although malnutrition needs to be avoided.  As Maid of the Mist reported,  escaping the hospital and being back home in his own bed also may have helped, and the Laird was in good spirits.   Hopefully Mr. FOG's luck will hold for the rest of the Chemo #3 recovery week.

Not having any significant Cancer War news that would win Mr. FOG a Blogger Pulitzer, he decided to share a human interest story.  Well actually a feline interest story, which he penned Cat Tales.

The Cat Circa Spring 2011

A Found Cat  February 2011, upon his return from wintering in Florida, Mr. FOG found a stray cat at his doorstep asking for a little help.  She was a small, skinny female tortoise shell cat.  Almost just skin and bones, there were some very ugly lesions in the inside of her left leg, and her fur was scraggly and thin.  The cat was very affectionate and friendly, wanting caresses almost more than food.   Meow is like aloha - it can mean anything. - Hank Ketchum

 Surely she must have had a nice loving home once.  Mr. FOG surmised that someone moved away and turned the cat out.  Some of us love our pets but then discard them as old worn shirt no longer fashionable.  People can be so cruel to the animals they love.  In any event, Mr. FOG had a homeless, sick cat on his porch.  What was he to do??? How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. - Robert A. Heinlein

Mr.  FOG did not want the responsibilities that go with having a pet.  Cats as well people, bring joy to our lives, but also responsibilities and possibly pain.  Mr.   FOG wants his life unencumbered, to be as free as the wind and do what he pleases.  A cat could fit into his life, but only when he was at home, and Mr. FOG likes to travel.   However, unable to be heartless toward the animal, he kept feeding the cat, which was almost the same as accepting it as a pet.    As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat. - Ellen Perry Berkeley

Vampire Cat

Ugly Cat  Not wanting to become too attached to the cat, Mr. FOG had not given her name, but called her Ugly Cat.Really more of a description than a name, and he meant no insult. However, in doing research for this blog, Mr. FOG discovered that he really may have done Ugly Cat an injustice. Pictures from an ugly cat website, show that in comparison Mr. FOG's cat should be called Pretty Cat. 

Probably Won't Look Much Better When Dry

Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well. - Missy Dizick  --Disclaimer, Mr. FOG's cat is honest, trustworthy and honest; or at least she appears to be.  Could she be fooling Mr. FOG?

Bad Hair Day Cat

The cat was fed but stayed outside on the back porch. Sleeping on towels placed on a chair.  She was better off than she had been.  He thought about taking her to an animal  shelter, but it is a misnomer to call these places shelters. The lucky   animals get a home. The unlucky ones get a death sentence.Mr. FOG thought that if given to shelter, no one would adopt an ugly cat and with her leg lesions; surely it would be the gas chamber for her. He thought of Auschwitz.

At the Animal Hospital  Mr. Fog knew enough about cats that he did not want the kittens that often accompany a female cat, and decided he had to her spaded.  Having no carrier, he used two found milk crates bound together to form a cage of sorts.  When he arrived at the shelter, all the other cats came in nice carriers. “Poor White Trash” and Redneck, flashed though Mr. FOG’s mind, but he dismissed this thought quickly.  At this stage in his life, FOG does what he pleases and he is not supposed to care what others think.  Following a Machiavellian train of thought, it you allow others to burden you with their petty opinions,  you are surrendering some control of yourself to them.

Ugly Cat, and apparently most cats, have read the Prince (Il Principe) and did not seem to care what others thought of the carrier.  Hospital staff said. they had not seen milk crates used as pet carrier before. It seemed like a compliment. There was however, a warning on the milk crates that un-authorized use was against the law.  Mr. FOG ignored this.  If asked by police, he decided to say it is the cat's milk crates, since she was using them, not he.

When filling the sign in sheet at the animal hospital, Mr. FOG noted that all the other cats had pretty names, such as Willow, Fluffy, Tigger or Cinnamon.    Not wanting to say that Ugly Cat was her name, Mr. FOG told the staff that she was a stray cat he had befriended.  The staff quickly entered “Stray” as the cat’s name. Stray was better than Ugly Cat, Fog thought.  Besides, cats do not care what they are called. They care about food, having a warm and dry place to sleep, and affection.   Besides Mr. FOG’s actions spoke more loudly than his words.  He was being kind to Ugly Cat no matter what he called her.

The animal hospital called Mr. FOG soon after he returned home, asking him to come back and pick up Ugly Cat since they could not operate. It seems that Ugly Cat, now also known as Stray, was not a young cat, but already 10 to 12 years old and had been already spaded. This was discovered when hospital staff shaved her belly and saw the scar. At least the poor cat did not have to have an unnecessary operation as many Medicare patients do. Mr. FOG was refunded the operation fee, gave the animal hospital a generous donation and went home with Stray Ugly Cat. She did receive a rabies vaccine for her trouble.

Mother's Dead Cat   Upon leaving the animal hospital, Mr. FOG remembered caring for his mother’s cat, after his mother passed away.   Although the relationship began sourly; cat and FOG grew close with time.  When the cat was sick and likely dying Mr. FOG refused to go on business trip.  Superiors and business associates thought it odd.   The morning Mr. FOG was to leave on the business trip the cat died.  She was faithful to Mr. FOG until the end, following Mr. FOG around the house as best she could even as she was very weak and dying.  Her name was Blackie and she lived about 22 years, which is long for a cat.  Lord Mario, Sir Phillip of Country Place and Lady Nicole may remember Mr. FOG’s mother, Doña Olimpia  sheltering the pregnant mother cat who gave birth to the kittens which the children named Snowball, Smoky, Blackie. 

Cat's New Life  The cat is friendly with the neighbors. She visits the house of a neighbor who once drew the symbol of a triangle in a circle on the cat's collar tag.  Since it was not a pentagram in a circle, Mr. FOG did not think it was witchcraft.  He found out that a triangle in a circle is an Alcoholic Anonymous symbol, so he surmised that the neighbor is a reformed alcoholic, although the neighbor may have been drunk when drawing the symbol on the cat’s collar and not fully recovered.  The neighbor sometimes takes the cat in at night. Cats know how to obtain food without labor, shelter without confinement, and love without penalties. - W. L. George

 



The Sobriety Circle & Triangle Symbol, is the symbol used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The equilateral triangle represents the three part answer - unity, recovery and service - to a three part disease - physical, mental and spiritual, while the circle represents wholeness or oneness.
 

Heated Cat House

There are also other houses, more main stream, that help take care of the cat while Mr. FOG is away. She seems to have as many names as the houses she visits.  So far she responds to Stray, Ugly Cat, Sneakers, Pfeiffer and probably Vodka.  She was an outdoor cat for sometime and continues to be.  Coming inside as she wants to from time to time, but not staying long.. She has a cat house on Mr. FOG’s back porch which is heated by heating pads.  A very warm, cozy home on the cold nights that no one lets her in.  

It has been a about a year ago since she showed up on the porch and things have worked out. Mr. FOG cured the cat’s leg lesions and with better food, her coat looks nice. She is almost pretty and no longer called Ugly Cat by Mr., FOG except when remembering when she first showed up on his porch.  For sure Ugly Cat has her own affectionate pet names for Mr. FOG. As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind. - Cleveland Amory .

"Ugly" Pretty Cat Today

As the fog lifts:  Mr. FOG chose to share this story for his self-therapy and whatever entertainment value it may have for others; and on the cancer battle front, this is an example of the will to survive.  Well, a cat’s will to survive. 

A little cat weighing perhaps 5 pounds, survived for probably several months in winter’s cold with only handouts and unknown hardships before she found someone who would take her in, well at least let her stay on the back porch, and give her love, food, and help cure her leg.  Somehow she lost her nice home, but in time found another where she is loved and is healthy and happy again.  Surely the human spirit is no weaker than a cat's.  People through no fault of their own get cancer, but hopefully, with treatment, a strong will to survive, and help from the Above; they get better.  Although sometimes we go through some very hard times, there is always hope.

Pet Charity  Gentle readers consider following the link below  to Furkids, a no kill shelter in Georgia that Mr. FOG supports. It is a remarkable story of how one woman was able to start this worthwhile organization helping creatures that otherwise would likely die.  Perhaps you can help support their work.  They also have a thrift store and have joined forces with small dogs to help them as well.  If dogs and cats can get along, why not humans??   
http://www.furkids.org/