The Legend of Snagglepuss
Today I am a cat lady. Though, all my life I have had all kinds of pets.
In years past, during my married years, we were owned by a cat named Snagglepuss. Approximately 27 years ago, I was working for a vet and married to a Doctor. I got pregnant and quit working at the vet clinic to be safe.
Our first ownership as a couple, was by a lovely tom named Whiskers and a queen named Boo. Both were catered to, during our early married years, as though they were children. We moved to a cul de sac neighborhood and I got pregnant.
Whiskers politely brought me a battered kitten during my 9th month which happened to be the coldest day in November. I was in no state to allow the kitten to fend for itself and promptly attempted to clean it up and then walked the neighborhood to locate its owner. Of course, it did not have an owner now. The kitten was born without eyelids and had developed serious eye infections. I contacted the vet I had worked for and asked for help. He was developing his skills in the cat eye area and was kind enough to work on this kitten. He called a another vet friend and through cosmetic surgery they created eyelids for this kitten and told me that she would always have problems and need artificial tears.
Fast forward a decade. Snagglepuss has survived and although she is mostly blind, rules the neighborhood. On a sparkling early summer day, the husband gets into the Explorer to go to work and promptly comes running back into the house panicking. It seems that Snagglepuss has been in his car and all that he can now find is her lovely feather boa style tail lying in the middle of his spot in the garage. I send him on to work and tuck my gown into my jeans and go off on the hunt for the crazed kitty.
She is located intact except for the tail under a stack of firewood. She comes right out to me and I scoop her up in a towel and run her to the vet's office convinced that she must be dying. He examines her and requests that I retrieve her tail. The tail has been dropped in the trash. I didn't really think she would be using it again.
I dashed back home to retrieve the tail, arriving just as the trash collector has lifted the lid. I grabbed the tail, hopped back into the car and drove off. I am not sure what he was thinking as I left!
The vet examines the tail and pronounces Snagglepuss to be structurally intact with no loss of nerves to anything vital other than her tail. She spends the day and night with the vet and returns home only a bit worse for wear. Every effort to make her an indoor cat was thwarted by her. She enjoyed being outdoors and made it outside at every opportunity. Eventually, we gave in and left it to Mother Nature to take care of her.
At 18 years old, we relinquished our care and Snagglepuss left to stay permanently with Mother Nature.
In years past, during my married years, we were owned by a cat named Snagglepuss. Approximately 27 years ago, I was working for a vet and married to a Doctor. I got pregnant and quit working at the vet clinic to be safe.
Our first ownership as a couple, was by a lovely tom named Whiskers and a queen named Boo. Both were catered to, during our early married years, as though they were children. We moved to a cul de sac neighborhood and I got pregnant.
Whiskers politely brought me a battered kitten during my 9th month which happened to be the coldest day in November. I was in no state to allow the kitten to fend for itself and promptly attempted to clean it up and then walked the neighborhood to locate its owner. Of course, it did not have an owner now. The kitten was born without eyelids and had developed serious eye infections. I contacted the vet I had worked for and asked for help. He was developing his skills in the cat eye area and was kind enough to work on this kitten. He called a another vet friend and through cosmetic surgery they created eyelids for this kitten and told me that she would always have problems and need artificial tears.
Fast forward a decade. Snagglepuss has survived and although she is mostly blind, rules the neighborhood. On a sparkling early summer day, the husband gets into the Explorer to go to work and promptly comes running back into the house panicking. It seems that Snagglepuss has been in his car and all that he can now find is her lovely feather boa style tail lying in the middle of his spot in the garage. I send him on to work and tuck my gown into my jeans and go off on the hunt for the crazed kitty.
She is located intact except for the tail under a stack of firewood. She comes right out to me and I scoop her up in a towel and run her to the vet's office convinced that she must be dying. He examines her and requests that I retrieve her tail. The tail has been dropped in the trash. I didn't really think she would be using it again.
I dashed back home to retrieve the tail, arriving just as the trash collector has lifted the lid. I grabbed the tail, hopped back into the car and drove off. I am not sure what he was thinking as I left!
The vet examines the tail and pronounces Snagglepuss to be structurally intact with no loss of nerves to anything vital other than her tail. She spends the day and night with the vet and returns home only a bit worse for wear. Every effort to make her an indoor cat was thwarted by her. She enjoyed being outdoors and made it outside at every opportunity. Eventually, we gave in and left it to Mother Nature to take care of her.
At 18 years old, we relinquished our care and Snagglepuss left to stay permanently with Mother Nature.
posted by dgolden at
8:53 AM
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