17.3.09

A Cat in the Bag

My workplace is surrounded by a Nature Reserve, thus we have all kinds of game and wild animals roaming the area.

One day, at the beginning of May 2008, while waiting for the bus to take us home after work, we heard a strange sound in the tall grass nearby. Searching through the grass and scrub, we found a solitary, tiny, kitten. We could not find any other kittens and also no sign of the mother or her "lair". My cat, at the age of 16, died at the end of the previous year and somehow I felt an instant connection with this kitten. I took it home.

On that day, no-one on the bus believed that it would live, as it was so tiny. And no-one, specifically me, had any inclination of what this kitten would become.

Kitten was named Massey after the Massey Furgeson tractors as it's purring became a deadbeat imitation of the sound that these famous tractors make when idling.

Massey is now approximately 10 months old and rules my house, including Dogmatix, the Wire-haired Jack Russel and Bakkies, the neighbours' Pekinese. At the last weigh-in we had, he weighed just over 5 kilograms.

At one stage we seriously suspected that Massey was one of the many species of African wildcats that roam the Bushveldt. However we soon realised that he was becoming much too big to be a Blackfooted African Wildcat and although he has most of the characteristics of the African Wildcat, his colouring is not quite right. He is probably a crossbreed with a housecat.
Massey does not know that he is a cat. He has never, well since I took him home that day, had any contact with other cats. He adopted my family as his own and he is not at all willing to allow strangers into his inner-circle. When any "stranger" comes to our house, he disappears up onto a shelf or into my bedroom for the duration of their visit. After they have left, he will reappear and carefully investigate the house to make sure they are gone. A firstclass snob!
He is a constant joy to all of us, even to some who are not cat lovers. As one friend remarked: "I don't like cats, but I like this one"

7 comments:

budh.aaah said...

Massey reminds me of the very first cat that lived with us.
After her - we had her in the form of her kids, grand and grand grandkids..But oh I still miss her. She lookes like Massey.
She was one of the most sensitive beings I ever came across. When we cried -we wr lil then - she licked our tears and put her hand ok paw on out arm while meowing softly

Leilani Tresise said...

I love this !!!! special, special!!!

Argent said...

I'm a personal assistant to two cats (you can't honestly say owner, can you?), and love the picture you paint (and the photos, too!).

A human kind of human said...

Argent you are so right. You never own cats, they always own you.... and they can be very demanding bosses.

Scoobyloves2004 said...

I love cats, I found my current kitty when he was about 3 months old. I saw, out of my living room window, a little black blur outside on a 115 degree day. If I hadn't snagged him out from under a car, he might not have made it. He, Putty Tat is now over a year old and bigger than my 7 month old baby girl. He loves all the kids and has a strick daily routine that includes tipping over my water every morning just to wake me up. He brings joy to all of us in some way.

Tim said...

Shame - so sorry to hear that he went missing! I hope he comes home again.

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