19+ years ago, a 6 month old Tabby cat was dropped off in our neighborhood. Since the person who had her didn’t want her, she was left on her own to find herself another home. She worked her way from house to house trying to coax someone along the way to take her in. No luck. Finally, she found shelter under our backyard deck - but we didn’t want a cat, because we just weren’t “cat people”. She really seemed to be a sweet kitty – she greeted us when we opened the back door and she loved to sit on the deck post outside our dining room window, hoping to be invited inside. It was a nice try, but we didn’t invite her in because we just weren’t “cat people”. She was great with the kids and they loved playing with her in the yard. When we whistled for her, she always came running – almost like a dog and she purred constantly. We thought she was really cute - but we really didn’t want a cat because we just weren’t “cat people”.
One rainy day, I had been out shopping and when I returned I found this little tabby cat sitting on a towel in Terry’s favorite chair in our family room. I was shocked – because we really weren’t “cat people”. I couldn’t imagine how she made her way into our home. Well, it just so happened that during the rainstorm, she positioned herself in her usual spot on the deck post and with her ears dripping with water managed to get Terry’s attention as he walked through the kitchen. He said that she looked so pathetic that he just had to let her inside. He dried her off and let her sit in his chair until the rain stopped. It was the “humane” thing to do…just until the rain stopped.
I have a wonderful aunt who loves animals. She and my uncle live in the country and they always offer shelter to an animal in need. We decided to ask Janice if she would take in this sweet little kitten. We knew she needed a home, but we couldn’t offer that to her because we just really weren’t “cat people”. Of course Janice agreed so I bought a pet carrier and we made plans to drive her to her new home in Rockford (about 3 hours away). As I was preparing to leave Terry said “Are you sure you want to do this?” We discussed it and decided that we would take her to the vet to see if she was healthy and if she was we would offer her a home. She was healthy so we kept her. We decided to name her Purdy because she was always purring. We weren’t sure it would work out, however, because we just really weren’t “cat people”.
That was 19+ years ago. In those 19 years we discovered that a rescued cat becomes a life-long loyal and faithful companion. We discovered that cats smile by squinting their eyes while they’re purring, they express affection by “kneading” you with their paws, they always “greet” you with a meow when you enter a room and expect a reply, they love to snuggle, they love to be petted and scratched and brushed, they get excited about a “Fancy Feast” meal as special treat every once in a while, they bring you presents (dead birds, rabbits, mice, etc.) and leave them by the back door and they really do have nine lives. Purdy was an inside-outside cat. We tried to make her an inside cat, but it just didn’t work out. She HAD to go outside. In the process, she used up several of her nine lives – but each time she made her way home and back to Terry’s favorite chair to heal her wounds. According to the Internet, Purdy was 98 years old in human years but you’d never know it. I only hope that when I’m 98 years old I can still climb up a post to our second story deck and back down again!
On Easter Sunday Purdy died. She hadn’t been doing well for about a week and we knew she wouldn’t be getting better. Finally she decided she didn’t want to eat or drink any more – a sign that she had given up. We kept a vigil beside her – trying to offer her just a tiny bit of the loyalty and friendship she had given us for the past 19+ years. We just had no idea how much we would miss her – because you see – I guess we really are “cat people” after all.
