The Nine Lives Before

Growing up I always wanted a dog. It never happened. My parents always said it was because we didn't have a big enough yard. It was plenty big - plenty!


My mother (she really was the villain in this whole thing) finally conceded to letting us get a cat. It was a surprise. We drove up to some friend’s house, their boys walked out holding the cat we would affectionately come to call "Speedy". She was a loving tortuous shell that after a few years we found out wasn't so speedy after all. One night she entered the great litter box in the sky at the expense of rubber on asphalt. We were devastated.

Thus was the beginning of a childhood and early adulthood of hurt. Eight feline friends followed her over the years. Not all due to cars, but gone none the less.

Their bios are as follows:

Abby - A cat that was to be a filler of the void Speedy had left. She was obtained at the local shelter. She met her fate so soon after we got her that I don't even remember her personality that much. Although, I do know I didn't like her as much.

Holly and Molly - A sister duo acquired from some friends. As fate would have it Molly was found dead in our driveway on my mom's birthday and 4 days before my sister Katie passes away. My mother never told her. Of course, she was the better natured of the two. Her "pissy kitty" (as I affectionately called her) sister lived with my parents until they moved from New Jersey at which time she was given to some neighbors who had 4 girls that adored her. She lived a full life in cat years and just recently passed away.

Motley - A stray who showed up on our doorstep one day. He was the most handsome of all our cats with very striking black and white markings. He had a chronic case of ear mites that I tried desperately to get rid of. I found him in the grass on the side of the road. Tears came for many days.
Beamer - An orange male that I found sick as a kitten one summer I worked at a horse barn. The barn was full of stray cats and that year many of them were sick. Three weeks prior to me finding him I had found another kitty that was so sick I rushed him to the vet right after I finished my work. To my horror, as I pulled into the parking lot he went into convulsions and died right in front of me. I was traumatized for weeks. Beamer was truly the healer of my heart. A true blessing sent from heaven. You can imagine my profound sadness when I opened a letter from my father on my mission telling me of his death - by car no less.

George and Helaman - two male cats I found while at BYU. George would frequent our apartment and Helaman hung out on a common walking path between the dorms and campus. I captured both of them and put them into my vet tech program where they were neutered, received all their shots, and ate like kings. I wish I had before and after pictures, they could have been used as campaign photos against obesity. Both found their way to my parents after that year. Left with only a garage while we went to South America for two weeks, George was the only one to greet my parents when they returned. We figure Helaman probably got taken my coyotes. We never saw him again. George resided in my parent’s basement until my mom went down to get him one day and found him dead. He had gotten crystals in his urine that created a blockage which left untreated is death.

I have loved all of my animals but George was special. I often wonder if I will ever love another animal as much as I loved him. He always wanted to be with you and would drool all over you with such pleasure when you petted him. He would always sleep with me when I was home and I remember waking up one morning, opening my eyes, and he was literally 2 inches from my face fast asleep. I will always remember that. I don't know that I will ever get over his death. To this day I still cry when I think about him (like as I'm writing this).

Pickle May - She was the first cat of our marriage. She came into the clinic at WSU only a few weeks old and paralyzed in her hind legs. She was really cute but had a fire of a personality. She came to officially live with us after we got back from our honeymoon. Even on two legs she was fast as could be. It would have been fun to see what she could have done on four. While we were away getting things ready for our move to Michigan she had to be put down because she had contracted feline leukemia. We buried her at Dr. K's house when we got back. While we were sad, it was a blessing since she would have taken a lot of care.

So this brings us to our last cat - George II. We got him from the shelter in Michigan not long after we moved there. He was chosen for two reasons. One, he looked very similar to the original George and two, when you rolled him on his back and roughed his belly, he wouldn't bite you. Very important trait in my book. He made the move with us to Missouri and had recently started coming out and sleeping on our bed at night. He wasn't too fond of the dog and basically lived in our basement the first year.

You can imagine our great sadness when he escaped out one of our kitchen windows last Saturday that we didn't notice was missing a screen during a cooking fiasco that required some ventilation. When we finally noticed 2 hours later we searched, called, and tried to bribe him back to us. No luck. There was no sign of him. I was very sad.

During the following days we prayed for him, called for him, put up signs for him, searched the local shelters for him, and left the window open every night for him. I told Greg I hoped for one of two things - that he come back or that we never see him again. I just didn't want to find him dead on the road.

On day five I was beginning to give up hope. However I always felt like no matter what happened, it was o.k. To our great astonishment and relief he showed up in the early morning hours 6 days after leaving. He wasn't even wet. A bit skinny and hungry, but otherwise unscathed. A true miracle if you ask me.

They say a cat has 9 lives. I'd like to think the 9 felines before him had much to do with his return. Looking out for him in some regard, knowing my heart couldn't take it again. His feline ancestry watching over him if you will. But if not that, I know for sure that a loving Heavenly Father was watching over him and was aware of us and our 4 legged friend.

To celebrate his return I decided he needed a new name. He is not the George that preceded him and doesn't need the pressure of trying to be. So I have officially changed his name to "Ingham" - the county name in Michigan where we got him. But then again, maybe it should be "Nine" - it seems to have brought him some luck this time.