Miss Mimi

Miss Mimi is a kitten. Her long Persian fur is cream color with dark brown points. Her eyes are blue. She has “come to my house to stay while I wash the cups and saucers and brush the crumbs away.” * Thanks to the Hope Volunteer group, she has been vetted and is ready to be a house cat after being rescued from a degrading future life on the streets, starvation or getting killed by a car.

Miss Mimi is one of 4 kittens born to a calico cat hardly out of kitten hood herself. One day the mother cat appeared in the apartment parking lot during rainy weather and took refuge as best she could. She was obviously in a ‘family way’. Her cries of hunger brought results when ‘B’, a tenant who owned a beautiful dark brown Siamese, took pity on her and put food out for her. Personally, I thought the animal control people should be notified but softer hearts prevailed. Even the landlord thought keeping her around the place to ward off rats and mice was a good idea. ‘B’ named her Suzie Q.

When the kittens, 3 cream colored and 1 black, made their appearance, tenants discussed the future of the mother and the babies. It was decided that spaying was a priority. ‘B’ researched the whys and wherefores and discovered that the Hope Agency would vet the mother and kittens free of charge. I was one of the tenants that chose to adopt a kitten and I chose the alpha female.

Having a pet cat that uses a litter box is a new experience for me. The cats I’ve known have all been indoor/outdoor cats. During the years Dad worked repairing antiques in his wood shop, he often adopted a stray cat that would become his special pet. They would ride on his shoulder half curled around the back of his neck and purr while Dad went about his work.

Miss Mimi has been a house cat for two days and is adjusting nicely to the apartment. Her natural curiosity is leading her to new discoveries. Gone are the trees, shrubs, grass, pavement, bricks and dirt under the building where she hid with the other kittens when people came too close. Now she walks on carpet, is surrounded by television pictures, telephone rings, on and off electric light, pillow cushions, window ledges, and secret dark hiding places behind doors and in closets and most important of all, a litter box. No more little insects to taste or chameleons to catch. Now it’s a ball of yarn, catnip and lots and lots of petting. Time will tell if I own a cat, or if a cat owns me.


* From the poem, Little Orphan Annie by James Whitmore Riley which can be read at the following address: http://www.judyn.trest.com/OrphanAnnie.html