Man's Other Best Friend
Since I've been alone so much lately, it was
nice to come home from my recent road trip to
someone truly happy to see me. It couldn't have
been more obvious. She sat on my lap for hours,
purring like a Mercedes, as I caught up on my mail
(paper and electronic). For those of you who
haven't had the pleasure of meeting her, I'm
talking about my beautiful black cat Europa.
She came to me quite randomly, on my birthday
back in 1997. The day before my birthday,
Michelle's dog Bacina broke into our roommate's
stash of chocolate chip cookies, eating 12 of them
before giving up. Needless to say, the dog spent
the night locked in the bathroom, vomiting... and
doing other, messier things. By the morning, she
hadn't shown much sign of improvement, so we
decided to take her to the vet. She ended up
needing nothing more than a rehydration I.V.
While Michelle and I waited for her to be
checked out, a couple suddenly entered the vet's
office, carrying a tiny ball of black fur. They had
apparently found a day-old, orphaned kitten in the
bushes near their house, and didn't know what to do
with it. We overheard the vet volunteering to take
it off their hands, but confessing that he'd have
to put it to sleep, since the facility lacked the
manpower to raise the baby.
That was all we needed to hear. Soon, we were on
our way home with a dog on the mend—and a
newborn kitten, my birthday present. I spent the
next couple of months feeding the cat at all hours
of the day and night with a little eyedropper
bottle. Soon, she was rolling around all by
herself, having as much fun as any kitten. It was
quite an experience.
It's often said that when animals abandon their
young, there's a reason—the animal knows
something's wrong. I have to say, there are moments
when I wonder if there's a brain in Europa's tiny
little head. But I've never known a cat to be as
loveable and affectionate and fond of humans as she
is. And entertaining: give her a bag, a box, a
suitcase, anything she can climb into, and she'll
entertain herself—and you— for hours.
Living alone as I now do, I feel luckier than ever
that she found me.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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