Monday, January 14, 2008

The Amazing Mr. Hemingway Halter


When I initiated Cat Month, I thought (based on my evil kitty) "what could people possibly share about their cats?" You're all proving me foolish, as does Pam's cat Hemmy. Read on and enjoy! He is a remarkable cat, though, based on his wild-eyed photo in the tree, I'm not sure I'd want to be walking past him in that moment!


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Hemingway (better known as Hemmy) is a multi-toed, American short hair. Ernest Hemingway loved multi-toed cats, hence the name for our kitty. He is 4 years old, has huge paws (called mittens) with 6 toes on the front and the rare 5 toes on the back. He thinks he's king of the house. We got him for our daughter, Mary . . . my hubby, Daryl, and I were in the pet store with the intention of getting a couple of hamsters for Mary. I had my arms full of hamster paraphernalia when Daryl sticks his head around the corner and says, "Hey, you gotta some and see these kittens!" I thought, well, we're not getting a hamster today, and I put the stuff back on the shelves. Sure enough, there was a fiesty kitten who seemed to love us. We bought him.

Hemmy knows he's Mary's cat. She can do anything to him and he'll just lay there. The rest of us, he bites.

He likes to play hide & seek with her. It has to be seen to be appreciated. He eats fruit and peanut butter. He trots behind us when we walk.

He's a great hunter, even capturing and killing squirrels. But his favorite treat is a praying mantis. He shows up on the porch every summer with several. I try to tell him they are protected and we'd get fined if he was caught . . . but that doesn't seem to bother him.

Hemmy really loves the Christmas tree. But he doesn't want ornaments. He will knock off anything we hang on the branches. It's pretty funny. So, we have a wildlife theme for our tree. Two cats . . . because our other cat loves the tree, too, although Hemmy is king of the tree and our other kitty must stay in the lower branches.

The most astounding thing Hemmy has done was to take Mary's cell phone in his big paws and manage to take a picture of himself. We laughed and laughed. None of Mary's friends believe he did it.

When we lost another kitty, Dusty, 2 years ago, Hemmy grieved deeply with me. For the first four days after we buried Dusty in the back yard, Hemmy sat on the grave. When I wept, Hemmy laid with me. He walked the house and called for the longest time. I believe he still misses Dusty. I know I do.

He is loyal to a fault to Mary. He loves her and provides a safe, comforting place for her when troubled.

We all grieve when we lose a pet. Then we go out and get another one, knowing we will go through it all again. One time, while kneeing and weeping at another cat's grave, I asked this out loud. Why do we do it? Daryl said, in the beginning, God gave man dominion over the animals ... to care for them ... he believes that's why most of us have an almost inborn desire to have some kind of pet. An interesting thought, don't you think?
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1 comment:

Kay Day said...

I had a cat who climbed my Christmas tree. But he managed to do it without disturbing a thing!
I love those multi-toed ones, too!