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I'm not a cat person! My mom was chased by a rabid cat that lunged at her just as she slammed the screen door of the old home place. A traumatic memory of claws hanging in the mesh with both the mangy critter and the child screaming to high heaven for help foreshadowed a perpetuated fear and disgust of all felines.
Early in our marriage, Gene and I moved to Fuquay Varina in a "hand's" house in the middle of a dairy farm. The peaceful rural setting coupled with Green Acres comedy at times. Once, while I was enjoying a cool breeze from an opened bedroom window, I turned to see that a cow was critiquing my decorating skills. I screamed, she bumped her head, and both of us wheeled around in a burst of surprise.
The farm, loaded with all types of four-legged creatures, included three yellow, tabby cats abandoned by the previous tenant.
Three female cats. Shortly after we moved in, they all "found" kittens within a few days of each other. My excitement and curiosity was overwhelming. There’s so much secrecy with cats. They hide those babies and spit and snarl at you if you get too close. Yet, I continued to pry and observe.
Just as the kittens eyes began to open, I made my trek early one morning to check on them. Lo and behold, I spotted one of the mother cats sneaking across the yard with a whining kitten's neck gripped in her teeth. The horror was as traumatic for me as I'm sure the rapid cat experience was for my mother. "Ahhhh! She's eating it!" My inexperienced nervousness seems so laughable now, but in that moment I almost dropped to my knees in fear. Images of blood and gore raced through my mind along with flashes of guilt. Had I pushed her over the edge with my interference? Nevertheless, my legs found the fortitude to follow that cat. To my surprise, she deposited the wailing kitten in a pile . . . of ALL the kittens. Those mama cats combined efforts and gathered all the babies in one nest.
During the next two weeks, the three tabbies took turns feeding and caring for the constantly churning mass. One of the mother cats was hit by a car, and her babies survived just fine. This nest stayed put as I enjoyed playing nursemaid and housekeeper for the brood with the two remaining cats watching over their growing pride.
Those poverty driven tabbies discovered that even though their DNA drove them to secrecy and seclusion, their babies were better off with a big dose of cooperation. They made a daring move that saved one litter.
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