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| A clowder of barn cats ~ courtesy of the Internet |
For the last five years as a professional house and petsitting couple, we’ve cared for fifty-five felines.
A one-eyed cat, a grieving cat,
sun-loving cats, a cat that sleeps in the shower stall, content cats, avoidance
cats, dog-friendly cats, playful cats, indoor cats, and a clowder of twenty-four
barn cats, five of which were housebound with cancer.
When we pulled into the driveway of the organic farm, the barn door was open. The
homeowners were standing nearby. The woman had a kitten in her arms. When I
approached her she held up the wee thing and asked if I wanted to kiss it. I didn’t.
I gave it a tap on its head.
In the barn, she said there are 23 cats. We’ve learned since then that a group of cats is called a clowder or a glaring.
“Five sick ones are in the house,” she said.
I glanced at the lower part of the walls which were covered
in pee-pads. She noticed my gaze.
“ We’ve put these up to catch the spray from the cats. They
can’t seem to control themselves,” she said. “Let me show you what to do if one
of the cats dies.”
She opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator and
pushed apart two packages of frozen berries.
“Wrap the cat in a plastic bag and put it here,” she said. “Or, if you prefer, you can bury it in our cat cemetery.”
The woman and I made our way through the bushes while her
husband took Frank to the garage to show him some of the farm equipment.
As it happened, the owners were too sick to go on their
vacation. We considered it a blessing.
We love cats.
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| A dog-loving cat |
We love them more if they’re spayed or neutered. Even more,
if they’re litter trained. And absolutely love it when their owners have
provided a cat door.
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| A stuffed cat |
“One cat just leads to another.” – Ernest Hemingway
