Grand Cat

"So what's the catch?"

"Ask me about the day I got my cat."

“How did you get that cat?”

“We found him.”

“You found him?”

“Yeah, his mom dropped him on the road when she was crossing the street. She must have been moving her litter from one spot to another. You know, how cats do this? And my mom was there and she saw the whole thing.”

“What happened?

“A car almost hit the mama cat when she was crossing the street and so she dropped the kitten and took off running! She never came back! My mom loves orange cats. She had been watching the mama cat, not knowing she was moving kittens, and telling my sister that there was a super pretty kitten in the parking lot. Did I tell you that my mom was sitting in the hair salon at the time?”

“No, where was this?”

“Over on the east side. At my sister’s hair salon. Don’t you have an appointment coming up soon?”

“Yeah, she does a fabulous job! I’ve seen dogs in the neighborhood before, but never cats. So, how did your mom get the kitten from the mama cat?”

“Oh, so the mama cat had dropped the kitten on the road. A car zipped down the road, just barely missing the mama and her baby. We think the mama was too scared to come back.”

“My mom was left holding this little ball of orange fluff. He was barely bigger than her fist. His head was the size of a walnut. His eyes were open and deep dark blue and almost bigger than his head. He would open up his mouth like he wanted to roar, but no sound would come out, that is why we named him Mufasa. But I am getting ahead of myself.”

“So your mom just took him? Did she try to find the owner? Did she go to any houses to ask?”

“Of course she did! But it was also apparent that the kitten was born on the street. He was filled with fleas and needed some serious TLC.”

“So then what happened?”

“My sister said, ‘You have to keep him’ and my mom said, ‘I know, but dad will kill me!’”

“And your mom kept him anyway?”

“She said Emma needs a kitten. This kitten is for Emma. Dad will have to deal with it. This is Emma’s kitten.”

“So your mom thought of you right away. That’s awesome! She loves orange cats, but she knew that you needed a kitten. She knew that you wanted a cat to love that was all your own, and she found one and she gave him to you. Your mom is so sweet.”

“Wait, so the best part was when she showed up at the pool where I was lifeguarding. It had been a long day at work. Hot sun, whining parents, running children, police calls, you name it…so when my mom showed up and said she had something to show me, I was thinking it was something like a carton of ice cream or my report card, or a frog - she tends to get excited over simple things. I’ve learned to live with her. You’ve met her.”

“Was she holding the kitten? You couldn’t see what she was holding?”

“It looked like she had something, that’s when I thought maybe a toad or frog. Like I said, she gets excited over silly things and acts like I am still five and should be doing cartwheels and jumping up and down waving my hands in the air about these things still. She hasn’t grown up yet. Classic case of denial.”

“And? So? When did she show you the kitten?”

“I walked over to the fence because she looked like she was going to burst if I didn’t come over there soon. She couldn’t wait for me to clear the deck. So I walked over to see the “frog” and she opened her palms to show me the cutest little furball ever! I don’t think my feet ever moved so fast as I ran around to the front entrance where my mom met me with him.”

“You held him for the first time?”

“I held him and kissed him and showed my co-workers my new baby kitten.”

“He was all yours?”

“I kept asking my mom that same question: is he really mine? Do I get to keep him?”

“And then you took him home?”

“No, first we went to Walmart to buy milk, food, a dish, and a tiny collar for him.”

“Did you bring him in the store with you?”

“No, my mom ran in; I stayed in the car.”

“Did the collar fit him? Do collars come that small?”

“Oh no! That collar did not even come close to fitting him for quite some time!”

“Then you had to go home and show your dad…”

“Then we went home to show my dad my new kitten.”

“How did he take it?”

“Surprisingly well actually.”

“That’s good!”

“Yeah, and Mufasa really loves my dad too. I think my dad only pretends to not like cats.”

“I think dads are like that. They like to think they are all tough, but they are actually big softies.”

“My cat definitely thinks so. They like to hang out together. He only purrs for him. It’s ridiculous.”

“So tell me about the vet. What did the vet tell you?”

“We took him in for his first appointment and the vet said he checked out all fine. She was surprised that we were able to get rid of his fleas using only Dawn dish soap and a lice comb. It did take a few baths, but Mufasa loved the warm water. He still loves water. He will play in the sink all day if we let him.”

“Is that when the vet told you about his size and growing so fast?”

“No, it was the next appointment when she noticed how quickly he was growing and how big he was getting. She told us he was going to be one big cat.”

“Oh man, how can one tiny little fur ball turn out to be so huge?”

“Well, who knew that my mom found a maine coon cat for free. And others pay $1,000 for the same cat.”