The Gift Part Two

Many years before the dogs came into our lives, we adopted a kitten from an animal shelter. This was when we lived in a ramshackle little house out in the country that was over run with wildlife. Hence, the need to bring a cat into our family, appropriately named Necessity. She proved to be a wonderful cat and lived with us until the ripe old age of 17. I wrote a little story about her a while back. We didn't rush out immediately to get another kitty because Lucy did not get along with cats at all!

As I stated at the beginning of this story, we've been pet-less for about two years but have been talking on and off lately about bringing a pet into the family once again. A kitten, definitely a kitten but a specific kind this time around. A Siamese cross-breed found his way to our door one day around Thanksgiving about 16 years ago and visited for a short time. He was a great cat, full of personality, and stayed with us until his owner spotted him in the front yard one day and informed us that this was his cat. The cat seemed to know the man and went with him willingly enough. There was nothing we could do. This fluffy creature left a very deep impression with my husband who bonded and fell in love with this cat in no time at all. I have to admit he was a pretty cool kitty! This event planted the seed that the next cat we get should be of the Siamese persuasion.

Personally, I don't care for purebred Siamese cats. I don't like their lean and hungry look, their cross-eyed appearance or their yowl. I do like the coloring of a seal point Siamese, the beautiful eyes, the short hair. For a long time I've been searching the classifieds for a kitten listed as a cross Siamese. Pure bred kittens cost a fortune and we're not in a position to shell out $300 to $400 for one. I have always felt the place from which to acquire a pet is an animal shelter and, trust me, they're not abounding with Siamese-type kittens.

Sometimes circumstances fall into place, the planets align themselves and Jupiter is in Mars or something like that. My husband has the misfortune to have been born two days after Christmas. His birthday has been lost in the shuffle of the holidays all his life. My son-in-law called me the other day to share the fact that his brother's cat had had kittens recently and, wonder of wonders, they were half Siamese. He and my daughter wondered if one of these would be a nice birthday gift for Dad. At this stage of my life I'm old enough to recognize a golden opportunity when I'm presented with one. They wanted to keep it a surprise but decided I should come along to check out the goods. It didn't take me long to see that one particular kitten was exactly what we were looking for and he had a major side benefit going for him--he'd already been neutered. Yes!

I wrestled with the firm knowledge that it's not a good idea to surprise anyone (no matter how well you know them) with an animal and my gut feeling that this was too good an opportunity to let slip by and everything would be okay. My gut feeling (which I've also learned to trust over the years) won and we gathered up this gorgeous feline into a carrier box and embarked on the anixiety-filled journey home, both the kitten's and mine. I'm happy to say the gamble to surprise Dad with a kitty for his birthday was a huge success and now we're getting acquainted with each other. I think we're in for a long, happy relationship. Oh, and his name? Finnegan. What else would an Irishman name his Siamese cat?

Our first little cat looked something like this:

    

The newest member of the family looks something like this: