This is young Shady
The Teenage Cat
The strange past of my precious cat Shady remains an unsolved mystery. This handsome gray cat has a history and emotional baggage, in fact. This is what I know: Although keeping company with wild cats, Shady was born inside someone’s home, but not mine. How do I know that? Detective work: Shady is not afraid of humans like feral cats, yet he was homeless, a feline vagabond. Different from untamed cats, Shady preferred mooching and panhandling to dumpster diving or serious hunting. Conclusion: Shady was borne in captivity, thrust from his home, perhaps when his owners moved, abandoned to fend for himself, unprepared for the task ahead of him.
This is how Shady became my cat:
Slim Shady saw my son Ray out late one night. Shady, unarmed but boisterous, approached Ray demanding food. Ray felt akin to Shady and raided the refrigerator for his new friend. Shady returned another time during the daylight. This time I was home. Ray introduced me to Shady. I opened a can of roast beef hash for him. Slim Shady devoured it and left without saying a word. Not even “thank mew”.
We didn’t see Shady again for a few months. The next time Shady came around, he truly was SLIM Shady.
Okay, here’s the part you won’t believe. The night before Shady returned, I had a weird dream. In the dream I came home from somewhere to find my cream colored cat with orange fringe (I didn’t have a cat) thirsting, starving, half dead, unable to move! In the dream I knew it was my fault! (Again, I didn’t own a cat, certainly not a cream colored cat with orange fringe!)
When Shady showed up that morning demanding to be fed, the dream was still fresh in my mind. Why would I let a dream sway my thinking? I cannot explain. Shady was blessed with a new home because I ate too much spicy food, or whatever might have caused that dream. Truthfully, I may have decided to keep Shady anyway, but since I had the distressing dream, I will never know for sure.
Emotional baggage: Shady has been very slow to trust people. There must be a reason. Perhaps he was mistreated. We know he was abandoned, but, as a cat, Shady may not possess the reasoning ability to figure that out and be moody about it. We think someone may have been mean to Shady in his early childhood. Shady learned to be polite, but he showed little affection for anyone, not even proper regard for the woman that fed him (me).
This has finally changed. Shady trusts me at last.
I’m so glad you commented on the Victor Hugo Poem because your comment led me to your blog! You are so talented. Could I post one of your poems on my blog with a link to you? I love to have representations of other peoples creative expression!
Judith Westerfield
http://JudithWesterfield.wordpress.com
P.S. Shady is one lucky cat!
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Thank you very much for your comment. I am glad for you to post one of my poems with a link to me. What a privilege for me to have a poem posted on your blog!
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What a funny and touching recap of The Mysterious Past of Slim Shady! Of course, most cats can be a little standoff-ish. (That’s why I like dogs more.) But I’m lucky enough to know Shady, and even though I’m a dog person, I adore him. He’s exuberant and proud and distrusting and zany all at the same time. And, by the way, he’s a BEAUTIFUL cat.
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Thank you for your comment on Shady. 🙂
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A very handsome lad.
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Shady is undoubtedly quite lucky to have found such a loving home.
This just reawakened my love for cats all over again. 🙂
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Thank you for the comment.
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Lol!!! Slim shady is so cool! I luv ur blog too. 🙂
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Thank you for stopping by.
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I already love your cat Shady. My own Camille asked me to pass along the fact that he’s very handsome. 🙂 A wise person once told me: ‘there’s something to be said for someone running lovingly to meet you at the front door – whether or not they have four legs.’
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Thank you for the comment. Shady appreciates it, too. Is Camille a cat, also? I saw a photo of Miss Priss on your blog. Would that be Camille’s nick name? Ha! Pets are so loving. Shady loves my shoes, my lap, and he loves the music of the refrigerator door opening. I have to haul him out of it every time I open it. He knows his food is in there.
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Loved the story about him. Very meaningful about the dream as well. He is very beautiful. I love cats but I am allergic to them, they still love me though, and come up to me everywhere I go. It’s nice because whilst I cannot have one of my own, it feels like I still get to pet one once in a while.
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I was dead set against having a pet at the time I took in Shady. I may not have done it without the dream. It melted my heart for Slim Shady. My son Ray is a cat lover and he wanted Shady. Shady was very attached to Ray, but Ray was living with us only a short time. Shady had to adjust to life without him, one more insult added to hard knocks in Shady’s life. Thank you for visiting.
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