TOMMY O'CRAP

As we walk along today, I must caution you to watch where your feet are and the direction you are walking because of Tommy, my beautiful, sweet, lovable , white cat. Unfortunately, he loves to weave in and out of your feet as you walk.  He is an outside cat and spends many of his days roaming the farm and the hay lofts.  I have found that he is quite the hunter/predator because he delights in leaving his prey for me as a gift.  It can usually be found immediately outside my back door that I use most frequently.

We do not know where this beautiful, lovable little white kitten came from. In the beginning the neighbor's children and grandchildren both next door and across the road named him.  He was called "Tummy Tuff" and "Snowball".  He has remained here these past five years.  It was only about six months after his arrival that he discovered his changing levels of hormones made him think he was a big, strong cat who could engage in cat warfare.

He  appeared at my back door one Spring morning as I was leaving for a meeting.  He had the appearance of having lost the fight to a much stronger male cat.  He looked so wretched that I canceled my meeting, called my 16 year-old grandson to please help me get him to the Vet. We had no cat carrier, but after using a bit of ingenuity, we managed to contain him inside a bucket that was then covered with a pillowcase.  Fortunately it was only a 10 minute drive to the Vet because he cried all the way.

He was well behaved once he was removed from the bucket and pillowcase and sat on my lap as we filled out the necessary papers for his treatment and necessary vaccines along with a sterilization  procedure which I anticipated would eventually halt his prowling night-time adventures looking for female cats.  It was during this information session at the Vet I was  asked his name, I decided he would be called "Tommy". He stayed overnight in Vet hospital and did behave for awhile afterwards.  I have to admit, whether or not he was spayed, he continues to disappear for days at a time during the mating seasons.  He has returned with a few scratches but nothing like the initiation into the feline dating games.

Tommy loves to sit against my back door that leads from the kitchen to the carport.  This is adjacent to the area where he enjoys his two to three meals a day.  I do not always expect him to be there and on more than one (many) occasions, I open the door and in my haste to exit due to appointment or other obligations I encounter Tommy staring up into my face.  My response is always "Oh Crap"! This involves, opening the door, turning off the alarm I just set, getting a container of cat food out of the closet.  I then retrace my previous steps to feed the cat, return the container to the closet, close the door, set the alarm and finally get into my car! 

I am hoping you will be understanding now of my response!  I might add that this extra time in leaving has on occasion caused me to be late for an appointment or leave something behind that I must return for.  Usually that is my phone!  Appeasement for my guilt with the name-calling is because of sweet Tommy. No matter what I say or how I address him, he still stays and is very loving to me because he is smart and knows where his main food source is!

Oh, the pondering of it all...…………………...See you next time.