When I was in 2nd grade we moved to Mj, and brought our kitty Sugar with us, she was the prettiest cat EVER! But she was too fond of her new outdoor accommodations and spent a lot of time roaming. One day, about a year or so after moving there, our neighbors informed us that they had found her on the road outside out house. poor Sugar was hit by a car. Never fear because I pestered my parents for quite sometime after that for another kitty. :) So close to the end of my 3rd grade school year my mom found someone whose cat had just had kittens and they gave us several pictures of the litter. My parents were ever so generous and allowed both my brother and I to pick out one kitten each. I picked one that looked similar to Sugar in her markings and my brother picked out a cute, little grey fluff ball. Shortly after the school year ended my mom took me to the little farm where they lived. We picked up the kittens and that night my friend Lindsy (yes the very same Lbow from a previous post) came over to see them and help me name them. At first they were Sassy (my kitty) and Boots, for her one lightly colored foot, (Jim's kitty). But as Lindsay and I played with them and dressed them up that night we noticed that they both shook their little fluffy rears when they walked.. so Boots turned into Booty! :) they were indoor kitties for a while and played with each other all the time! They were SO funny the way they'd chase all over the house! After about a year of having Sassy and Booty my parents moved them outside, Now looking back I'm sure it was because of the hair content that probably covered EVERYTHING! They lived outside for the next few years, they had a little house that we put pillows and heating pads in for the winters and they would roam and catch all kinds of critters. Happy kitties for sure!
When I got into High school I had a boyfriend and so did all my friends so, I just HAD to throw a New years eve party so we could all have the Hollywood romance of a kiss when midnight hit! ;) HA! After the party we were all standing outside waiting for the boy's parents to come get them and Lindsy and I heard a teeny tiny little meow coming from somewhere. It was this tiny baby orange tabby cat with the biggest ears I've ever seen! haha So.. I took him in too, his name was Oliver. (you might be wondering how this relates to Booty, but I'm getting there, just hang on) Oliver staying on the front porch for a few days, to give him freedom to go back home if he had one, but he stayed close and gobbled up everything I fed him. So then he moved inside since it was soooo cold out and he was so tiny (with huge ears). The next summer, though, he moved outside on the back porch with the other two kitties. They were not too fond of him. Sassy tolerated him but Booty went MIA for a little while.. about 2 weeks! I thought she was gone for good, but to be honest, I didn't really care bc up to then she was Jim's cat and I was pretty impartial to her. When she finally came back home, I found her on the other side of our fenced in pool area, she was a mess! :( her tail was dragging and so were her back feet, she was pitiful, so we took her to the vet (Thanks dad, I'm sure it was mucho expensive!!), They X-ray'd her and found a little BB from a BB gun.. yes someone SHOT her!! So, this BB was lodged in her spinal cord paralyzing her tail and her two legs. The vet decided it was best to amputate her tail, but that her legs her still ok and would just need some time to heal and get the feeling back. They left the BB in there for fear of removing it and then having her whole hind end paralyzed. So when Booty was recovered from surgery and back at home, it was the unanimous decision (or maybe my insisting) that she stayed inside. She was terrified to be outside and would only stay out for short periods of time. She became my buddy! She slept in my room usually snuggled up with me, and pretty much only trusted me. Poor thing still had trouble with her feet and would bite at them bc she couldn't feel her toes. It was comical but pitiful too. She stayed inside with me until I left for college.. I was soooo sad to leave her!! But she was in the good hands of my momma! I visited as much as I could :) Then when I moved back home from school we were reunited! :) It was glorious to get to snuggle with her again! :) She was such a great cat! :) After moving back home, I met E and we got married then merged our kitties into our new apartment in Nc.. Booty and Jake were our babies for a while... they HATED each other! We had to shut Jake out of our room at night just so we could sleep without hearing them fighting, but her would literally sit right outside the door howling! :oP Then we adopted Friday :) So we had Booty Jake and Friday all under one roof of a tiny apartment. Booty made it back to Tn, and by the time she was in her home state again she was turning 15! Whew! She had been around the block a few times! ;) We got settled in and got a dog, Social, and then a few months later some friends moved in with us and since he was allergic to cats we moved the Jake and Friday out but of course miss Booty stayed inside, she was queen of her castle after all. But I think the stress, of her boys moving outside, having 4 more people in the house (lots of babies) and just being old took a toll on her after a while. The beginning of September of 2008 we were celebrating Charlotte's 1st birthday and on a Saturday had a big party at our house. the next day, we were planning on celebrating with friends (only one of her friends showed up though). Sunday morning we got up and went to church and the other family got home before us. When we got home we started to get ready for the party and I went to our hutch cabinets to get a table cloth or a platter out and Booty was curled up on the floor in front of the cabinet, so I bent down gave her a pat and noticed right away that something was wrong, she was stiff and not responding... I got a good look at her face and she was definitely gone, eyes glazed over and tongue out... I screamed, E came running and held on to me while I cried. I am still skeptic as to what happened to her, most likely old age but I wonder if she got into something or if she hadn't had enough water or if one of the dogs had literally scared her to death or what... Anyway, we put her little body all curled up like she was sleeping, in her pink Booty bed and then put her into a box and buried her under our arbor in the back yard. I had always wanted to have her stuffed.. seriously... I am still sad that we didn't do it. I would be really nice to look over and see her curled up in her little bed. I miss her lots and lots. She was with me for 15 years.. that's longer than E at this point! I know a lot of my friends who have met her have Booty stories of their own.. whether she peed on their stuff (sorry) or they loved her like i did.
And that has been my hardest heart break to date. I keep her picture by my bed and in lots of other places. :) My sweet Booty.
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2 comments:
Kick the booty just isn't that funny anymore :(
I had always wondered how a cat got the name "Booty." Glad I now know. Sounds like Booty was a great pet to you for a long time, just like pets should be :)
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