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Sharlee Plett’s Tips, Ideas, and Creative Endeavors

The other night I decided to take Mr. Christy, my 3 month old tabby kitten out for a walk.  It was very late and the streets were deserted.  Mr. Christy was delighted with being out, head and ears flicking every which way to catch the different night sounds. 

He led me up the stairs at the front of a condo and dropped to his belly and froze, perfectly still except for a tiny twitching of his tail, intently watching something in the grassy area in front of him.  I wondered what he was doing and decided to follow his lead.  As we waited completely motionless, a black tail appeared behind a garden rock, waving back and forth. 

My night vision adjusting, I could finally see what Mr. Christy had seen immediately; a young skunk sniffing around in the garden, his tail waving in the air, nose to the ground.  As we watched, the skunk investigated the entire garden area, finally shuffling off into another yard and out of site.

We continued down the street, with Mr. Christy leading us into a large parking lot behind a local hall.  Again, he suddenly dropped to his belly and froze, watching the far corner of the lot.  I crouched beside him and strained to see what he had spotted.  This time it was a possum ambling along the far wall.  We watched as the possum moved out of sight into some bushes in the next lot.

We were on the move again, Mr. Christy hyper alert with twitching ears and sudden stops as he saw through his night eyes.  With a sudden leap he jumped up a telephone pole beside us, cat climbing up the side and just as suddenly dropping to the ground, ready to pounce, tail fluffed out and hackles up.  He had knocked down an enormous black widow spider from the telephone pole and was all set to attack it.  I picked him up and soothed him as we walked away.  I don’t think my little cat would have survived a bite from a black widow!

What’s amazing about all this is that if I had been alone I would never have seen these creatures of the night.  Only being out with my little kitten with his incredible night vision and hearing made it possible for me to see them!

Today Mr. Christy surprised me with what seems to be a love fest!

He was sitting on the floor looking up at me with an obviously affectionate gaze, quietly meowing to have me pick him up.   I brought him up on my lap and petted him behind his ears, one of his favorite spots. 

He responded by standing on his hind legs and putting his forepaws on either side of my neck, pressing the entire length of his belly against my chest and nuzzling his cheek against the side of my face.  Purring loudly enough to be heard in another room, he begain to lick my face, eyes slitted and obviously in some form of feline ecstacy.  As he gave me his kitten kisses, he began gently kneading my skin with his paws. 

I stroked his fur and told him he was a beautiful little cat.  After several minutes of this extraordinary display of affection he dropped back down into my lap, curled up and went to sleep.  I swear he was smiling!

Mr. Christy would love to go outside.  I can tell because he sits in my window sill at times avidly watching what is going on outside. 

I’d love to let him go outside, but he is so little and the town I live in poses many dangers for such a tiny creature.  We get a fair amount of traffic, there are many loose dogs and there are coyotes, one of which probably killed his mother. 

So I read up on training cats to walk on leash.  I learned that if you start them early enough, and have the patience of Job, it can be done although cats never really learn to heel and mind like dogs do.  Good enough.

I went to the pet store and found the smallest possible harness.  They had a harness for a teacup poodle or chihuahua. 

When I got home I pulled Mr. Christy onto my lap and the fun began.  Kittens don’t really take all that well to having a harness put on them and Mr. Christy was no exception.  He was confused first thinking that I was playing with him so every movement of the harness was met with teeth and claws to catch and immobilize the harness.  Then he decided this wasn’t a fun game at all and writhed about frantically as I pulled it over his head and fastened it around his belly.

I let him go and he treated me to an energetic acrobatic contortionist act that was as comical as it was frenzied.  Up on his tiptoes with his backed arched, he flew across the room in jagged bounces frantically chewing at the straps.  Then rolling about on the floor in a mad panic, chasing the side of the harness with his teeth.  He finally came to rest underneath the table panting and looking at me with disgust.  I told him he had done very well and offered him a treat.  On hobbly kitten legs he trotted over to me to accept his treat and his praise. 

I left the harness on him for about an hour and he seemed to come to terms with it, no longer fighting or attacking it. 

Round one accomplished!

I was startled out of my work at the computer by a knock at my door.  It was my sister,  carrying a small tarten luggage case.  “I’ve brought you a present,” she said, holding out the case as she came through the door. 

I was about to tell her that I had enough luggage when a little gray kitten paw poked through the side of the case.  “You’re going to love him,” she smiled, and zipped open the case.

Deep gray eyes caught and held mine from inside the case and two little paws reached over the edge towards me.  He never took his eyes off me and his tiny mews caught my heartstrings. 

It was a tiny little tabby gray kitten, with tiger stripes on his back and leopard spots on his belly.  We put him on the couch, where he tottered about unsteadily, anxiously mewing. 

“He’s about 4 weeks old, the kids found him caught in a tree at the park and brought him home,” she told me, reaching over and scratching him behind his ears, “his mom was probably killed by a coyote.   He was up a tree, and his brother and sister cowering at the foot of it.”

“Will you take him?  He has nowhere to go and I can’t keep him with the dog in our household.”

And so Mr. Christy moved in with me today.

That’s what I decided to name him.  I had just finished watching Robin Williams as Christy in the movie “What Dreams May Come” and love the character he plays in the movie.

Meow!