Nattie Writes!

~ My next cat's name was Butterscotch. Butterscotch was my cat. He was an orange tabby cat which is still my favorite kind of cat.

Butterscotch slept on my pillow at night and was even known to scratch my parents when they reprimanded me.

Tiger and Butterscotch got left in Indiana with friends when we moved to California. Tiger was killed by a bear trap and I don't remember what happened to Butterscotch.

~ My next cat was Sylvia. She looked like Sylvester the Cat. I don't remember how long we had her, but she was a fixture in our apartment in Anaheim for years. She had to be put to sleep because of health problems. Mom held her as they fed her the "sleeping" pill in tuna and cried. I saw a little black and white kitty every where I went for quite a while.

~ My next cat was Peaches. She was a Siamese and her coat looked like peaches and cream. I had her from the time I was 14 to 18. I had to give her to a friend when I moved in with my mom and stepdad.

~ In junior high I had a little hamster named Ulysses. I killed it. I had to keep Ulysses in our spare bedroom because of Peaches and forgot to feed him. Then I had a stiff hamster.

~ For a short time I had another kitty--Squeaky. Squeaky didn't meow she squeaked. She and Peaches would chase each other back and forth from room to room. First you'd see a little black cat chasing a big Siamese. Then vice versa. Squeaky had to go when I moved in with my stepdad and mom, too.

~ While living at my stepdad's I adopted an outdoor kitty. She was a stray and I never knew if she would run away. So I named her Kitty. She was my faithful friend. She followed me to my car every day. She was a beautiful Persian. She was supposed to stay an outdoor cat because my stepdad was allergic. Then he allowed her in the garage. Then he fell in love with her too, and she was allowed in the house for breif moments of time. She quickly became a fixture in that house and still lives with my mom and stepdad.

~ I moved out on my own briefly when I was 21. There I picked up another stray--Tigger. He was another orange tabby. He came with me when I moved back home, but stayed primarily an outdoor cat because of Kitty. They tolerated each other as long as one was inside and the other was out. Poor Tigger stayed with my parents when I moved back to Indiana. He haunted my room looking for me for weeks. Then he was poisoned by a neighbor who didn't like tomcats.

~ My next pet was a family pet--Boots the cat. Boots and I never bonded. I was pregnant with Anna and couldn't change his cat litter. So the majority of Boots' care fell to Wes and he was Wes' cat. Boots stayed with us until we moved into the apartment we are in now.

~ For a short time we had a junkyard dog--Rex. He was a mutt and hyper. He bit the water meter man. We had to get rid of him when we moved into our last house because we didn't have a large enough yard for him.

~ I adopted a poor kitty again--Ginger. She and Boots got on famously. Ginger stayed with my sister-in-law when we moved because she was an outdoor cat.

~ Then there were our fish which we unintentionally killed--Goldy, Uno, Dos, and Tres--all goldfish and Oscar our algae eater.

~ Then there was Haffertee the hamster who died after we had only had him two days. I think the kids gave him a heart attack.

~ Then there was Alex, a pretty grey and white tiger striped kitty, a grandaughter of Ginger. She couldn't stay here in our apartment. We found out after we got her that cats have to be a year old and spayed or neutered to be here. Wes gave her to a girl at work. I miss Alex. She was my kitty.

~ We've been feeding another stray. My heart is going to be broken again. I want a kitty...

Copyright Natalie Rose York