Bill
Bill is our cat. He is a rather new addition to our family. We didn’t adopt him, I think he adopted us. About October I was backing out of my driveway when I saw a gray-striped tiger Tom cat sunning himself on the warm pavement, oblivious to the 15 passenger Dodge Ram coming in his direction. I stopped and ran out to move him out of the way. Bill is the kind of cat that purrs as soon as you look at him so he was very grateful to be picked up and moved!!
Apparently, that was all it took to make Bill a regular. He started living in our garage and hanging out by the back door, and the kids named him. Bill, short and sweet but I think my 8-year-old picked it because he can spell it!!
When I mentioned to our neighbor that there was a new stray hanging around the neighborhood, his reply was, “Oh yea, my friend couldn’t keep him so he brought him here.”
Duh!!
My Neighbor then went into his house and brought me half a bag of cat chow and some kitty litter.
Although my kids were thrilled, my husband was less than receptive to having a cat in the house – particularly a Tomcat. He heard they sprayed furniture and he sure didn’t want that!!
(Neither did I to tell the truth.)
Still, it got to the point where Bill was spending more time in than out. The kids went to let him in before school, during school, after school. He only went out at bedtime or when I suggested he might need a bathroom break!
One day we came out and Bill wasn’t around so I thought perhaps he had moved on or was adopted by someone else, but Bill came back no worse for wear!!
The weather was getting colder and I started to worry about Bill and worry about my kids’ reaction if something should happen to him. When I was 10 years old I had befriended a stray cat named Shadow and I was devastated when she became a piece of road kill in front of our house!!
So gathering my gumption I told my husband that Bill was staying in and that I would pay for the shots etc.
Our first visit to the vet, Doc didn’t think Bill looked so good and said we should probably draw some blood to see if he had feline leukemia or some other fatal illnesses. Well, yes that would be a good idea before I poured any more money into this little critter. I agreed and the doctor told us that if we didn’t hear from him by 6:00 that evening, Bill was fine. He gave Bill some shots, cleaned out a nasty ear mite infection and applied some drops and sent us home. Oh… HOW LONG did we wait. Bill seemed very lethargic, but I thought that didn’t see too unusual after having shots AND having his ears probed and scraped so aggressively… still I was worried and truth be told, so was my husband although he would never admit it.
Well the call never came. Bill is fine. After two more drop applications (which of course was a family affair once Bill saw that eardrops bottle), Bill no longer shakes his head or scratches his ears. I think the mites are gone.
Last Friday we had Bill fixed. Prayers were sent out continually through the day to St. Francis for Bill’s safety during the surgery and for a speedy recovery and both were answered. Bill not only survived but has prospered- he even killed a wayward mouse that got into the house, which completely won my husband over on the benefits of having a Tom cat in the house!!
So as I surf the net, blog, or shop online, I have my new feline buddy sitting here keeping my company, and that’s OK with me. Thanking God for those unexpected blessings to my Domestic Church!