Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Kitty Love

I spent my early years on a farm with a barn full of cats. My sister and I looked forward to searching for litters of kittens tucked between the bales of straw in the hay mow of the barn. We'd watch for mama kitty to come out when we'd bring food to them and then go searching.

Sticking your hand into the dark hole to feel for kittens was done with trepidation. You knew eventually the kittens would sense a stranger and start hissing. They were harmless but had an instinct built in to scare off predators by hissing. The sound was intimidating and would make us quickly pull our hands out the first couple of times. We'd laugh and eventually realize it wouldn't hurt and start pulling out kittens one by one. They were each little presents. What color were they going to be? What patterns would they have? How many were there?

It didn't take long before the kittens eyes would open and hours would be spent playing with them and making toys out of sticks and twine string. SisterJ and I usually had scratched up hands and arms from playful kittens. What great memories.

Now we take care to make sure our barn cats are spayed, neutered and vaccinated yearly. They also know about life indoors since on cold nights they get to stay toasty warm in my office. Crash (a.k.a. Little Man, Itchy and Ouch!) & Burn (a.k.a. Sissy, Naughty McSnotty and Tweetie) are our two outside cats. They usually come by my office door and meow to come in for a visit and to play with their bowl of toys.


Here's some kitty love for you. Having a bad day? Feeling stressed? Blood pressure on the rise? Hit play on the video below and listen to the kitten's purr. You'll be breathing normal in no time...

7 comments:

Sornie said...

My childhood was much the same except without a barn (we had a more modern 80s era farm) but complete with endless litters of kittens. At one time we had a herd topping 30. Even today there are still around a dozen roaming the farm and living in the small repurposed utility shed they call home.

Anonymous said...

I think I would STILL jump and YANK my hand BACK at the sound of the "wild" kittens!! And, still stick the old hand in and find the treasure!! Good memeories! Thanks!
Sis J.

TC said...

Oh, I miss having kittens at least once a year to play with!!! Sigh. I used to love it when my cat would have kittens. Now that I think about it, I miss the farm.

morten brun said...

En søt liten kattepus!

dmarks said...

My first 3 cats were barn cats....

Bone said...

There was a cat that wondered up to my Mom's place several months ago. (They're not allowed to have pets.) He was soon joined by another cat. The other cat just had five kittens.

They're oh so cute. I've been offering them to everyone I know, but so far, no takers.

Jen's Farmily said...

That kitten is too cute. We only have one cat (that I got from an animal shelter) but I hope to have more one day!