Monday, July 17, 2006

My Family Grows

We live on a dead-end street about 3 km from a main road. Mostly, it's awesome. It's countryside, makes me feel like I'm going home to the cottage every day. Unfortunately, however, our road becomes a dumping site for lazy, cheap ignoramuses. It's bad enough having to look at tossed beer bottles and dumped building materials when I walk my dog but, even worse is when they leave an unwanted pet.

This weekend someone dumped a kitten. He sat all night beside a bowl of food left with him. Two little girls found him and went door to door to see if anyone owned him. Nobody said they did.

When I heard about it, I dragged my DH across the street to have a look at him. He was about 3 or 4 months old, a male, and not very happy. I think the reason he was not very happy is because the two little girls hadn't left him alone for a minute and were dragging him through heaven and high water. There was also a cat and a dog in the house which didn't please the little guy either.

We took him home to see how he would get along with our doggie Epiphany (Piffy - also a rescue, but not from our street).

This is Piffy, an Australian Cattle Dog/Hound mix. We've had her 5 years.

The kitty was not impressed with Pif, but was VERY happy to lie down for a while. He fell asleep on DH's lap for a couple of hours. We decided to keep him. His name is Cairo.

Once he had a good nap and some food, we learned Cairo is VERY affectionate, and VERY playful - as every kitty should be. He likes to bop his head against my face, play with my nose, and wrap his paws around things when he sleeps. He purrs almost 100 per cent of the time, even when he eats, and chirrups like my kitty Feline used to do.

Welcome to my family, Cairo.


21 comments:

Melissa Amateis said...

Awww, what a sweetheart, Nienke. He sounds divine. I'm glad you have such a great addition to your family and that you were such a warm-hearted person to let him into your home and your heart. :)

Dana Pollard said...

Your dog looks a lot like my dumb dog we got from the animal shelter... odd. hehe

Your pets are verra cute!!!

Shesawriter said...

Love this! Wonderful pics, Nieke. Makes me wish I had a cat and a dog, but DH has allergies. So does my son. :-(

Jean said...

Look at that paw! (I'm sure it's the angle of the camera making it look so huge.) What a wonderful kitty. He's gorgeous.

Piffy's a pretty girl, too. Lucky you for both of them.

Sayre said...

I get my pets in odd ways too. My older cat, French, hitched a ride to work in our engineer's engine compartment at 5 months of age (that's him in my avatar). His little brother Yoda was rejected by his mother at 3 weeks. Same engineer brought him in and was feeding him when I happened to walk by. That's all it took. I love cats and if my time, money, and family allowed it, I might become a cat lady. But they won't, so I just have my two.

Deanna said...

And there you go...just a week ago you wrote about your girls... they were probably listening, and brought you this guy. Thanks for rescuing him, as well as rescuing him from those girls. Lucky you. My SIL&BIL have an Australian Cattle Dog.. she has an absolutely wonderful temperment. Hopefully they will grow on one another.

Anonymous said...

awww that's so sweet. some people can be cruel but if there's folks like you in the world who can do something like this then it's a good equal

Kay Cooke said...

Congratulations - he looks so sweet - the dog too!

anne frasier said...

aw, what a sweetie.

the kitty's sweet too.

;)

i used to live on a farm where people always dumped their cats. i still have two now-very-old cats left from that life.

Tess said...

Bless you and your DH, Nienke, for taking in little Cairo. Our old guys were both rescues from the street, while C&C are Humane Society girls. Glad Pif was happy to welcome a new family member as well.

Adorable pics, btw :-)

Anonymous said...

What a sweetie! I just love kitties. We got our baby, Katie, the same way and she turned out to be a great addition to our family. I hope your little Cairo turns out great.

cdorsey said...

What a great story. We, too, are rescuers. We are down to just two dogs and a bird a this point. I love rescue stories.

May Cairo bless you as much as you have blessed him.

Catherine
http://myquestforthetruth.blogspot.com
http://eshelchayil.blogspot.com
http://le-mon-ade.blogspot.com

Stephanie said...

How wonderful!!!!! May Cairo have a long, healthy, happy life!!!

Steph

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

I have been very pissed off since reading lynn's at sprigs post yesterdayand today. --You have restored my hopes for humanity. :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you all so much for your comments. It makes my high even higher!

ha ha! Verification word is yclaw!!

Anonymous said...

Awwww! Sweet widdle kitty!! :)

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Welcome, Cairo! Always great to add to the family, Nienke!

Sayre said...

How did THAT get in here?

Sandy J said...

Cairo is precious! I'm so glad you took him in! And I have also been getting tons of spam lately. There is a special hell for those who create spam!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, kitty and dog. Looks like they're both well entrenched in home.

Anonymous said...

Awww, cute kitty.