Feline Moments

By R. Gayle Hawkins

A recollection of various moments with the feline world throughout life.  Insights of their personalities as well as their interactions with the world around them.  Readers will find some of the moments comical as well as well thought out.  Simply a look into the feline world that I observed through life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R. Gayle Hawkins
• Release date: Nov 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386336334

R. Gayle Hawkins

R. Gayle Hawkins began her writing career in 2014 after disablement from Multiple Sclerosis.  As a child, she often thought of writing, but life kept her from it. She lives in Ohio.

Book preview

Introduction

Throughout life, my family had several pets.  My youth involved cats, dogs, hamsters, guinne pigs, fish, birds, gecko and a rat.  And, for the most part, they all interacted with one another and did not fight.

However, the most amazing things I saw as a kid and throughout life is how they interact and think.  My family only demanded certain restrictions, such as not allowed on counter.  So our pets develop ideas and interacting with the world around them with little worry.  Our home was their home.  All the following stories are true and do not follow chronological order.  I restrain from providing human names because they are not what the book is based upon.

Please keep in mind I am writing this on what I remember.  The writing is how I would tell you and not a novel with proper grammar.  And, I do not have all the answers in dealing with felines.  I like many around the world simply share time with them.

The Choosing

Often, pets are not able to choose their homes because we are the ones picking them out.  And, once we do, they have no say in who joins the group unless we grant them the ability.  However, my family always believed in their equal rights to life.

The pet standing out as exercising his equal rights is Tubby, my British Blue feline.  He did not allow us to choose him.  He chose me. 

We do not know where he came from, but he managed to choose our house as his.  One bright spring day, he simply felt a need to enter and did so when my mother was letting the dog out.  Upon entrance, he ran from the kitchen to the living room, jumped on me as I watched television and laid down.

My mother entered the living room as I stared upon him.  After the announcement of This is not your home., she walked over, picked him up and put him outside.  One would think he simply desired a safe place to rest and then would return to wherever.  FYI, the thought is wrong.

Tubby went on for weeks attempting to enter the house and stay.  Eventually, my mother gave in and allowed him to stay.  With our dog and other cats, he did not argue or demand acceptance.  They simply acknowledged him as belonging there.

The only argument he had was I was his.  He laid claim on me in various ways.  Now, many may believe he did so because he is a male cat and I am a female.  However, on arrival, Tubby was already neutered and front nails removed, which is why we found it odd for him to demand our home.

His infatuation began simply by sleeping in my room at night.  I never carried him there and a shut door blocking his entry caused massive crying to join me.  He simply decided to start a routine of watching me at night prepare for bed and follow me until we were both in bed.

As a teenager, I simply thought it cute until it became a little more demanding.  Then, it just became odd. 

The first incident actually impressed me.  Our neighborhood had various feral felines and we assisted them with food because feral felines need food and we prefer they stay out of the trash. They all knew our yard was safe even when our dog was out.  Unfortunately, we were not able to touch them because they did not trust humans.  The closest you could get is around two feet.

One day, I chose to sit on the porch and Tubby demanded to join me.  So, I took him outside and he laid down next to me.  The weather was nice as I simply watched trees sway in the wind until the feral felines began appearing.  Several, male and female, approached the porch and did not care that I was there.  Tubby simply looked at them as they jumped on the porch and began to rub against him.

Figuring I would never have another chance, I petted one as it rubbed on Tubby.  Oddly, it did not care.  Even after it stopped rubbing on him, it allowed me to pet him again and eventually hold him.

I thought I finally gained trust of the feral felines.  Unfortunately, I did not.  A few days later, those same feral felines would not allow me near them when Tubby was not with me.  However, any time he was with me, I could do whatever I desired.

I simply feel they chose him as their king.  I often thought it was because of his entry into our home, but after watching more things happen, I knew that was not the cause.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

As I stated earlier, the feral felines knew our yard was safe.  Our dog did not bother them and a neighbor’s dog, Dusty, came to our yard to say What’s up? when he broke free from his home.  He never barked or chased anything.  He simply entered the yard, looked around and went back the direction he came.

The only threats the ferals had were birds, which I will tell you about later, and another neighbor’s poodle.  The poodle did not escape its owners often, but when it did, it would chase the feral felines.  Unfortunately, for it, Tubby was not having it.  He beat the poodle all through our yard and back to its own as it cried out for safety.  Without claws, Tubby was only able to beat the dog, which kept it from injury.  However, the dog never returned to the yard.  I believe this is why the feral felines declared him king of their community.

With such power over the feral felines, one would think he would bask in his domination.  However, he never really felt a need to display power over them.  He simply had a larger target, which was me.  Tubby began to grow jealous as our time together dwindled down from school, sports and friends.  He decided to take stance with me as well.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

In junior high, my best friend and her mother lived a block away from me and my mother.  Our father’s also lived a block away from one another in a neighboring town, which we visited on the same weekends.  So, we saw each other very often and talked on the phone.  Tubby did not mind the phone calls as long as they were