All for the Love of Cats

By Harold Sims

All for the Love of Cats is a collection of stories, poems and interesting facts about America’s most popular pet the house cat. It was written in the 87th year of my life. I am a retired person who never really retired. My life began in April of the year 1935. A time when America suffered from a great depression. I was born in Mount Vernon, New York into a family that was poor. My mother and father married very soon after graduating from high school with no skills to qualify them for good jobs. So, my farther made a merger salary and my mother stayed home with me. His jobs came and went. Before I was five, we moved from Mount Vernon to Cos Cob Connecticut to Riverside, to Roatan, to Old Greenwich. I spent the war years there and at my age ten we moved to a small town in upstate New York named Sempronius where we ran a chicken farm. It was there that I met my first cat and I have loved cats ever since. I left there in 1953, tried a semester of college, flunked out and joined the Navy in Key West, Florida and I didn’t have contact with another cat until I married my wife Kay in 1962 and we bought a copper-eyed Persian cat named Buzzy. Buzzy lived with us for nineteen years and after he died, we didn’t have another cat until the nineteen eighties when a white short-hair cat named Marco Polo came to our summer home in Cashiers, North Carolina. Marco soon had a small Maine Coon female for a friend and soon the stray started coming to our door and by the time we retired in 1993 we had anywhere from six to ten cats sharing our home. But it wasn’t until 1995 when we moved from Clearwater, Florida to Cashiers, North Carolina and found that that town and all the other towns around us had a serious problem with stray and abandoned cats and we began helping to save as many of them as we could and any other plans we had for our retirement were gone with the wind and we spent all of our years of retirement operating a no-kill shelter and adoption center and we worked harder than I did a college professor and Kay as a school social worker harder than we had ever worked before. When you operate a cat shelter you don’t work nine to five, you work seven-twenty-four- three sixty-five because cats work those same hours and they may need assistance at any time of the day or night. This book tells the story of our life since we though we retired in 1993. All the stories are true, I wrote the poems and put together the facts about cats and how they became pets and companions that enriched our lives. The idea for a cat museum had been in our minds since we learned that there were none in America and we began buying items for a museum. But it wasn’t until 2017 that we were able to open a small cat museum in one room of a local antique mall and we learned that cat people did, indeed, want to visit a cat museum and people from all over the world have come to visit. I hope I live forever, but my wife died at age 87 so it is unlikely I will live forever and when I do I hope all the people who love cats will come together and help the museum live on after me with donations to the cause. Information of how you can help can be found on the last few pages on this book. Please buy a copy, learn more about your cats and help the museum to live on into the future to educate and entertain cat lovers in the near and far future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665736343

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Copyright © 2023 Harold Sims.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3633-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3632-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3634-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022924094

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/14/2023

CONTENTS

Foreword

I Had A Dream About Building A Cage-Free Cat Shelter

The Story of Mama Boots A Cat That Launched The Dream That Built A Cat Shelter and A Cat Museum

Introduction

Dempsy the Dumpster Cat A Story of Love and Compassion

Tabby’s Story

Hoot

Who Was Catman One?

Muffin’ Story

Racoons in Our Cabin

A Story of The Cat, Early Man And the Lack of a Cat Carrier

Mite

I Didn’t Know Nothing About Birthing Kittens

Ginger from Feral Cat to Thrift Shop Mascot

A Cat for Christmas

Mary Jane, A Cat On A High

Uno The One Eye Cat

Beverly A Late in the Day Rescue

The Cats of Sapphire Valley

Kittens in the Basement

Could The Rock And Roll Cats Prevent War In the East?

Puss and Boots

A Cat Without Claws

Augie

Tripod the Cat With Only Three Legs

A Funny Story About Salvador Dali’s Pet Ocelot Babou

A Sad Story of Four Dead Kittens

An Interesting Story But Not One of Mine

How Could The People in Egypt Hold a Fair Trial for a Cat?

CAT POEMS

Please Don’t Use Cat Gut Strings On Your Banjo or your Fiddle

What is at The American Museum of The House Cat?

Cats

Kevin’s Song from, Kevin Tames the Bullies

The History of Cat Food

The Hissing Opossum and the Heifer Cat

The Night Before Christmas

Cat Limericks Some Owned And Some Borrowed

A Lament for Little Lewis And a Warning To All Who Have a Cat

Little Lewis Jokes

A Poem About My Tabby Cat

Pathetic Lines Upon the Death and Burial of Miss T’s favorite Cat.

A Poem for A Petrified Cat

A Song to Our Little Mummy

Some Facts you Could Learn From the Cats

Take Your Cat for Spay and Neuter

Metaphysical Ramblings with My Cat

The Neutered Tom Cats’ Song

What Will I See if I Visit The American Museum of the House Cat?

A New Thought About the

Origin of the House Cat

FACTS ABOUT CATS

What I’ve Learned From My Cats

Cats Are a One of A Kind Animal

How Are Cats Different than Dogs?

What You Should Know About Cat Food

The History of Cat Litter

The Life of the Cat in Egypt

Cats In Norse Mythology

The Cat in Medieval Europe

The Cats Treatment During The Time Of The Black Plague

The Life of Cats In The 19th And 20th Century

The Cat Comes to America

Cat Mummification

Petrified Cats

Why Cats Were Used In Advertising?

The Cat at the Amusement Park

The History of The Carousel in America

Cats In Comic Books

Cat Games for Children of All Ages

Some of My Favorite Cat Books

Some Cat Movies the Whole Family Can Enjoy

If you are thinking About Adopting a Cat? Read this first

Why Should We Always Spay or Neuter My Cat?

Things to consider when you want to Donate to Charity. Be A Smart Donor

Kevin’s Lost Manuscript

The Cat in Art

The Cats Role in Music

Some Cat Sheet Music for the Piano

A Cat Quiz

Strange Things People Do And Say About Cats

Can A Cat Suck A Baby’s Breath Away

Do Not Declaw A Cat!

A Cat Quiz

American Museum of the House Cat

FOREWORD

This book was Witten by an old man who is a dreamer. But unlike many other people, young or old; but when he wakes up and he finds a way to make his dreams come true.

A dream reflects something you have been thinking about, night and day and have wanted to do for a long-time. But it must be something that is within your reach. For example, if you wanted to become a star basketball player and you were very tall that dream would not come true. Not all dreams are possible. But when you have a dream that is possible you must start with a plan, set goals and work very hard to make your dream come true.

I am that old man and I have always been a dreamer. As a boy I dreamed of many things. Some of them came true and some did not. Not all dreams will come true and that is good. Here is an example. One night I had a dream about being eaten by bear when I was hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Had that dream come true I would not have written this book. But I spend many days and nights in those mountains. I saw bears there but I was always able to make a deal with them. I said, Bear… I know I am trespassing in what used to be your private home. But I have come into your home in peace. I will respect your rights. When I see you, I will not harm you. I will stand still until you see me. I know bears have poor eyesight. If I ran you may think I was something to eat and I am well aware that you could out run me. So, I’ll will stand still and speak to you in a quiet tone. I never tried this with a bear but the park ranger told me it might work. I did see bears when I was hiking but they all ran away before I could even take their picture. Now, I cannot grantee this will work. So, talk to the park ranger before you go hiking and ask for his advice. He is the expert. Maybe I was lucky. Forget your nightmares. But when you have a good dream, day or night, and it was about something you would like to do. Then follow that dream and make it come true.

I HAD A DREAM ABOUT

BUILDING A CAGE-FREE

CAT SHELTER

Once I had a dream about building a cat shelter so I could rescue lost and stray cats and fund them safe homes with people who would love them. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I would have to find just the right place to build it. So, my wife and I traveled many miles in all directions looking for a suitable location we could afford to purchase and build a cat shelter. We had been saving money to build a cat shelter for a long time so when we went to build a cat shelter. We could afford to but the lumber but I was going to have to build the shelter myself but I had no knowledge of building something that large. I’d built the small shelter alone but now I had to build something that was hundreds of times larger. I needed help. So, I went to a builder who had helped me add an addition to our home. He was retired but he agreed to help me if I would work with him. For me it was "on the job training.’’ The builder’s name was Jack and he was a jolly old fellow. For the next two years Jack and I worked on the shelter. Jack was my teacher and I was his student and I worked hard to learn and complete every task he assigned. There is not a piece of wood, nor any other material that I did not, carry from the lumber yard to new building. But then I had a building that I was proud of and a place where I can keep and find nice people who want to adopt the cats I’d rescued.

Do I still dream? Yes, one must never stop dreaming.

After I built the cat shelter, I built The American Museum of the House Cat. Everything begins with a dream. A dreamer is a leader with the conviction that his or her dream can be achieved and he makes it happen. When you have to have a dream, you can make that dream come true if you follow what I’ve told you.

Everyone should have a dream. Dreams are the beginning of accomplishing something you want to do with your life, something that you think will make the world a better place than you found it. Your dream could be something as simple as going to school, staying in school and getting the education that will allow you to be able to dream of something you can do later in life, something that you would not be able to do without a good education. I was a poor student. I hated school but I stayed with it and I finally became a college professor and was able to pass my knowledge on to others. But it wasn’t until I retired that I found my love for cats and after that I dedicated my live to them. This book has the stories of my relationship with cats and the knowledge I have gained about them and I will now pass it on to you, the reader. Get to know a cat. Learn how they live in peace with one another no matter of color, breed or country of origin. It is something we humans must learn from them and begin to love other people rather than harbor hate towards some. The cat has lived on this earth for more than nine million years. Learn from them the ways of the cat and live in peace and harmony with your fellow man to make the world a better and safer place for cats and for all the other creatures that we must share the only home we will ever have, Mother Earth.

THE STORY OF MAMA

BOOTS A CAT THAT

LAUNCHED THE DREAM

THAT BUILT A CAT SHELTER

AND A CAT MUSEUM

By Kay M Sims

Despite this fact and my intense concentration, she was again able to melt into the forest unseen. Unable to believe my eyes I searched every bush for a glimpse of her feline form and strained to hear a clue as to her location. I blinked, quietly stretched, turned around, and there she was...on the deck, eating ravenously from the food dish, but watching me at the same time. Her departure, again, was as mystical and ghost-like as her arrival, reminding me of descriptions I’d heard but not believed about the liquid movement of African leopards. This feline apparition had a down-to-earth reason for her stealth and caution. She was a homeless mother who had a hidden den of helpless kittens to feed and protect from mountain predators. When my husband, Hap, and I arrived that summer in Cashiers, our neighbors had told us about a hungry looking cat they had seen who was thought to have kittens. She had been living on the porches or underneath various empty houses in the area. But when the human owners arrived, she would flee, often carrying a kitten in her mouth. Since we had pet cats and were supposed to be the neighborhood cat experts, they thought we should do something. No one knew where she had hidden the kittens, or if any had survived her several moves. Hap had tried to follow her several times, hoping she would go to her den but she always led him out into the woods somewhere and then disappeared into the heavy vegetation. We had begun to put out each morning a large bowl of dry food on a deck we had built in the woods. Our hope was that she would feel more comfortable eating there than near the house where the risk of disturbance was greater. After my first sighting of Mama Boots, as we decided to call her, Hap or I would often go to the deck, sit quietly until she approached, and then talk softly to her as she ate. Eventually she came close enough for me to touch her head and offer her special culinary treats such as tuna fish. When she had learned to tolerate our presence on the deck, we began to move the food dish closer to our house each day until she was eating on the front porch. But she would never linger after dinner. As soon as she had cleaned her face and paws, she would scamper away as if urgent business awaited her. Then later on, she would return again for another meal. One morning Mama arrived and began to meow insistently. When Hap went outside, she became quite agitated, crying and making little jumps as if she wanted him to follow her. She led him through the forest, looking back often to be sure, he was still with her. Finally, they approached a section of galvanized pipe approximately eight inches in diameter. It was located near a neighbor’s house and had probably been thrown into the bushes by a construction worker. Mama stopped dramatically as if to say, Wait ’til you see what I have to show you! She trilled softly and out came four tiny kittens who then lined up behind her with military precision. The homeowners brought out a box in which the kittens were placed, all under Mama’s supervision, of course. She seemed to be relieved as she followed us on the return trip carrying her family in the box. She had decided to trust us and apparently had appointed us guardians of her litter. She used our house cats’ litter box herself, perhaps demonstrating to her kitten’s proper social behavior in a human’s dwelling. After letting them nurse, she went to the door, asked to be let out, and disappeared. We didn’t expect to see her again, but she surprised us, returning regularly to nurse. During these visits she would often sit on Hap’s lap and lick his face as if thanking him for all his help when she was in need. We suspected that she was smart enough to know her babies were growing too rapidly to remain in the pipe but could not survive outside due to the dogs and other predators nearby. She had set out to find help and did so! We had planned a long trip that summer and couldn’t continue to care for them all but then we couldn’t just go off and leave them. The only shelter was the county animal shelter and they had no way to care for mother cats with kittens. Nor did they have the space to keep the kittens until they were old enough to adopt. If we took them all there, the only thing they could do was to euthanize the kittens and hope somebody would adopt Mama Boots. That was not an option. There was only one Vet. in the area and she was in highlands, So, Amy took Mana and her kittens but said she would have to test the mother to learn if she has feline leukemia, a disease we knew nothing about at the time. If she had it, they would all have to be euthanized because. at that time there was no cure. So, there was not much else we could do but to go on with our plans, leave the little family with Amy, and hope for the best. We didn’t want to have five cats to care for at that time in our life and knew of no way to find homes for them. The next day we went off on our trip with the promise that we could keep in touch with Amy so we could learn the results of the test. For some reason the result took several days. We finally learned the outcome was good and everybody was safe. Soon, Amy was able to find a couple who owned a large estate up in the mountains and they agreed to find them homes. In time they found homes for three of the kittens but ended up keeping Mama and one kitten for themselves. It was hard finding homes for cats back in those days, because there were a lot of people trying to do the same. And, to make matters worse, some of the summer residents left their summer-time cats behind when they went back home. Mama slowly transferred her affection from Hap to her new owner’s husband, she accompanied him everywhere riding on one of the many tractors he used to do his various chores around their large estate. In her spare time, Mama had such a strong maternal instinct that, even after being spayed, she helped raise seven orphaned litters, teaching them to hunt and to master other feline skills. When her most beloved friend died, she mourned his passing for many weeks by just sitting on his tractor’s seat hopping he would someday return to her. But being an adaptable feline, she finally decided that life must go on and she chose to become an indoor cat and a bird watcher and went to live with her deceased master’s wife inside their beautiful home on the top a hill that had a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains. Mama was a clever and fortunate cat who had moved from rags to riches. It wasn’t long after we returned from our trip that Hap started thinking about opening a cat shelter of his own and the rest is history.

INTRODUCTION

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO JUDY HOLLIS.

I think of Judy every time I go to rescue a cat. She was a friend and assistant. I would take the adults and larger kittens we trapped back to my shelter and Judy would foster care the tiny ones until they were old enough to run with the big cats. But if she fell in love with a cat and couldn’t give it up, she and her husband Bill would keep it at their large home out in the country. She kept many cats, dogs, and even goats as pets. Every one of them had the best of care they had all of them spayed or neutered by the time When I moved into my large cat shelter in Cullowhee, it was too far away for her to work with me anymore and I didn’t get to see much of her after that. Bill died of multiple-sclerosis in2003 and Judy died after a long sickness in the spring of 2022. All the cats and I miss them both very much. The first story in this book tells the story of the saddest cat rescue we ever tried to make. It was a rescue that had gone bad. We had named him Dempsy.

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DEMPSY THE DUMPSTER

CAT A STORY OF LOVE

AND COMPASSION

By Harold Sims

Before the nineteen-nineties, the outer reaches of Jackson County, North Carolina, had few options for people to dispose of their trash. At the time, most people dumped waste down a hillside near the edge of the road. There were signs reading No Dumping and if you were caught the fine was higher than the fine for abusing your pet. But few people obeyed the sign because it said nothing about where else they could dump trash so they dumped trash there if no one was watching. Then in about ninety-ninety-two the county placed large metal containers, called Dempsy Dumpsters at convenient locations around the county. Most people used them to dump their trash into but some dumped more than their trash. They dumped their unwanted pets there as well.

I moved to Jackson County in ninety-ninety-three, and I was very upset when I found baby kittens living in or around some of the dumpsters. Being a cat lover, I made it my duty to do something about it. Before I retired, I’d volunteered at an animal shelter in Florida, and I knew a little about cat rescue and I began picking up the kittens and the mother cat, if I could catch her. If not, I would go back that evening