mabjustmab (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mabjustmab) wrote2008-07-16 03:42 pm
mabjustmab) wrote2008-07-16 03:42 pm
Entry tags:
The Story of Ash
I just found out that ash, who has turned his nose up at "people food" since I've had him, the cat who wouldn't touch my leftover super chicken, goes ape crazy over beef jerky. I should have remembered that. beef jerky was an integral part of his coming to me.
it would be 6 years ago now.
on the night before I was to drive down to asheville to visit friends/gig, I was awoken in my bed by something crawling around on my feet. I turned the light on to find a mouse, sitting so brazenly, on my feet.
as you can imagine, it freaked me out. I ran upstairs and slept on the couch....lightly. in the morning, after not very much sleep at all, I got in my car and drove to asheville.
that weekend while having dinner with my friends, I told them the story of the mouse. one friend, Alexander, said he might have a solution.
a few weeks earlier, he was at a flea market in west asheville looking at some stuff. he hears a noise of someone/thing going through his backpack on the ground. there was the scrawniest tangle of orange fur digging in his backpack, oblivious to the large man lifting him up by the scruff. all the little guy wanted was that jerky.
Alexander has a super fat kitty named Num Num, and he takes care of the feral cats in the woods behind his house. he really didn't have room for another cat. so he says to the little orange menace "I can't take care of you. but if you are still here when I get back, I will make sure you get a better life".
the little guy blinked at him, and sat down. Without another though, Alexander when off to finish his shopping, grab lunch, etc. it was almost 3 hours later when he passed by that same spot, and there was the orange cat, sitting exactly where he was, 3 hours earlier. waiting.
realizing he made a promise, Alexander brought the bone thin cat back to his home. unfortunately, the feral cats didn't like the interloper, and many fights ensued. it was obvious the cat couldn't stay there.
so the weekend of my visit, I went by Alexander's house and checked out the kitties. one of the feral cats had really beautiful long fur and I was thinking about taking two. but when I met the little orange guy, I knew I had to take him home. he was filthy. he had mud caked around each claw. he eyes were so sad. we loaded him into a borrowed carrier on my way out of town and took him home.
btw, that would be one of the times that Asheville decided to eat my car. I threw a spark plug (how they hell do you throw a spark plug???) driving over the mountains and had to have my car worked on. new cat freaking out.
the drive home I figured out his name, Ash. short for Asheville, named after a fav movie hero, Ash (army of darkness), given a second chance/rising from the ashes.
when I got him to the vet to be 'fixed" (I didn't know he was broken) and given shots, the doctor told me that he was 3 years old. we thought he was a kitten because he was so small. turns out he was on the verge of death from starvation. the feral cats were not letting him eat any food. :(
I saved his little kitty life. when I got him home, I washed him with a washcloth, and cleaned the mud stuck around his little kitty claws. he was so happy, and felt so much better. I think that might be part of why he likes water.
after living with me for about a week, he was settling in nicely. he liked to sit on my lap and be pet. but he was still a little wild (I think he will always be). he took a swipe at my nose, nicking it and the top of my lip. if you have ever received one of those, you know how much it smarts. I tossed him off my lap and he turned around like he wanted back up. I looked him in the eye and said "no, you can't hop up. I'm still mad at you. why don't you go kill a mouse or something"
he blinked, got up, and went downstairs. after a few moments, I heard a ruckus going. I went down there to check it out, and he had cornered a mouse under my dresser.
what a great cat.
that is the story of ash. he is my best buddy, and I love him dearly.
it would be 6 years ago now.
on the night before I was to drive down to asheville to visit friends/gig, I was awoken in my bed by something crawling around on my feet. I turned the light on to find a mouse, sitting so brazenly, on my feet.
as you can imagine, it freaked me out. I ran upstairs and slept on the couch....lightly. in the morning, after not very much sleep at all, I got in my car and drove to asheville.
that weekend while having dinner with my friends, I told them the story of the mouse. one friend, Alexander, said he might have a solution.
a few weeks earlier, he was at a flea market in west asheville looking at some stuff. he hears a noise of someone/thing going through his backpack on the ground. there was the scrawniest tangle of orange fur digging in his backpack, oblivious to the large man lifting him up by the scruff. all the little guy wanted was that jerky.
Alexander has a super fat kitty named Num Num, and he takes care of the feral cats in the woods behind his house. he really didn't have room for another cat. so he says to the little orange menace "I can't take care of you. but if you are still here when I get back, I will make sure you get a better life".
the little guy blinked at him, and sat down. Without another though, Alexander when off to finish his shopping, grab lunch, etc. it was almost 3 hours later when he passed by that same spot, and there was the orange cat, sitting exactly where he was, 3 hours earlier. waiting.
realizing he made a promise, Alexander brought the bone thin cat back to his home. unfortunately, the feral cats didn't like the interloper, and many fights ensued. it was obvious the cat couldn't stay there.
so the weekend of my visit, I went by Alexander's house and checked out the kitties. one of the feral cats had really beautiful long fur and I was thinking about taking two. but when I met the little orange guy, I knew I had to take him home. he was filthy. he had mud caked around each claw. he eyes were so sad. we loaded him into a borrowed carrier on my way out of town and took him home.
btw, that would be one of the times that Asheville decided to eat my car. I threw a spark plug (how they hell do you throw a spark plug???) driving over the mountains and had to have my car worked on. new cat freaking out.
the drive home I figured out his name, Ash. short for Asheville, named after a fav movie hero, Ash (army of darkness), given a second chance/rising from the ashes.
when I got him to the vet to be 'fixed" (I didn't know he was broken) and given shots, the doctor told me that he was 3 years old. we thought he was a kitten because he was so small. turns out he was on the verge of death from starvation. the feral cats were not letting him eat any food. :(
I saved his little kitty life. when I got him home, I washed him with a washcloth, and cleaned the mud stuck around his little kitty claws. he was so happy, and felt so much better. I think that might be part of why he likes water.
after living with me for about a week, he was settling in nicely. he liked to sit on my lap and be pet. but he was still a little wild (I think he will always be). he took a swipe at my nose, nicking it and the top of my lip. if you have ever received one of those, you know how much it smarts. I tossed him off my lap and he turned around like he wanted back up. I looked him in the eye and said "no, you can't hop up. I'm still mad at you. why don't you go kill a mouse or something"
he blinked, got up, and went downstairs. after a few moments, I heard a ruckus going. I went down there to check it out, and he had cornered a mouse under my dresser.
what a great cat.
that is the story of ash. he is my best buddy, and I love him dearly.
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