Is there a conventional way to acquire cats? The cats we’ve had seem to come into our lives in unusual ways. And Monty’s story isn’t any different. Here’s his tale of how he became our kitty.
I had seen a momma cat with some kittens at the end of the road a few times late last summer. We were talking about getting a kitten and so I asked the lady whose house I spotted them by if that family of cats belonged to her. She feeds the stray cats in the area but lays no claim to them so she said if I could catch any, they are free for the taking.
Well, on one of the hardest days of my life, here the kittens appear in the ditch, clamoring over big rocks left from a recent paving job. I hopped out of the car and into the ditch and managed to grab one little kitten and almost a second one but he/she slipped away too fast.
Once back in the car, I handed Hannah the little kitten. He is scared and alone and away from his kitty family for the first time ever. But he snuggles in and settles down pretty quickly, thankfully. { Have you ever driven around with a cat flipping out in the car?? }
Hannah decided to name him Monty. We have a list of names for lambs, pets, or whatever unnamed animal comes into our life, so she picked one from the list. Of course he gets nick names. Mont-mont, Monters, Mont-man, we sing him the Batman song, replacing Batman with Mont-man. Na na na na na na na na na na na Mont-man!!
He was probably 6-7 weeks when we rescued him from that ditch. He’s was a fiesty little guy so we kept him in a dog crate so he wouldn’t get lost in the house and so he could get used to using the litter box. He was so little he could barely make it up the stairs!! But he quickly found his way into our hearts.
One of his favourite things to do is attack your legs as you innocently walk by. For no good reason he would pounce and dig his little kitty claws into your flesh. He has now pretty much grown out of that, although he can still put up a good fight if he thinks you deserve it…
He is a big snuggler. He loves to sit on your chest, with his face rubbing against your face, his front paws on your shoulders. His purr is loud and you know he loves you. He also doesn’t mind being carried like a baby and if he’s feeling mellow and not feisty, he’ll rest a soft paw gently on your face. And like a dog { we think he thinks he is a dog by times } he greets you very happily at the door when you get home from anywhere!!
We have discovered he loves the outdoors but given how close we are to the road here, we keep him inside. However, on our recent trip to the valley, we bought him a cat harness { we had ordered one online but he was way too big for it!! } and now he loves going for walks and cries to go outside for a good part of the day. If he isn’t crying to go outside, he’s waiting by the door for someone to accidentally let him out or he’s hanging out in the front window making noises at the birds in the yard, with his tail whipping aggressively!
Monty sleeps in his crate at night, I’ve tried to sleep with him a few times but he doesn’t like to let you get any sleep, he prefers to play, pounce, purr and just be a general pain. I wish he’s just curl up and settle in and maybe when he gets a little older he will? Who knows!!
I’m always amazed at the personality of cats. He definitely has his own! He likes naps on the kitchen table and now laying on his harness. He loves water and can be found in the tub or kitchen sink, leaving little wet foot prints across the floor when he’s done. He has a favourite toy named Lambie which he carried around even though it was as big as him when he first got it. It’s the cutest thing to watch him wrestle Lambie!!
We decided to start an Instagram account for him and it’s been fun to update that every now and again. He’s such a handsome boy in his tuxedo! You can follow along HERE. He’s handle comes from a nickname that the babysitter’s husband called all the kids that graced their doorway – Bad Cats….although I’d have to say that Monty really is a bad cat….
We are very thankful for our ditch kitten and even though there are times we threaten to take him back to said ditch, our lives would be very empty without him!
Warmly,
Lori
