Grace is a very small gray cat weighing about 6 pounds. She is another one that was headed for the "BIG SLEEP". No one wanted her after she raised her four little kiddens. She gave birth and raised them in a crate in the Vet's office. The Dr.'s girls said that they wanted her at first, but that changed. Then he said if someone didn't find a home for Grace he didn't have much of a choice. My wife said she though she could find her a home, and she did.
I had never been around cats until we got Sabrena. I have always been a dog person. Having her, I slowly started to like cats a little bit. When we got Grace, I thought , "What, another cat in the house?" It was less than two weeks when Grace stole my heart. I was sitting on the couch one day and she came walking across and walked onto my lap, put her front feet on my chest and touched her nose to mine, then gave me a kitty kiss on the end of my nose. From that point on, she had my heart. She is the only one that dose that. I really never thought I would love a cat this much.
When she came to our house, she was taking phenobarbatol to try and controll the "fits" she was having. We think that her being in the crate for so long had a lot to do with the "fits". That was the reason the Vets girls decidied not to take her. She will look at her twiching tail like it belongs to someone else. She had sores on it from where she would bite her on tail. Her eyes would dialate until you could not see any color. She had the wildest look about her. When she did this you had to leave her alone until it past, or she would scratch the h*** out of you.
We slowly weaned her off the drug. Now she still has the "fits" but not as often as when we frist brought her home. The strange thing about it, there is no one thing that we can find that sets her off. Sometimes she will be asleep and wake up and start looking at her tail. Then she will growl as it starts to twich. She will claw at it, try to catch it. I have actually had to help her get her claws out of her tail. A couple of minutes later she is fine, like nothing has happened. Sometimes it is Sabrena that starts it because she stalks Grace and Boots. She likes to set up an ambush and then pounce. She hardly ever makes contact, but it is enough to set Grace off. The "fits" vary in intensity and in frequency. Other than this, Grace is a happy normal little cat.
I get up early, 4:30 a.m. five days a week. I have three alarm clocks. Two that I wind up and Grace. Grace usually "goes off" before the wind ups. She sometimes sleeps with us. If she leaves the bed she will come back and sit on the nite stand purring loudly. Once she knows that I am awake she then walks back onto the bed and says "Get up" by nosing me and tickling me till I do. Sometimes she is a real pest. She lets me sleep in on the weekend, till about 5:30 or 6:00. How she knows the difference is a mystery to me.
Grace taught me a lot about cats. They are fascinating creatures. They seem to be filled with love, but don't give it the same way that dogs do. I am still a dog man at heart, but I have to say that now, "I love the cats we have, especially little Baby Grace."
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