The Queen of the Bayou...Long May She Reign

  As we age, things change.  Our appearance, our tastes and, most of all, our senses and abilities.  It is the same in the critter world.  Wild animals have relatively short lifespans while domesticated pets live longer. Obviously, this is due to the care we give our pets. This is true for all pets but I am referring specifically to cats.  If all goes well with a domesticated cat, it can live to a ripe old age...indoors.  If the cat is an outdoor pet, its lifespan is significantly shorter.  Why?  Well, not only is it exposed to wild critters that can injure it or can infect the pet with disease causing bacteria, there is always the human threat.  More cats meet their demise being hit by a car than we think.  It takes a pretty savvy cat to avoid the treacherous roadways since cats are curious and always on the roam.  While an indoor cat usually lives at least 15 years (some up to 25), a cat that spends most of its days and nights outside, never reach that age....usually.

  Ms. Put came to the Bayou some 20 plus years ago.  She was a wee kitten that had been ruthlessly tossed from a moving car.  At first, I can imagine she was quite disoriented, dazed, hurt and confused.  Once she gathered her wits about her, she made the long trek to the Little Bayou House.  Her walk took her through the muckiest part of the creek and down through the back of the Bayou.  She had to climb through brambles, over downed trees and through mud that could have sucked her completely under.  She did this while trying to avoid predators that were waiting at every step.  Fox, coyotes, bobcats, hawks, snakes, alligators, even raccoons and snapping turtles would have taken a lunge at her given the chance but she finally came to the clearing behind the house.  Here, she was not sure if the people would be hateful like her previous family or if they would take pity on her.  She was so hungry that she took the chance.  

  It took (daughter) Elizabeth hours to finally convince the tiny kitten to lap a bit of milk.  Then, as Elizabeth reached out to stroke the little animal, the soon-to-be-named "PuttyTat" bit her hand!  That did not deter the little girl from snatching up the kitten and bringing her inside to announce that "We have to keep her!  She bit me!" (That seems to be the prerequisite for keeping any cat around here!) The kitten's name was shortened to "Put" and she soon settled in to call the place home.  At the time, we had no idea what we were getting into.  It was weeks later, that we discovered that instead of adopting one cat, we had inadvertently adopted two.  Put's identical brother was here, as well.  What were we to do but keep him, also?  He was dubbed "Tup" which was Put spelled backwards.  Two for the price of one, I suppose. The kittens joined the family...oh, so long ago.

  Well, kittens and kids have a tendency to grow and mature.  The little girl grew up and moved away, Tup grew up and roamed such as male cats are prone to do but Put grew up and stayed.  Eventually, I started calling her Ms. Put, the Bayou Queen, as she ruled the whole place.  The cat became such a part of our family that, to this day, whatever she wants is law.  She is a beautiful part of this family.

  But now comes the sad part.  Ms. Put has aged far past that playful age and she is starting to show a bit of wear and tear.  Her eyesight is failing, her hearing is gone and her sense of smell has diminished.  Her days are spent sleeping on the wicker lawn chair while her nights are spent sleeping near my bed.  She still has a healthy appetite but that has changed from hunting her own to being fed specialty cat food.  We do whatever we can to make her remaining time with us comfortable.  At least she is still relatively healthy....old...extremely old but healthy. I love this old cat and dread the day when she will no longer be with us.  Funny how animals can worm their way into our hearts. The Queen of the Bayou....Long May She Reign!