Meet Macy
Aka Trauma Kitty
The fourth in a multi-part series that chronicles the lives of the Ott cats.
Kittyboo here again. I left off my last installment telling you that our home was about to have not three, but four cats living in it. Yeah, again you’d think that having two or even three cats was quite enough for one house, but I suppose when you hear what the reason was for adding yet another cat, you might think it’s okay. As it was explained in my hearing (I was sleeping in a chair in the living room when they were discussing it), as part of her work, Mom Ott used to visit a family in a neighborhood in the city of Covington.
She started seeing this tiny little gray tabby with no collar on her hanging about outside of the family’s house. The cat was very friendly and would often greet her when she was arriving or leaving. Mom Ott noticed at once that she had an injured tail. In fact, about a quarter to a third of it was missing and an ugly, often bloody red stump ended her shortened tail. The family Mom Ott was visiting had been feeding her and believed she was a stray. They also speculated that she had been attacked by either another cat or a raccoon. This and the cat’s friendly nature just bore a hole right into Mom Ott’s heart. It got even more serious when Mom Ott came to suspect that the little cat was pregnant, and might be giving birth very soon.
That did it—Mom Ott wanted to rescue this poor little thing, and so the next time she finished visiting the Covington family, she picked up the little cat and put her in her car. The cat at once became very frightened, and made it quite clear she did not want to be in the car. Mom Ott obliged and let her go again. Mom Ott left, feeling frustrated and sad. Yet, the very next time she visited, the cat seemed to have decided that she wanted to go. Mom Ott again put the cat in the car, and she stayed and was not frightened this time. Off to the vet they went and they bandaged up her tail and confirmed she was indeed very far along in her pregnancy. (She also had ear mites, stomach worms, and flea dust all over her coat.) With treatments for each of these ailments in hand, Mom Ott brought her home to live in the guestroom for the foreseeable future (the very one where Reggie started out in).
Liz got the honor of naming her, and she chose the name of Macy, which we all thought fit her very well. But it was always clear—right for the start—that Macy was Mom Ott’s exclusive property. (Liz already had me, and that was good enough for the both of us.)
And as predicted, the population of cats went from four to eight in a short time. Everyone was excited about it. Neighbors and extended family alike came for visits to see the kittens. And soon enough, when they were old enough, the kittens were all placed in homes of their own. Macy had to have the rest of her tail removed as it was scarred over and would never heal properly.
Unfortunately, Macy was never really able to integrate with the rest of the cats like Reggie had done. She would hiss and flee at the approach of any of the cats, including me (and I’m such a sweetheart!). It was no use, she had been traumatized from living in on the streets. (I suppose I have to give her some slack there—if someone bit off part of my tail, I’d probably act the same way too.)
Mom Ott nicknamed her Trauma Kitty, but mostly lovingly calls her Peanut. She stays up in Mom and Dad Ott’s master bedroom most of the time. She’s basically Mom Ott’s living teddy bear. She loves people so much, but she really doesn’t much like other cats.
Things have settled down a bit over the few years she’s lived with us. She does venture out of the room from time-to-time, but unfortunately we can never become “besties.” It’s just not happening on her end.
BTW, here’s photos of Macy’s four grown kids.
Here’s Macy getting her “evening crazies out.”
But, it was not long before us four cats (and now one rabbit) would have yet another pet in the house. Another one was to join us. She’s not a permanent resident, but she often visits on weekends. I’ll get into that in my next installment.
Here’s a little preview of who joined us.
