Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you the cats who have adopted us over the years and their timing. I have read somewhere that animals absorb and mirror our energy. I know for sure they are extremely helpful as therapy visiting the infirmed and heart disease patients are often advised to get a pet as a part of their recovery. I had a kitten in my childhood, an outdoor cat as most were in that part of the world whose descendants soon numbered 11. As an single adult I had one dog, an American bull terrier. My husband's family has had dogs and cats throughout their lives but as an adult working odd shifts he has always had cats. In coming together we have been adopted by a total of 6 cats and one dog. This hub brings you the cats who adopted us and their timely arrival when our energy was low giving us comfort through stressful times.

The first were Tiddles and Winks as we named them who were outdoor cats at the beautiful and peaceful Cordoniz Hotel in Tarifa where we honeymooned. Having driven to Gibraltar to get married we stayed in Spain and drove across to Gibraltar several times to make arrangements to get married. Another hub on this coming soon. Tiddles and Winks came right up on to our room verandah so of course we fed them, talked to them, and found them sleeping on our sun beds each morning. They never let us hold them but they did bravely come into the room and crouch under the bed while my husband had a siesta on top. They were a great distraction from the planning and legalities of our impending wedding.

The second was George. My husband named him. He arrived on our verandah in Spain soon after we returned from our 700 km trip down to Gibraltar to get married. Exhausted and excited, we now had to plan a dinner reception for our friends who were none too pleased that we eloped leaving them out of the nuptials. George arrived just as we were tying favours for the ladies and stayed with us for 3 days. He had a bent tail, an old injury, completely healed, was on the verandah each day as we returned from reception preparation errands, purred his way onto our laps and made us take time out to relax for a cuddle with him for a while. He left the day of the dinner as we were walking over to the restaurant he walked with us and never returned. Months later we saw him outside the bank, he got in the car, came home with us, but didn't stay as it seemed someone else needed him.

Pumpkin was our third cat guest, a kitten with a harness on which seemed too tight. Again I was napping on the chair on the verandah and this gorgeous ginger tabby wondered up the steps meowing at me. My hubby was napping inside and didn't hear me greet Pumpkin. He hopped onto my lap purring and let me pet him for a while. Making his way on to my shoulder he spotted my husband through the window and promptly went through onto the table hopping down, over to the couch and curled up on his chest. Our friends had requested we put our wedding outfits on again (this would be the 3rd time, once in Gibraltar and again for the reception dinner a week later) and come to their garden to take pictures with them so that they could send them to their children back in the UK. Yes, I know, we couldn't believe it either. Pumkin arrived the morning after the dinner and I promptly took his harness off for comfort fully intending to get him one which fit the next day. He gave us a couple of peaceful hours, stayed until 2 p.m. when we walked over to the neighbours all dressed up again, walked out of our gate and we never saw him again.

In our last year in Spain, Chaussettes arrived. He also walked into the window and onto the table as we didn't need insect screens where we lived. He slept over the odd night if he happened to get locked it here and there on our sofa, spent days with us and happily ate tuna and even cat food we bought for him. We noticed he spent time in the apartment above us tightrope walking along the balcony railing. I saw his "mom" one day and mentioned her cat sleeps at my house if she's ever looking for him. She spoke no English, was French and spoke Spanish. So with my brokent French I repeated my story. She said she loved the film "Dances With Wolves" starring Kevin Costner so named her cat Socks, "Chaussettes" in French. Sadly she and her beau were parting ways and she couldn't take the cat to where she would be lodging and asked if we would want him. On moving day, Chaussettes was hanging with us all day, she just had to bring his litter and pan, remaining food. We had him for 8 months until a speeding driver took his life without even stopping to apologize. Pedro looked for him under the bougainvillea bushes for weeks after we lost him. That was the last straw of many sealing our decision to leave Spain so we sold our home and did exactly that, feeling that Chaussettes was giving us permission to move on.

Now in Canada at the end of our second year we went to an agricultural exhibition in the village. There we met 2 teeenagers one holding a puppy and one holding a kitten barely 5 weeks old. We were parked beside them gushing over their charges. I jokingly said that we have a large dog, and it is inevitable that we will have a cat someday as my husband is the cat whisperer. The young man said "You can have this one" as he heard us half-heartedly protesting. He insisted we take the kitten saying his grandpa said find it a home as there are 15 more in the barn. So after much to-ing and fro-ing we now have Scampy who is 3 1/2 months old, of a yet-to-be-determined gender, completing 3 vet visits, a healthy cat with very long legs indicating a large adult size once grown in to this huge frame. We hope to know whether it is our son or daughter at our visit to the vet next month as she's changed her mind twice. Scampy's weight has quadrupled in 3 1/2 months and is named for a playful nature of scampering about.

Even so young, Scampy senses when I've been at the computer too long, hopping on my lap meowing, gently touching my face to get me to engage, and holding my hands preventing me from typing anymore. That's usually when I consciously realize my eyes are strained and my old neck injury is starting to make itself felt. When my mother calls to check with my hubby if I've been on the computer too long, he tells her not to worry as Scampy is monitoring the situation. I sure keep her on her toes as I move around the world she's no doubt relieved to have Scampy's help, not that it will keep her from making the 1,000-mile journey to do it in person as she does twice a year anyway.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

Fantastic Travel