Reward, Lost Cat, The Search for Spock
Описание книги
This is a true story where the main characters are feline. There are some humans too. It is a story of cat love and loss. It is also a story of two humans finding each other and of human love and bonding. My name is Don Weiser. I had three cats: Jones (who is all black with green eyes and is going on 21 years of age), Spock (who is an Abyssinian and is presently lost), and Sam (who is a huge orange tabby who was a stray). I lived in Albany, NY for 17 years and worked for the Department of Social Services. My wife Beth lives in North Carolina and had three cats: Smokey (who is a lovely lion like gray tabby with the largest head I have ever seen), Maggie (who was a solid black cat with gold eyes), and Rosy (who is also a solid black cat with gold eyes and who is Maggie's daughter). Beth and I are now married (8/90) and live in North Carolina with our six cats. Maggie is dead, Spock is lost, and Junior (the youngster cat who is a tabby) now lives with us. These are the main characters and the story is about how we all came to live together in North Carolina. I hope you find it interesting. It may make you cry, I hope it makes you laugh too.<br><br>My book is meant to help anyone whose pet is lost. What to do, what steps to take before your pet is lost to help ensure that it doesn't get lost and to make recovery easier. If it does become lost, what to do in the first hours, first days, first weeks, and long term up to how to deal with the possibility of never finding your pet.
Оглавление
Donald Jr. Weiser. Reward, Lost Cat, The Search for Spock
Dedication
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Young Me
Chapter 2. How Beth and Don Met
Chapter 3. How I Got Spock
Chapter 4. Spock Wasn't Always Spock
Chapter 5. The Psychic
Chapter 6. I Will Move to North Carolina
Chapter 7. The Case for Neutering
Chapter 8. The Nightmare of Moving Day
Chapter 9. We Arrive In North Carolina
Chapter 10. Impressions of North Carolina
Chapter 11. Spock Is Lost!
Chapter 12. Beth and Don Marry
Chapter 13. Finding Spock Becomes an Obsession
Chapter 14. The End
Quick Reference Guide
Отрывок из книги
This book is dedicated to Spock, who, in only two years brought me much laughter and joy. Also to my wife, Beth, who stood with me and helped me even when the search for Spock became obsessive, chores didn't get done, appointments weren't kept; to my friends Bev and John who came to my apartment in Albany, NY twice a day (even when I insisted that once a day would be enough) to feed my cats in my absence, even on workdays and in the depths of Albany, N.Y. winters when the temperatures can easily be below zero and the snow blowing. To my mother Ella for teaching me to love animals, and finally to the many wonderful people in North Carolina who actually cared about Spock and took time from their lives to try to see that he would be returned to me. Thank you all for your great kindness and help.
I would also like to thank our remaining cats: Jones, Junior, Rosy, Sam, and Smokey for coming into the computer room at all hours of the day and night to check on my progress, to sit in my lap at times and distract me for some petting, to hit a few wrong keys on the computer (I hit enough on my own) and to reassure me that the love between human and animal is a close and special one.
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"If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." Mark Twain. I have this black cat, Mr. Jones, named from the Dylan song about there being "something happening here but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones". As of this writing he is going on 21 years old. I take him to the vet now and then and the vet checks him out and says "your cat is deaf, has a heart murmur, is hyperthyroid, and his kidneys are almost nonfunctional; this cat is in wonderful shape!" I always smile at that.
I had an apartment in Port Jervis, N.Y. after graduating from college (1973 for you "time" people) and was working for the local newspaper. My apartment was on the Delaware River and was six or seven houses from my Mom's house. Jones was allowed outside at this time and would frequently go for walks. One Saturday I was talking to my Mom and she spoke of how this black cat would come to the door and meow. Mom was had a soft spot for animals so it was natural that she would let this black cat come in and she would feed it. The cat would hang out at her home and ask to be let out just before dark. (Jones knew I got worried around dark if he wasn’t home.) The cat turned out to be my Mr. Jones and my Mom's house is the only house he ever went to. Maybe he smelled me in that house or somehow realized the connection between us or, if you're not ready to believe in the sentience of animals, it was just a coincidence. I like that story and I love Jones for ferreting out my Mother's home. Since that time, my Mother has had several all black cats, one at a time. I have heard that black cats live to the oldest age with solid gray cats right behind. White cats tend to live the shortest.
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