The Big Black Chicken...



Spooky the scaredy cat

I am sorry to say that we used to have a long-haired black cat but once we moved she became a chicken...

The Story of Spooky the Cat...
Pilchy, our cat that we loved had been missing for eight weeks and we had put out flyers, tried to coax another gray cat out of a neighbors yard (turned out not to be our cat) and had basically given up on finding her.

The kids and I had visited two animal shelters but found them overwhelming - how do you choose between so many kittens and cats?  I saw an ad in the paper from animal control in Millbury.  Someone had dumped kittens off and they were looking for a homes.

When we arrived they had one cat left.  I had neglected to ask about it's hair length on the phone and found myself looking at a long haired black kitten.  She was very sleepy and sweet, with a laid back personality and seemed to like the kids.  I did not want a long haired cat, but how do you walk away from one cat that really needed a home when you've got a home really needing a cat?

So we brought her home and wouldn't you know it at 3 a.m. the following morning our old cat decided to come back home.  I am convinced that she heard the word on the street that we were replacing her...  So then we had two cats.

Anyway, we named her Spooky because she was black (Cassie's friend calls her creepy).  She seemed to like our old cat and her new home.  We had her fixed and wormed and got her up-to-date on all her shots.  She enjoyed going out at night and actually was a pretty good hunter, which was surprising based on how lazy she is -- always lounging about.

Once we sold our house we had a gap in the closings and spent the night at a friends.  It was a very good friend who let us bring all our crap plus our two cats and three children!  She did not like the move.  She spent the time hiding behind the dresser and then escaped and we found her hiding in the back corner of the garage.

We got her safely moved and settled in the new place, but she refused to go outside.  She sat around and ate and slept and showed signs of cat depression...  If we forced her outside she hid under the house until we let her back in.  This has been a pretty cold and snowy winter and neither of the cats have wanted to go outside much.  I am hoping that once spring comes it will change her mind...

In the meantime she has been sleeping and eating a lot.  She looks like she's gained quite a bit of weight since moving and I swear she is as heavy to pick up as my three year old even though the scale says 15 pounds.  We have renamed her the big black chicken, also known as Large Marge.  I am going to have to find a way to make her exercise.

I guess you can't always successfully bring a city cat into the country.  She is scared of the place!  Maybe it's the goats and donkeys in the neighbor's barn, or the pack of dogs up the street, or the coyotes howling at night?  Regardless, we can't help but hope that our large furry chicken will soon turn back into a cat.