Meet Ernie, man of leisure. At 17 pounds, it's a tight squeeze into his Harry and David pear box, but don't try to pry him out of his favorite place to lounge. It's there that he enjoys his delusion that he is one of the few humans in a house filled with felines...You'd never know that this handsome boy had a bit of a rough start in life. Cat Lady Charlene remembers the day that her family visited a Mennonite farm to look at quilts: "As we were saying our goodbyes, the farmer drop-kicked this tiny black kitten out the door and past us about 6 feet. The kitten came screaming up to my daughter, and all I could think is, 'no more cats.' But better judgment prevailed and my daughter reasoned at least the kitten would have a chance with us trying to find him a home.
"Little did we know his condition...he was so dehydrated that he lapped up quite a bit of water we poured into our hands for him to drink. He was anemic from fleas, dehydrated and dying but had the strength to make it known he needed us. We stayed with him round the clock for three weeks until he finally made a turn for the better. And what can I say.... from 8 ounces to 17 pounds, he is now spoiled rotten, babied, and thinks he is human....Somehow he discovered the pear boxes years back. At Christmas, when they arrived, he was known to dig the pears out of the box so he could get in !"
Ernie's housemate Clarence can tell the tale of an equally dramatic rescue. Cat Lady Charlene was visiting an animal rescue in Waimanalo, Oahu on Christmas vacation. Charlene says," We went to find a cat to 'replace' the one we had rescued two years prior from a beach near the shelter, but whose illness finally killed him."Two days earlier a disastrous flood broke a dam above the shelter and killed all of the dogs, but the cats were able to all climb on things to escape. Clarence came running up to us, soft as a little bunny, and we adopted him on the spot. He flew from Oahu to Pittsburgh like a real trooper.
"He is always intrigued with the workers that we hire for different jobs. He will watch for hours, and I take him out on a leash to look over the equipment and tools which he seems fascinated with. He is quite the watch-cat, and takes his role as overseer very seriously. "What a gift they both are."
Charlene is affiliated with an award-winning cat clinic in Pennsylvania and maintains their Facebook page. You can visit their website www.catclinic.net
Wonderful illuestrations,I love black cats.. them if they seem with my son's black cat.. the sebastian!
ReplyDeletehugs,
yasmin
We have 2 female black cats named Roly Poly and Susie. Roly is very small and still quite young, but will probably stay small. She likes to sleep on the table we use for the pc and walk all over the keyboard. Susie is several years old and is my special baby. I got her at the shelter in Az when she was 6 or 7 months old. She sleeps in my bed, either on a pillow behind my head, or up against my shoulder. We also have Roly's sister, who is a beautiful calico and Miss Kitty, who is mostly black, but has some orange running thru it. Miss Kitty is part siamese and very friendly and mischievous. The are all bigger than our Chihuahua, Nina, who plays with them. Nina is also very small. They are quite entertaining to watch. We really do love our sweet little companions.
ReplyDeleteAwwww...what sweet kitties and such a lovely story! I always have to pray hard when I hear of anyone harming a human or animal. We all have to do what we can, and your illustration shows the happy results.
ReplyDeleteVery touching and sweet!
I have to acknowledge that you have captured them perfectly! I actually didn't think anyone would note the subtleties of their differences, but you did! I am so happy with these two I can't wait to see what you do with the two, almost-identical brown torbies : )
ReplyDeleteTheresa--it sounds like Nina has her hands full with all of those giant cats around her (lol)! Thanks for your comment Charlene--and see how easy blogging is? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI, too, have a pair of black cats that I love. I love Susan Faye's illustration of these two sweet boys as much as I love her illustration of my beautiful girls!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful touching stories with a happy ending!!!! And wonderful illustrations, of course :)!
ReplyDeleteawwww! love Ernie and Clarence's stories!! and their paintings are charming! it's great to be among other dedicated cat ladies! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI hate this stupid farmer!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the rescue stories!
Your art is wonderful Faye - thank you Anna for introducing her to me!!
Sorry again - it is Susan! I just love Faye too! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Yael--thanks for visiting from Anna's blog! Don't worry about the name--I'm very fond of the name Faye too! :-)
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