Lucky Boys

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