Rubber Stamp Kitty Feet
Cute Things That Inspire Me
By Chris Dunmire
One day not so long ago I remarked to my cat that her paws looked like rubber stamps. She ignored me in favor of cleaning the nibs of her toes. Then I said, "Remember when you left a footprint in my neatly-raked Zen garden?" She stopped licking for a moment and looked at me as if it mattered. "I didn't get mad because it was such a darling impression of you." I wrote about that experience exactly one year ago.
I don't know what it is with kitty toes and the impressions they make, but I love 'em. One day kitty indulged me when I insisted on taking a few photos of her feet while hubby gently cradled her in his arms. As soon as the photo shoot was over, she gladly squirmed out of his hands and trotted off on her rubber stamp feet.
Today I found her napping in the folds of a green patchwork quilt on my bed. I gently stroked her soft kitty fur and she began purring while stretching with a wide yawn and sleepy eyes out onto her back, adorable kitty toes spread and pointing into the air. I smiled and kissed her head while stroking her some more, getting a quick glimpse of her long, lower tummy surgery scar still healing from September. She had a bladder stone removed at the vet and is recovering well for a 15-year-old. I'm not sure how many cat-years that translates into, but she doesn't seem to be in pain anymore. Scars and stripes, I love all of her. Even the throw-up piles she leaves on our burbur carpet.
For 10 days following the surgery kitty had to wear a plastic cone around her neck to keep from licking her wounds, and she was such a miserable sight. It was heartbreaking to see her bumping into corners and getting stuck in tight spots on account of that cone, not to mention suffering from lack of normal hygiene licking, but we quickly adopted some cute nicknames for her that made us smile. She didn't particularly seem to care for "Funnel Head" and the contraption didn't keep her for long from jumping up and lounging on the sofa arm rest, nor the loft's low-ledge wall with an easy 10-foot drop below. Once I seen Funnel Head up there one morning taunting me with her accomplishment I knew she was on the mend. I still took the cone off on day 9 to alleviate her misery, and the missing ring of fur around her neck is still growing back. She's enjoyed extra tuna each day ever since.
As I'm immersed in this piece of writing right now, kitty has jumped up and is walking on my desktop adored in my attention, getting sweet pets in between my type-written sentences. As we're face-to-face, she's purring and drinking in all of my love and affection, with occasional meows of happiness calling to me, trying to finagle herself onto my lap.
To my fur-daughter, my adopted baby kitty cat since 1996, I so love you with your cute pink nose and nubby kitty toes. Yeah, she's a family member, alright. We share a special relationship and I have defensive instincts for her like a momma bear for her baby cub. I can see why the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats...and mine has never forgotten. •
Sweet baby kitty toes, 2009
© 2009 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com. All rights reserved. |
