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Scooter's Story   The Final Chapter~My Time In The Sun  

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”

(Mahatma Gandhi)

The World According To Scooter

Scooter Drudge

(Nov. 1988 ~ December 11th 2007)

 

Hello and welcome to Kounty Kitties Cat Rescue's home page. My name is Scooter and I am responsible for getting this whole cat rescue thing started.

 

I showed up on the door step of my current human 19 years ago. It was a really cold December and I was only about 6 - 8 weeks old and nearly frozen. My human discovered me at about 2 AM and took me into his warm apartment where I was allowed to thaw out. He gave me some warm milk and insisted that I stay a while. Since I had no other real plans and my original humans had left me when they moved out, I decided to hang out for a bit.

 

After hanging out with this human for a few years I discovered that his name was Derek and that my name was Scooter and that we had a lot in common. Particularly eating, sleeping, and playing. We shared several fun filled years together until one day he showed up with this female human named Sonia. It wasn't even cold out yet he allowed her inside MY house. I could tell right away that there was going to be problems. She always avoided me and sneezed all over my beautiful fur coat every time I came near.

 

Her constant sneezing, coughing, and weezing was really annoying at first, but after a while she kind of grew on me. She was also very generous with the fishy cat food and catnip, which made it even easier. Eventually she moved in permanently and after some time she realized that Derek Was MY human so things returned to normal. I decided to let her live.......

 

 

A short time later we moved into a new house which gave me a lot of new place to explore and hide. Just as I had finally gotten my two humans to behave as they should and was really beginning to enjoy my life in this new environment, Sonia shows up in my living room with another cat. This was a cat straight out of the animal shelter complete with fleas and all. And as if that was not bad enough, it was female! I needed another female around the house about as much as I needed to be neutered again.

Sassy Drudge

 

After about 3 months my two humans were finally able to wipe out the fleas infestation caused by the new addition, Sassy. Now that the fleas were gone all I had to do was get used to her incessantly wanting to lick and cuddle with me (Yuk!) In time life again returned to normal and I reached an understanding with the two females in the house. Life was indeed good again!


Several years went by and all seemed well in Scooterville. Then without warning my two humans showed up, with of all things, a little green feathered squawk box named Cheech. Fortunately for this noisy little snack-sized parrot, they kept him safely incarcerated behind bars. I am not sure what he did, but it does not appear as though he has any chance of parole. Just as I was learning to block out the screeches and squawks of my feathered house mate, he began talking. It is much harder to tune something out when it is constantly calling your name and saying, "kitty, kitty, kitty".

Cheech Drudge


Eventually life again returned to normal and remained that way for several more years. Then one day I detected the odor and sounds of an intruder in my garage. I was sure that my humans were trying to hide something from me and their refusal to allow me into the garage area anymore only served to strengthen my suspicions.


 Sure enough, within a week or so there was kitten running around the house pouncing on my tail every time I twitched it in discontentment. I was going to kill this fuzzy little cretin and frame the parrot, but then I realized the she only had one eye and I sort of felt sorry for her. I decided to let her live. My humans named her Olivia, which must be human for "fuzzy little one eyed cretin". Once Olivia realized that she could chase her own tail and leave mine alone, life returned to normal.

Olivia in quarantine


Then came the big storms that shook my house and sent my humans and I running into the closet for shelter. I saw all 9 of my lives flash before my eyes and was sure that I was heading to that big litter box in the sky. Much to my surprise we survived (even the parrot) to see another day.


After that terrifying experience I was really looking forward to some R&R when out of no where I observed intruders on my private screened in lanai. I rushed out to investigate and discovered that my humans had offered shelter to a stray and her two kittens who had been rescued from the storm. Her name was Fluffy and she seemed to be a nice enough girl. Her two kids were named Charley & Frances after the big storms and they were cute for kittens. I decided to let them live.


Fluffy and her kittens Francis & Charley


Only a few days had gone by before my female human did it again. She come home with another creature in a box. It made all kinds of screaming noises and was actually quite frightening. I heard Sonia say it was a Tasmanian Devil. However, when Derek removed it from the box it turned out to be just a kitten with an attitude. They called her Taz and she gradually became more civilized and less ferocious.

"Taz" (Roxy)

The kittens were only guest on my lanai for a few months before my humans found other humans that wanted to adopt them, but not before Sonia came home with another refugee from the storms. He was the smallest excuse of a kitten I had ever seen. I heard Sonia say that he was about 5 weeks old and only weighed 9 ounces. She took him to the doctor who told her that he was very sick and might not live. I thought "great, more food for me". But as per my usual luck, Sonia nursed him back to health and named him Charley after the hurricane. It has been 3 years and he has not been adopted. He now weighs 16 pounds and I think the humans are planning on keeping him. They seem very attached, I guess I'll let him live.

Charley Drudge


So as me, Sassy, Olivia, and Charley adjusted to living in my house together, I continued to allow the stray (Fluffy) to live on my lanai. I don't know whether I did this because I was getting soft in my old age or because I enjoyed watching the cat fights between Fluffy and Olivia every time she went onto the lanai. It was quite a show!


In no time at all the others adjusted to living by my rules in my house and life again resumed some semblance of normality. Sassy, Charley, Fluffy and I all co-existed peacefully together. Olivia on the other hand lived in her own little world, a world filled with violence towards all living things (except for Derek who she continuously sucks-up to) and particularly towards Fluffy.


Then one night Fluffy discovered a tear in the screen and seized the opportunity to escape further attacks from Olivia. Fluffy fled into the darkness leaving behind her kittens, which I am sure was a difficult decision. She apparently felt secure in the knowledge that Olivia's beef was with her and not the kittens. She also knew that The humans would take good care of them. Sonia called her for weeks and left food out for her. We were able to catch a glimpse of Fluffy now and then but she did not allow herself to be recaptured. That is until one day she showed up sick and disorientated. Sonia found her in the back yard and it appeared as though she had overdosed on cat-nip or perhaps another more dangerous substance. She was barely able to stand and she staggered when she walked. She was also VERY fat in the stomach area. My humans took her to the cat doctor and discover that she had apparently eaten some poisonous lizard that was affecting her nervous system. She was also pregnant, AGAIN!


A few weeks went by and Fluffy gave birth to five kittens in the cage where she had been incarcerated since her previous escape. She had recovered some from her illness and was again an excellent mother to her kittens. She was also safe from Olivia for the time being.

      Fluffy's Five Kittens      


A few months went by and things were again beginning to return to normal around my house. My humans had again managed to find good homes with other humans for Fluffy's kittens. All was quiet for the next couple of years, except for when Olivia managed to break into the private suite where Fluffy was now residing. and then the fight was on. Then one day I was on my lanai with Derek and Fluffy when I heard the unmistakable sound of a kitten. I immediately looked at Fluffy who immediately said, "I didn't do it this time!". The sound was coming from my back yard, and before I could stop him, Derek was heading out the door to investigate. Then, a few minutes later and much to my horror, he returned holding a small yellow and white kitten. Despite my protest he brought the little delinquent into the house and took him to the garage. Suddenly I felt as though I was having a case a deja vu and flashbacks of Olivia's arrival. When I heard my humans referring to the kitten as "SPOT", I knew I was going to have to share my kingdom (and food and litter box) with yet another castaway of society.

 

Sure enough, only a few weeks later, I was again being chased and tormented. Spot was about 5 months old and looked like an alien due to his big ears and feet. He actually turned out to be an okay house mate as he kept the other younger cats busy so they left me alone and Derek seemed particularly attached to him, so I decided to let him live.

Spot


Life was again normal for me and all of the subjects of my kingdom. Then out of no where it happened again. Sonia comes home with a little black ball of fur named Diva and a day later another one named Dexter.

Diva                                    Dexter


And only a few days later she shows up with four more kittens named Grace, Gary, Ginger, and Phantom in one group and Five other kittens in another. She found homes for the five before she even had a chance to name them. I just called the the Furry Five.

Phantom, Grace, Gary                   Ginger                                Furry Five           


As if that was not enough, a couple days later Sonia brings home four more rug rats named Bubba, Bob, Belle, and Billy.

Bubba, Bob, Billy, & Belle


What had I done to deserve this????? The population of my kingdom had more than doubled in the matter of a week. I hope she brought more cat litter! So now Sassy, Olivia, Charlie, Spot, Fluffy, and I attempted to lead a normal life despite the addition of Diva, Grace, Gary, Ginger, Phantom, Bubba, Bob, Billy, and Belle. And lets not forget the Furry five!


Fortunately for me and the other "resident cats", all of these kittens were very cute and cuddly so my humans were able to find good loving homes for them fairly fast. Every time one left to go to a new family I thought, "good, more food for me!". Then they got down to the last one and I thought "great, 13 down and 1 to go"! But nooooo, that would be too easy. I'll be darn if Sonia didn't find another one. This one was near death when she found it after being abandon by it's mother. Derek rushed this tiny poor excuse for a cat to the vet to see if they could fix it. The vet discovered that this kitten had a Botfly larva under the skin of it's neck. Now I am not sure what a botfly is, but when Sonia discovered two more of them and removed them a few days later, they were GROSS! And I thought Sassy's fleas were bad......

Anyway, when I heard them name this kitten Figaro, I knew I had a new addition to my kingdom. Because I felt sorry for the little guy after that whole botfly thing, and the fact that he reminded me of myself when I was little, I decided to let him live.

Figaro


So now we had Phantom & Figaro as the last two "guest" of my kingdom. I could finally see light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, that light was a train full of cats coming my way.

On this train were Max, Shadow, Chip, Robbie, Erika, Pixie, Dixie, Jinks, Tramp, Wags,  and Screechy. And as if adding 11 more  mouths to feed was not bad enough, Wags and Screechy were both pregnant! Within two weeks both mothers had given birth to a total of nine kittens.

Max                                    Chip                                      Shadow

Robbie                                    Pixie                                      Dixie

Jinks                                   Erika                                         Tramp

Screechy & 5 kids               Wags & 4 kids



 

While this whole kitten factory was going on I also started to notice another strange scent on my human, Derek. He would return from the great outdoors with the odor of another cat who  I was not as of yet familiar with. I began watching his every move and spying on him through the windows to the great outdoors. My covert surveillance paid off and I finally caught a glimpse of the intruder. I watched as MY human picked up and petted this black, beady-eyed neighborhood mongrel right in the front yard of my kingdom. I was FURIOUS! That night I over heard my humans talking about naming the new black cat Luther. So I decided to express my displeasure in the strongest way I could. Shortly after Derek lay down in his bed for the night, I got up on top of him and sprayed until my bladder was empty. I think he got my message! Derek never let Luther enter into my kingdom and made him sleep out side on the porch. It is for this very reason that I decided to let him live......

Luther


Now back to the rest of the crew. Sonia made a cat refugee camp on the back porch for all of the kittens. She never let them inside my kingdom unless I was being distracted by a full can of fishy food in a remote part of the kingdom. I am sure that Sonia thinks she had me fooled, but I was playing along because the can food is soooo much tastier than the usual dry stuff I eat. I decided that a can of fishy food was adequate payment for allowing the rug rats the opportunity to run around in my air conditioned kingdom, so I decided to let them live. Sonia named them Candy, Cleo, Lady, Tigger, Tramp, Bella, Kit, Kat, and Pepper

Candy                               Cleo                                      Lady

Tigger                                  Tramp                                Bella

Kat                                     Kit                                        Pepper


I used to look forward to the late afternoon when Sonia would return from work. When I heard the door opening I knew it would not be long before I got fed. Now, however, I also knew that the opening door was probably bringing more kittens as well. I developed a real love - hate relationship with the door into my kingdom. Sure enough, Sonia did it again. This time she brought home Bonnie, Clyde, and Shorty.

Bonnie                                Clyde                                   Shorty

 

It seemed like an eternity, but I guess it was actually only a few months before most of the kittens and the mothers were gone. Sonia had them checked out and fixed at the vet and then turned the mothers loose back to their colony, and found human homes for most all of the kittens. She also took Luther to the vet and had him fixed and vaccinated (serves him right for messing with my human). I finally got a close up look at Luther when he ran in the house behind my human one day. I explained the rules of MY kingdom to him and he seemed cool with the whole deal, so I decided to let him live,.....for now.

 

 

It had been a while since Sonia had brought home any new kittens and I was really okay with that. I was now down to Candy, Dixie, and Shorty and figured it would only be a short time until I was kitten free. Next thing I know Derek Brings home this tiny kitten named Dusty. Dusty was only about 3 weeks old and weighed 10 ounces. I heard Sonia say that she already had another human family that would adopt Dusty when he was old enough, so I decided to let him live. Olive, on the other hand, began plotting Dusty's demise before he was completely through the door. My humans keep him in protective custody for his own safety.

 

Since I am along in years for a feline, I do not move as well as I used to and I have a few health problems. I am having a little bit of trouble maintaining control over my kingdom and I am unable to rule with an iron paw as I had in the past. Basically I just eat and sleep and occasionally conduct a walking patrol around the perimeter of my kingdom just so the other know that I am still around. The one benefit to being old is that my humans feed me separately from the others and they give me the good canned food. This helps me take my mind off of worrying about how they will all survive without me when I am gone.

Scooter & Sassy Drudge

Read: The Final Chapter~My Time In The Sun here

&

 Read Goodbye Old Friend here


"Saving one animal won't change the world, but it will change the world for that animal."

- Unknown -


Email Derek

Email Sonia


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