Mary, queen of cats

the day-to-day of a grey, furry thing

Enter the fluffy fing

buried in the ' , , ' sandboxes by Nikki at 19h35 on Wednesday, April 25, 2007

My Favourite Photo of Mary

Mary is my little gift from The Universe.
After we came back from New Zealand, I missed having companion animals. But our situation was unstable and we did not know what was happening from one day to the next, so taking on animals was certainly not a good idea.  Once we found work in Johannesburg and started building a new life, we adopted a big blue-steel gray Great Dane after removing her from an unhealthy environment.
Gia and I bonded almost immediately and she never managed to bond with anyone else. I nursed her back to health and she turned into a beautiful, healthy, big dog that I loved dearly.

Sadly, we had to give her away when we learned we had to move away. If I could have kept Gia, I would have. I adored that dog. I suffered a broken heart when she left us.

Two evenings before we were due to move from Gauteng to the Cape (and the day after we gave Gia away), we heard a soft meow coming from the bushes outside the back door at the kitchen. My first thought was of a cat trapped in the thicket and needing help. This was strange as I had never seen or heard any cats in the vicinity. We lived on a busy street and thus it was not a cat-friendly environment.
I immediately went to investigate, and as I came closer to the bushes, out jumped a blue-steel fluffy cat, in perfect condition. The cat immediately walked straight past me and straight into the house. This may not seem like an extraordinary thing for a cat to do, but this particular cat turned out to be a shy and oversensitive cat that was very wary of humans.

We did not want to take on another animal so soon after Gia and especially seeing as we did not know where we were going to live or how long we would be stable for. The last thing we wanted was to get fond of another companion animal and have to say goodbye because we could not keep it.

I was willing to take a gamble. This cat was EXACTLY the same colour as Gia and she came out of nowhere. We discussed the matter and it was decided that if we could not find the “owners” of this cat before we moved, we would adopt her.

Needless to say, we never did find her previous “owners” and Mary became a very important part of our lives and our little nucleus family. Life has not been the same since.

13 Comments »

3

Comment by Jackie

April 25, 2007 @ 20h38

Great blog Nikki :) I have signed up for the RSS so I know when you post.

Mary is absolutely adorable. It’s funny how cats will often pick where they think will be happy. I have a friend whose last three cats basically walked in the door and stayed.

Don’t forget to sign up for blog directories like I have as it gives me over 500 hits a day. You can see them on my blog.

4

Comment by Lize

April 26, 2007 @ 11h31

Hi Nikki

So great that you started this, she is absolutely gorgeous!

We had 4 cats, now only 3 since the “old lady” went to Rainbow Bridge – 3 years ago yesterday. All 4 the felines simply showed up at our door, ok, one was found in a toolbox at a construction site.

My thoughts are that there is a secret signboard only visible to animals at our doors and it says “queue here for paradise”…LOL!

I’ll spread the word, far and wide.

5

Comment by Kimberley

April 26, 2007 @ 13h50

Hi Nikki. I absolutely love the new site and have fallen in love with your Mary too. I’m going to try and work out how to sign up for new blogs – as it’ll be fun watching. Love Kim xxxx

6

Comment by Anina

April 26, 2007 @ 13h57

Maatjie, love the diary! I will be following diligently. :)

7

Comment by Vanessa

April 26, 2007 @ 14h11

Hey Nikki,

Trust you are well! What a great blog! Thanks for sharing it with me…

Mary is absolutely gorgeous, I’ve always thought of cats as very independent creatures…it would go without saying that they chose whom they want for owners.

We must all remember the conditional love animals give us, a healing power in itself.

Keep up the great work Nikki!

9

Comment by Angela

April 26, 2007 @ 14h37

Oh Nikki!! Mary is adorable!! She looks just like my Rahja!! I showed you his picture…they look like brother and sister!!
I loved your blog! Thanks for sharing wonderful moments with me!

Love,

Angela and the gang :)

10

Comment by Johannita

April 26, 2007 @ 23h19

Great stuff girlfriend! Cannot wait for next entry. Take care and love to Mary.

Johannes

11

Comment by Connie

April 27, 2007 @ 9h22

“Within our reach lies every path…we ever dreamed of taking.
Within our power lies every step…we ever dreamed of making.
Within our range lies every joy…we ever dreamed seeing….
Within ourselves lies everything…we ever dreamed of being” (Amanda Bradley)

From one fanatical cat lover to another – “what you are doing is awesome”. I just love you to bits! Thank you for caring the way that you do!

…I have seen you happy…and seen you cry in utter despair…after single handily rescuing a tiny trapped kitten everyone just walked away from…there are few real genuine souls walking this earth and I believe you to be one of them! (soft heart or not)

Wishing you tremendous success with your Blog …may it touch many people’s hearts and reach their minds – propelling them into action…the way you intend it to.

(M.E.R.C.Y. Animal Rescue)♥

13

Comment by Eve Fritz

April 29, 2007 @ 17h38

Hello Nikki,
Got your blog through Connie of M.E.R.C.Y. animal rescue. I love your story about Mary; reminds me of the books by Chrystal Sharp, the vet’s wife in Dolphin Bay. We also found a cat in our garden, she was in a terrible condition, but, like your Mary, just walked into our house and has never left since.
A tortoise Persian cat, Catootje is her name. A beauty and quite a character. We adore her.
Thank you for starting this blog. I’ll hope to hear a lot more about your animals.
Love
Eve

14

Comment by lisa salazar

May 2, 2007 @ 4h43

She is so adorable! I have two cats myself. They are such a joy. I could not live without my babies. You have a great site. I really enjoyed it. I will be back visiting often.

19

Comment by katy

May 17, 2007 @ 14h01

Hi Nikki,

lovely blog:) mary is beautiful. Cats make the world such a better place. love from me and my tomcat tiggy
x

107

Comment by Mary Smith

November 29, 2007 @ 21h40

Love the blog. It’s my way of keeping in touch with you.
Hope you and yours are all well.
LOL
MM

264

Comment by eliza

June 24, 2009 @ 12h56

this pic of the cat is really pretty its amazing !!!!!! love eliza xxxx

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