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Suzy right at home with family

Pet Projects

“NO MORE PETS! You are not bringing that kitten into the house! It’s got to go to the shelter!”

It was a conversation I had with my young teens one day 14 years ago when they brought home “Suzy”, a rather homely gray and white kitten, who they’d plucked from our busy roadside. I made them put her into a crate.

Suzy stayed in her crate less than 24 hours.

“Well, if it goes to the shelter, there are DOZENS of cuter kittens.” Those were my thoughts regarding Suzy.

She was white and a non-descript gray, but it wasn’t a pretty gray, it was almost putty-color, like old fashioned computer monitors were colored- kind of a pinkish beige, like the interior of shabby government buildings. And she had a tiny head, and a big belly, not improved by undergoing de-worming treatment.

The markings on her head looked like a child’s bangs. Her forehead resembled a third-grader who’s had a home-made haircut in time for school picture day.

“She’s pretty homely. No-one will adopt her.” Of course, we all know that there are not enough homes for all the cats and dogs in animal shelters, and I knew what her fate would be. Then we picked her up to cuddle, and the “purr motor” started up, and Susanna M. Loaf (aka “Suzy Meatloaf”) became kitten companion to our other pets.

Animals that are rescued seem to have an extra dose of appreciation for their adoptive families. Suzy is still rather non-descript, with the big belly typical to an indoor house cat, but she has been the sunniest companion who ever loafed in a windowsill now for this past decade-and-a-half.

— Barb Cybart

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