Horatio

Hello everyone, I thought I would share a quick post about Horatio.

I was surprised one day to see a little cat outside of my office window.  As my office is in the city and there are no homes nearby I wondered where he came from.  It was immediately apparent that he was in very poor condition with very dirty fur, bite marks on his neck and abcessed wounds on his arms.   We provided him with water and kibble which he gobbled up and then he promptly curled up into a little ball and fell asleep in my office.

He was clearly a stray and in need of medical attention.  I packed him into a cardboard box and hurried him to our veterinarian.  The poor little fellow had a high fever and was dehydrated, our vet said that he would not have lived another 2 days.  So we paid for his bills and brought him home!  As we have other cats he needed to stay in isolation for a few days so we kept him in the barn.

Many years ago we had two very old barn cats.  We thought that Horatio could live in our barn where it is warm and sheltered and he could catch mice.  He however had very different ideas.  His new life as a house cat was determined when he escaped from the barn and wouldnt go back.  We had no choice but to bring him inside.

He quickly learned that he was safe and would be well looked after.  It didnt take long for him to start exploring outside and patrolling the veranda railings is one of his favourite activities.

We are not sure what is so much fun about rolling around on a stone wall but it is something he enjoys a great deal.

It did not come easily but eventually Charlotte and Chantal learned to barely tolerate having another cat in the house.  As the ladies are older they find him rather annoying and we have had many cat scuffles.  Horatio is still very kitten like and loves to play.  He is very affectionate, loves to cuddle, purrs constantly and sometimes seems to think that he is a dog.  

So many strays end up in shelters or lose their lives trying to survive.  Horatio is so fortunate that we found him and were willing to pay for the care he needed.  If everyone would spay or neuter their pets these situations could be avoided.

Horatio is one lucky little cat although from his behaviour it often seems that he thinks that we are the lucky ones!

~Thank you for visiting~