by Marijo Phelps

Created on: October 22, 2010

The RN and the Orange Tabby Cat

“Sue, come here, I think Hooney has a lump on his stomach." Mark had a frown on his face as our orange tabby, the one a few light bulbs short of a chandelier, happens to be his favorite of our four cats. Shhhh, please don’t let the others know.This cat has a pudgy problem, in fact the three year old daughter of a friend saw his photo and immediately said “Mama, that’s not a tabby cat, that’s a tubby cat". However astute that child’s observation might be this cat has never had “lumps".

A few days later we are off on a tiny vacation for this boy who never leaves the comfort of his castle, our house. I thought he was a good traveler. That must have been in the past, the ancient past.I get him situated in the pet carrier which barely fits in the front seat. He has a kitty blanket and mini sand box, what more could he want for the 45 minutes trip into Woodland Park? I am  soon to find out.

The yowling, caterwauling and angst begin before we have the truck door closed. It's nothing compared to the volume that he reaches by the time we get to our gate. I stick a finger through the side of the cage hoping to calm the boy down, he rubs and yowls ever louder.If mommy’s here then she can get me out of this mess.I speak gently in my best kitty soothing tones. The racket gets worse.I notice the new foal of our neighbors – a pretty white baby near our mail boxes. OK that means we are 2 ¾ miles along with only 30 miles to go. Never mind that the speed limits are such that it takes 45 minutes, we can do this, can’t we Hooney?

Out on to the paved road I notice the other neighbor’s rescued zebras and his long haired Scottish cattle but will Hooney look, not even for a minute, he is too busy getting a raw throat. I scratched his chin again, at least he didn’t bite the hand that feeds him.We pass the llama farm, the black eyed Susan flowers are almost two feet tall making a huge carpet for yards and yards covering the whole ground out to the pond. It's stunning but this is not a moment to stop and dig for the camera.

The rhythmic meows in the seat beside me continue at an ever noisier pitch. Yes, this is my very persistent boy.Soon I get a whiff of eau de chat scat. For those of you who didn’t take French in high school, it is just as well. One sniff tells it all. This kitty who hasn't gone outside of his box in his ten years of life has just had a new

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