Homer's Odyssey, the Tale of a Cat and How to get too many kittens without trying, really fast.

My name is Homer, and that's my picture from when I was having a really bad day.  And this is my story.

Editors Note: I decided to write this instructable partly in the form of a narrative because I thought it would be more interesting. The story and the history enrich the instructions in this case. There are  some "how too do" things included, otherwise it wouldn't be an instructable . Among them are how to care for an injured kitten, how tame a feral cat (That means wild) and how to wash a kitten soaked in transmission fluid. If you want you can skip the story and go to those instructions, those pages are labeled,  but I think you will enjoy the reading. After Homers tail, or tale, I will fill in the details.

Homer's Story:
My mom was homeless, she didn't live on the streets, she lived in the fields. Her home was wherever she stopped for the day. Her food was whatever she could catch. But she was pretty good at staying alive and she lived out there for a long time. I had a lot of brothers and sisters but as far as I know none of them ever survived. That was just part of living in the wild for a homeless single mom. So we were kind of special, because I and my litter mates were not born out there. The place I was born was warm and quiet and dry and soft. Outside was a blizzard, but this time mom wasn't outside, and for me that was good.

I don't remember that much from those first days. Mostly it was smells and sounds and warm and furry and always something to eat, except when somebody pushed me out of the way. And then there was something else, it wasn't mom, it was big and smelled different. It picked me up but I wasn't afraid, I just went all limp, and it made noises to me but they weren't scary noises and from what I could tell, it was good, and mom was happy so we were all happy. And life was good, and I grew bigger.

Step 1 Growing Up

Then one day something really special happened. I opened an eye and discovered what they were for. Then I opened the other one and my world got a lot bigger. So many things to see, and hear and smell, and it seemed like life couldn't get any better, and then it did. I got to taste food.  I don't think I will ever forget that first time. First there was that sound, the one that I came to love, "here kitty", and then the other sound, a sort of a pop and a tear. And then the smell, oh, what a smell!  When I got a taste of canned food I learned what good is. Eating that good stuff  I really started to grow, and life was so good.

It was all play and eat and sleep.

Comments

[0HeyKitty0]

Did you ever find the mom?


I LOVED THIS STORY!!!
I cried a little... ^.^

[0HeyKitty0]

Did You Ever Find the mother?

[autumnwind3]

I can vouch for what you say about vets being realistic. Two Christmases ago, my vet put my dog on medication for seizures. Within three weeks, my dog's pancreas was shutting down. On the day I finally realized he needed professional help, my vet's office was closing for the afternoon, so they recommended me to another vet in town. A vet with a reputation for being expensive. With my dog fading and the day passing, I took him there. The vet we saw was obviously very compassionate and she was totally up front about how much it could cost to try and save my dog's life. She also offered to put him down, if that was my only affordable option. My daughter was with me and made a plea that whatever we did, the dog should not be allowed to suffer a minute longer than necessary. Then the vet asked me what my budget WOULD allow. I gave her a figure I could live with and she said, "OK. I'm going to take him back and give him a drip and see if we can stabilize him. You two go grab a cup of coffee down the street and come back in 45 minutes. By then I will have some course of treatment worked out that will fit your budget." When we came back, the vet asked me how I felt about needles. I said I had no qualms giving a stick if I had to. She had worked out a treatment plan that let me take my dog home and administer IVs to him there, thus saving the facility costs involved in treating him in-house and coming in just under my budget. Then she called every day to check on him until his treatment was finished! It restored a lot of my faith in vets, I tell you.

[SusanML]

Wow. That's remarkable. Encouraging, too.

[DeceptibotX]

After seeing many of your comments, I've come to think of you as the human version of Optimus Prime. Even though I am a Decepticon, I have to say, good work.

[dwilkinson1]

Lovely story.. I needed that for strength as I am homeless in 2 weeks and about to be living in a tent.. :)
I will find my way home.. when I have one that is...

[Vyger]

I am a little surprised that no one commented about your comment or your predicament . Usually it's the type of thing that starts a conversation going. I thought about starting a a topic in the forums to address it but I don't want to start a political debate. The simple fact is that things are pretty bad in a lot of places right now. I think its worse than what most people realize. So, if you are one of the many who's life has been made very difficult by the current circumstances you have my sympathy. I think it has been caused in part by the fading away of what used to be communities. People used to care about each other on a community level but true communities are disappearing, being replaced with housing developments that are built with the main intention of making money rather than creating a place for people to live.
Anyway, you have my sympathies and I hope things work out for you for the best.

[DeceptibotX]

Very true. Now a days, it doesn't really matter to some people if their neighbor is suffering or not....

Maybe we could make a forum or website where we are all neighbors and care about each other.

[dwilkinson1]

[Cat_Silver]

I too hope that things have worked out and that you are well. I agree with Vyger that living in a community/family setting, in these distressing times, is best. I have been encouraging my family to move to a property in the countryside, houses close together - commune-like, for many years. They are at least listening to me now. My heart goes out to you dwilkinson1.

[praise_song]

Lovely story! My hubby and I currently have two fabulous cats ... at one time, we also had a feral. He was a doll. Alas, we did have to put him down ... all his years of fighting it on the outside just took their toll on him. Ferals don't tend to live as long, due to disease, fighting, the outside elements, etc. Our feral, called "Him", finally succumbed to FLV. It was tragic to watch him deteriorate. In the end, we did the merciful thing.
Thanks for the fun narrative, Vyger ... I enjoyed it!

[Cat_Silver]

Thank you for your narrative and photos. You are a very nice man. "A man who knows the love of a cat is a rich man indeed." I have had the pleasure of caring for over 40 cats and kittens thus far. My husband became entranced by them only 10 years ago, when we married, and the above quote is his. Again. Thank you.

[Totysheep]

Woooow, Nice story! I am totally in love with your kitty family now ;) You're a really nice person to adopt all those cats and giving them such a good life. God bless

[Running Wolf]

passed it along to my mom as well as to the facebook page for the shelter I volunteer at.

[CatTrampoline]

Beautiful, bittersweet story. I am at work and trying not to tear up - this really made me miss our big, old, goofy, nip-head tabby, Bertie.

[Hedgehog77]

That was a truely beautiful story. I even shed a few tears. Your next instructable should be how to write a children's book from a cat's perspective. I'd buy a copy!

[rimar2000]

Very beautiful cats!

And a nice (although a bit sad) history. I will vote you.

[ChrysN]

Great story and adorable kitties, you got my vote!

[Raigmoul]

This is a tail of two kitties .... sorry couldn't resist :-)
Beautiful story and beautiful cats, thank you so much for sharing, you have a real talent and I really enjoyed this.
5*, more if I could.

Cheers,
R

[liba_hunt]

Good story, thanks for sharing!

Once my friends dog got covered in crude oil. First vet washed him then we washed him at least four rounds with dish detergent. He got much cleaner but not clean. But another wash or two few days later with dog shampoo did the trick. So if someone reading this should ever have similar situation - repeat the washing after some time if the first isn't too successful.

[iceng]

A dog type am I, still read your cat tale twice !
Great adventure, gave you 5.

[Ashurii]

Aww. At first I was a bit worried by the picture in the Living section. A picture of a mauled cat was like "Oh jeez what kind of Instructable is this?!"
But once I started reading I got really into the story. My cat Smudge is a bit of a terror and we are sure he might have been half feral (Or maybe he is a pest).
I'll read this to him when I get home and he will probably love Homer's story!

[sunshiine]

Thanks for sharing this Instructable! I really enjoyed your story! So happy he found a good home! Amazing story!

[omnibot]

Aaaawww .. ^_^*

[Kiteman]

What an epic Instructable!

_{Tiny point of information: animals that die in oil-spills are poisoned - crude oil is highly toxic.}

[dreiseratops]

Holy crap I read the whole thing.
How do I nominate for a best of?