1974
A Boy Named Kathleen

Kathleen

<photo is actually our cat Tute but Kathleen looked the same>

While at work one day I was talking with  Wendy and the subject of pets came up.   Wendy suggested I get a dog but I said I didn’t care that much for dogs but did like cats so she of course said that I then should get a cat.  I really didn’t want a cat either so I told her that I would only want a cat if it was all white, thinking like there was no way I would find a white cat.   Well, the always optimistic  Wendy grabs the Alligator, not the animal but the student newspaper, which there was always one around laying about in the office.  She opens it up to the classifieds and listed there was “Free, four all white kittens need a good home.”  Well what were the odds of that, it was meant to be. So I called the number listed and they said they had three cats left, one male and two females.  They gave me their address and after getting off work, drove over to see them.  When I arrived, they said there were three left, one male and two females but that someone else had claimed the male.  I really wanted a male cat but they were so cute I decided to take one of the females.  I brought it home and named it Kathleen after the song “Kathleen McArthur” by Tommy James and the Shondells.  Kathleen was fun, I played with her for hours when I was home, and she slept on the bed with me at night.  Well kittens grow quickly and soon was big enough that I started letting her go outside with me and she soon became indoor-outdoor cat which is convenient, no more litterbox.  She knew my van and she would be there to greet me when I got out and then she would follow me into the house.  Several months later I was leaving and Kathleen followed me outside, I got in my van and started to drive away when I heard a terrible screech.  I slam on the brakes, get out and see Kathleen limping away.  I had hit her with the van.  I was devastated, it appeared there was something wrong with her back legs.  I carefully picked her up and drove to the nearest veterinarian crying the whole way.  The veterinarian asked her name, I tell him Kathleen, and he proceeds to examine her then took an Xray.  After the Xray was developed, the veterinarian showed it to me and said her hip was broken but the good news was that he thought, being a young cat, that with care, it would heal and it would be fine.  “Oh, by the way” he said, “you might want to change the cat’s name, it’s a male.”    

I was greatly relieved to hear that Kathleen would be ok.  I took “him” home and made a special bed and put him in it.  For the next week he would eat and poop in his bed but soon was up and back to normal.   I never changed his name, he would always be Kathleen to me.