Erin Merryn - Diary of the Cat Named Carrot

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available through the Library of Congress

2021 Erin Merryn

ISBN-13: 978-07573-2390-4 (Hardcover)

ISBN-10: 07573-2390-1 (Hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-07573-2391-1 (ePub)

ISBN-10: 07573-2391-X (ePub)

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher.

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Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.

1700 NW 2nd Avenue

Boca Raton, FL 33432-1653

Cover design by Larissa Hise Henoch

Interior design and formatting by Lawna Patterson Oldfield

Many of you know the story of my cat Bailey, the subject of my book Bailey, No Ordinary Cat, and whose image went viral after I posted video of my daughter Abby singing You Are My Sunshine to him. Bailey was a very special cat with a gentle nature who sadly died shortly before the book was published. After his passing, I had no plans of getting another cat. There was no way wed find another Baileyor even one that would come close to having a personality like his. Mainly, I didnt want to disappoint my girls and possibly end up with a cat that was defensive and fearful of humans. I had cats like this growing up, but it is different when your first cat is so remarkable like theirs was.

As time passed, the thought of getting another cat kept coming into my head. Its good for children to grow up with pets. It teaches them kindness and responsibility. Was I wrong about not getting another cat? Should I reconsider my decision? I prayed for an answer, believing that God would lead me in the right direction as He had in the past.

As luck would have it, a woman named Jennifer, who had followed Bailey on social media, was fostering a pregnant mama cat, an orange tabby like Bailey. She reached out to me a few months after he died and then wrote, The kittens were born, and when they are a little older the girls can come meet them if you would like. As you will read a few pages into this book, one of those kitties was Carrot (though at first they thought she was a boy, and named her Noah). It was too coincidental; I felt it was a sign that Bailey led us to her. It was love at first sight, and we soon welcomed Carrot into our family. Her personality blossomed, and we discovered that she was just as special as Baileysweet, gentle, and always willing to let the girls dress her in costumes and take her for rides in their toy car.

Bailey, in costume, relaxing in the doll cradle.

Carrot, lounging in the same cradle.

Some people think Carrot is Bailey reincarnated because they are so similar. While Bailey and Carrot have a lot of similarities, they definitely have their differences. Bailey was terrified of the vacuum cleaner and of plastic bags. Carrot loves to attack plastic bags and follows me into each room while I vacuum. Like most cats, Bailey would not budge if you put a leash on him. Carrot will walk on a leash like a dog. Carrot likes to snuggle, but she also enjoys her space. Bailey never wanted to stop snuggling, and I loved that about himthough I sometimes couldnt get anything done because he always wanted to be in my lap!

Bailey was a senior cat when my girls were born, but with Carrot they get to experience a kitten. The neat thing is, they are all growing up together. The book that follows is a journey through our first year togetherfrom Carrots point of view!

Both Bailey and Carrot have enriched our lives immeasurably, and I can truly say they are a part of our family. I know that my girls will never forget either of them. So many catsand dogsare living in shelters across the country. I hope this book might inspire you to open your heart and home to an animal in need.

APRIL 1

I came into this world in the afternoon on April Fools Day and started my life with a big surprise. My human foster mom named me Noah but I was actually a girl! It was an honest mistake because 80 percent of ginger cats like me are boys. I have four siblings: three brothers named Walter, Winston, and Ethan and one sister, Stevie. My mamas name is Peach, but I never met my dad. Mama was pregnant when she was dropped off at the shelter and she never saw Dad again. I can tell she misses him. There are some other cats that live here, but Mama hisses at them if they get too close to us. She is very protective.

MAY 21

My littermates and I had visitors today: two little girls, their mom, and a baby. Be nice! No scratching! Mama purred. The oldest girl, Abby, held me a lot. The mom told the other girl, Hannah, to be gentle with us. She hasnt seen how rough we play! They talked about missing their cat Bailey, who died, so now they go to shelters and play with cats that have no homes. When it was time for the girls to leave, Abby begged her mom to take one of us home, but she said, No, your dad wont allow it. We dont have to tell him. Well hide the kitten in our room. Abby said. The mom and our human Jennifer laughed, then Jennifer said that we were still too little to leave our mom. Phew! I was getting nervous. They hugged us goodbye. Abby and Hannah looked sad that they were leaving.

JUNE 3

Mama gathered us all together on our bed this morning for a talk. Her whiskers twitched, which meant it was serious. Ethan probably peed on the carpet again and is going to blame one of us, or maybe Stevie pooped over the side of the litter box as usual. It turned out we werent in troublebut something worse. Mama told us we were going to the shelter tomorrow where we would be for a few days and then find our separate forever homes. We curled up around Mama and cried. I asked her, What if I dont like my forever home? She promised me I would go to a place filled with love and happiness, that I needed to trust her. I hope she is right.

JUNE 4

Jennifer took us to the shelter today. We were scared, but the nice people there put us all together in a cage at the front door by a window. We sat with Mama on a big cat tree. As I looked outside, I saw familiar facesthe mom and girls who visited us! Did they know we were here? A shelter worker took me and two of my siblings to a room where the mom and the girls played with us for a while but then left. Maybe they just came here on their weekly cat visit, or maybe they wanted to see us again before we got adopted. I just hope I go to a home with a sweet family with little kids like these girls. They are a lot of fun.