Callie Smith Grant - The cat on my lap: stories of the cats we love

Gwen Ellis

G wen, I think its ovarian cancer, and I think its spread everywhere. Im so sorry. These were the grim words of my surgeon in late October. Go home, get your affairs in order, and well operate as soon as we can.

I had surgery in mid-November and learned that I, indeed, had an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. Then there were complicationsintestinal blockageand ten days in the hospital.

I was weary of being in the hospital. I was frightened about my future. I worried if I was even going to have a future. I had been divorced a year earlier and I wondered how I was going to cope with chemotherapy, my job as an editor, and taking care of my house in the country all by myself.

Sometime during those ten days, my daughter began to say, Mom, I dont want you to be alone. I think you need a pet.

Oh, Wendy, how could I take care of a pet? Im so weak I can hardly take care of me.

What about a cat? Cats dont require much care.

Im a dog person, I answered with my and thats final tone. But one night after my concerned daughter had gone for the evening, I began to think about what shed said. We were so focused on my cancer and whether Id live or die that we thought of little else. Perhaps a pet would give me something else to think about. Pets have always made me happy. In fact, Im positively silly about my pets. The doctor had already told me that the very best therapy was going to be a positive attitude.

I went to sleep that night thinking about the kind of pet I might want. In the morning when Wendy came I shocked her by saying, All right, Ive decided I want a cat. I want you to go to the animal shelter and get me a black-and-white tuxedo cat. Since Im a book editor, I think I should have a very literary-looking cat, dont you? His name will be Charles Dickens. Make sure he looks the part. He should have a bib and white mittens and socks, and a mustache would be good.

She didnt make it to the shelter that day because after all those long tiresome days, I was suddenly dismissed from the hospital. But the next afternoon, Wendy got a mommy sitter and then went to get my cat. I could hardly wait for her to get home. When the garage door opened, Judy, my sitter, jumped up to see what Wendy had brought.

It was a young, bright-eyed black cat with a white bib, the compulsory white mittens and socks, and a one-sided mustache. I couldnt believe it. I had told Wendy what I wanted, but I never dreamed she would find the exact cat Id described. Hello, Charles Dickens, I said. He said, Meow.

Dickens had a history. He had been a very frightened stray who went in a rainstorm to a house where he couldnt stay because there were already three cats living there. The lady of the house wept as she took him to the pound and told the attendants, Make sure whoever gets him calls me.

Ill Take the House Salad, Please

Heres a treat for indoor cats. Buy a bag of oat seeds from a feed store or a nurseryoats are very cheap. Plant a handful of seeds in a pot with moist soil and keep covered until sprouting occurs. Water occasionallyout of cats reach for the surprise factoruntil the grass is nice and tall. Then spritz with water, serve up to a happy cat, and let the noshing begin. Water when needed. Grass will wither after a few days. Then dump it and start the process again.

Or, as long as you have a lawn that is not chemically treated, you can pull grass for your cats greens. Look for the greenest and thickest patch. Serve it up fresh on a plate and watch kitty chow down. Toss out whatever your beast doesnt eat right away. One cat lover reports on the first time she offered this green salad to her excited house cats: It was like serving chocolate at a PMS convention.

That evening I called her, and she told me, Im about to have a baby, and I already have three cats. I couldnt keep him, but I just loved him. I prayed God would send him to someone who needed him and would really love him.

I realized in that moment that Dickens had not come to me by chance. Your prayers have been answered, I said. I told her my story and ended with, I need him.