Jinx [redux]

Boered says: Just four days after my kitten, Siam, was tragically killed, I found a tiny, starving gray kitten along the road, out in the middle of nowhere. Normally I work from home, but that day I had to go to a meeting for work. I was running late (as usual) so I was speeding down the road. About two miles from my house, in a spot where there aren’t any houses, just fields, I saw a couple of dogs up ahead in the road, so I thought I’d better drive slower. While I was slowing down, I saw some fur right along the edge of the road. At first I thought that it must be a dead animal. But just as I was driving past it, a little head looked up and a pair of tiny kitten eyes looked right at me. For a second I thought about just driving on to my meeting, but I couldn’t do it. I stopped and backed up my car to where I saw the kitten. When I got out, it was all bunched up in a ball, too scared to move. As soon as I picked it up and felt all its tiny ribs and spine, I knew I couldn’t just leave him there -- he was starving! Plus there were those dogs up the road and they might hurt him if they found him. So I got back in my car with the kitten and zoomed home. Luckily we still had the cat crate out from the last time I took Siam to the vet. I put the little kitty in it with some food and water (you should have seen him eat!) and then rushed back to work.

When I got home, Jinx was having a fit inside the cat carrier. I let him out but he kept crying his head off. The only time he was quiet was when I held him. Every time I set him on the floor, he’d tear apart my skin trying to climb up my leg. I bought kitten formula and tried to bottle-feed him, but he just chewed on the bottle instead of sucking. So I ended up putting the formula in a dish and he loved it. Plus I gave him canned food and hard kitten food and he ate it without a problem. Within ten days, he was putting on weight, growing like a weed, and zooming around the house like a little whirlwind! He slowly learned to play with the toys we bought him. And if I was in any other room in the house, Jinx would be running all over the place, but as soon as I sat in my office chair, he’d be in my lap.

My 12 other cats weren't very nice to Jinx. They hissed and ran away from him. But the poor little guy kept trying to play with them. One day my husband tied a piece of paper to some string, and -- voila! -- suddenly they all got along! From then on, paper on string was his favorite toy. He also loved to wrestle with the bigger kittens. I sometimes had to yell at them because they got too rough. I don't know why I bothered though, because usually Jinx would turn around and go right back at them! Jinxie used to be scared to death of the baby goats. He really hated it when I still had the bottle-babies in the house. He'd come up to the back door, peek inside, take one look at the babies, and then run away in terror. But now he's finally gotten used to them and it seems that he particularly likes Marvin. I'm always catching him just hangin' out with little Marv.

Now Jinx is a big boy, and I swear he is the funniest, craziest, most affectionate cat we've ever had. He makes me laugh all day long. In the mornings he climbs on my pillow and puts his little paws on my cheek until I open my eyes and give him some attention. Then he just purrs and purrs and purrs. During the day he loves to sit on the windowsill and watch the goats and the other cats playing outside. Don't tell any of my others, but Jinx is my favorite. He’s the most spoiled of all my cats and I love him like mad! I just keep thinking… What if I didn’t have that meeting that day? What if I had been on time for work? What if those dogs hadn’t been in the road to make me slow down? I might never have seen him! I guess it was fate?