This article was originally posted as a comment on Catster to the article 6 Reasons My Cats Are the Luckiest Cats in the World by Catherine Holm. It is told from Parker's perspective.
« I was born in the shed, to a farm cat who was herself born feral. We think her mother may have been an abandoned housecat.
« That does not sound too lucky, but remembering my roots helps.
« I had human contact all through her kittenhood and knew my human's lap. I got to run and play. My mother taught me how to hunt mice and birds. I had a litterbox in the shed, and a blanket I could lie on with the other kitties. The shed kept us dry on rainy days and nights. There were big dogs, but they helped keep the coyotes from eating too many of us.
« We went for rides when we were big. Some of the other kittens went to new homes, but many were still farm cats -- just somewhere else. He usually kept me in the carrier then.
« When I was about eight months old, and some of the other eight-month-old adolescent kittens thought I should maybe have kittens, I was spayed and returned to the shed. I got to ride in the front seat both ways to the clinic.
« I left the shed after the first of the kittens were born about two weeks before my first birthday. My human kept an eye on me to make sure I still got to eat. He sometimes gave me better food than the rest of the ferals.
« About five months after that, I went with that human to an apartment where I get all kinds of attention, good food, a clean litter box, and a tick-free environment. No chiggers either. And he lets me sleep on his bed at night and feeds me early in the morning. If he thinks it's too early, he'll brush me with a nice purple brush. And in the evening. If I can't wait that long, he has dry food for me too.
« I get to look out the windows at the birds. He built a tower of boxes so I can see out the windows that are too high.
« He also plays with me! He has some feathers -- nice, big owl feathers -- that he lets me chase, although sometimes I prefer the other end of the shoelace. And he has toys that he lets me get out of tubes, like I used to get the baby bluebirds out of their nests when I was back on the farm. He also lets me jump on his shoulders when I've been climbing. I used to do that in the shed, too.
« And for my birthday, he gets a special duck-flavored food for me.
« He sometimes even lets me type on the computer :
« jhnf »
That's what she would say.