Dan Hughes cat Louie

vickie25 · ‎08-11-2012

I wanted to post this Dan Hughes blog about his cat. He talks alot about his dogs, but not about the cat he rescued. It's a heartwarming story, especially due to their connection with Christmas.

Do you believe in Christmas miracles? Well here is one for yah. Kelly and I are "dog" people. You have probably seen photos of our four legged family members. But there is one resident here I have not told you much about. His name is Louie and he is MY cat. I say that only because as sweet and loving as Kelly is towards all of God's creatures, for some reason this cat hates her. He never misses and opportunity to bite her ankles whenever she walks by. And it's not just her, Louie hates everybody.

When we rescued him 10 years ago he had a piece missing from his ear from a fight he probably won and has redefined the meaning of the word mean. Even the dogs keep their distance. One time he beat the ****** out of my dog Voodoo so bad I thought the poor pooch would need hours of psychotherapy to get over it. We still don't know the mental ramifications of a 50 LB. Australian Shepherd who works cattle, bulls and other livestock being bested by a cat. Even to this day if my dog sees a cat, any cat, he runs with his tail between his legs to the front door.

So the decision was made that Louie would be our barn cat. Me being the softy I am (and getting to the age where I too might soon become the grumpy old man) moved his fluffy cat bed, toys and water to the heated garage. Louie had full run of the farm and we took to calling him "The Mayor". Every day when I would do chores he would show up, sit on a fence post and watch me. Every year at Christmas for the last decade we had our unspoken ritual. I would climb a ladder to the roof and string Christmas lights, he would magically appear allowing me the honor of scratching his head for ten seconds. Anything longer than ten seconds and he would bite me and run off.

Well about two months ago Louie showed up missing. I would faithfully check his food dish every night but it seemed he was gone. Not knowing just how old he was, we wished for the best but to no avail. Tonight I was once again up on the roof and for the first time in ten years I am behind on my Christmas lights, some of it has been work responsibilities and other pressing issues but to be honest a little bit of my heart has not been into it this year. With just one last strand to hook up I heard something. I turned around and he was there! Up on the roof, just like all those other quiet winter nights. Looking a little tattered but not much thinner he was back. Apparently some kind folks thought he was a stray and tried to domesticate him and I assume after numerous scars and the worry of tetanus had given up. I swept him up in my arms, sat down on the roof and cried.

If you drive by the farm tonight you will see that the lights are lit, Louie is back and all is right with the world.

P.S. Seconds after Kelly took this photo tonight, Louie bit me and jumped down, welcome home buddy!

Happy Holidays!

Dan

vickie25 · ‎08-11-2012

I forgot to mention this was posted on 12-07-17.

Here is the link to the story in case you would like to read the comments or leave one yourself.

Click Here

NorthernLights · ‎07-01-2016

That made me tear up and laugh, bless Dan for that. Those poor animals can't really tell us what they've been thru during their lives. I always really appreciate people who take the time to help our animal friends in any way they can.

vickie25 · ‎08-11-2012

@NorthernLights wrote:
That made me tear up and laugh, bless Dan for that. Those poor animals can't really tell us what they've been thru during their lives. I always really appreciate people who take the time to help our animal friends in any way they can.

I didn't just tear up, I balled my eyes out. Grew up with cats. We never owned a dog in my family. Luckily all of our cats loved everyone in the family, though our siamese was a handfull. We learned not to walk around the house barefoot because he would attack our toes. This cat loved chicken bones. When my mother would make chicken, he'd run into the kitchen and wait for dinner. He didn't want the meat, just the bones. And heaven help you if you walked near him as he was eating them. lol Still miss him 45 years later.

NorthernLights · ‎07-01-2016

@vickie25 wrote:
I didn't just tear up, I balled my eyes out. Grew up with cats. We never owned a dog in my family. Luckily all of our cats loved everyone in the family, though our siamese was a handfull. We learned not to walk around the house barefoot because he would attack our toes. This cat loved chicken bones. When my mother would make chicken, he'd run into the kitchen and wait for dinner. He didn't want the meat, just the bones. And heaven help you if you walked near him as he was eating them. lol Still miss him 45 years later.

It is really amazing the memories pets give us. Some of the memories I have are better than some of the humans I know. I loved hearing about your siamese, I have 3 abyssinians and one of them...Elf... If she smells food anywhere near you, you had better hope she isn't feeling hungry. If you want all your fingers.

SUHsE · ‎03-12-2017

So Sweet♥️

Mimi 1883 · ‎03-15-2010

Louie is beautiful! Looks exactly like Bobby Flay’s cat, Nacho.

F/N/A luvstogarden

SXMGirl · ‎07-07-2010

You can always tell the character of someone when they take in a cat like Louie. He is much like our late Lola, who showed up one day demanding food, not liking us, and hissing at everyone who ventured toward our door. She was beautiful, just like Louie, but could be a terror. We loved her regardless. Thank you for this wonderful story and so glad that he is back and all is well with Dan's and Louie's world.

The next time that I hear salt and ice together, it better be in a margarita!