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Kleidsdale's Story
Blackie Jamison
Kleidsdale lived with humans that
bred horses. He had
long fur and was a mixed breed. When he saw humans
come
and make comments on the pretty horses, he got
jealous.
Kleidsdale knew that the horses had much value to
humans,
but what about him? He decided...
Gigi
...to prove to humans that he was valuable too!
After all, mixed
breed cats are just as important as pure bred horses.
And they
can do a lot of things that horses can't, like...
Dwnn and Taliesin (aka The Wicked Twins)
...well,
like keeping purrson's warm by sitting on their
laps or by sleeping wif
them at night. Mixed breed cats
do just as good a job as ovfurs in
helping hoomin beans
keep healthy by...
Jasper Kitty
...listening. We kitties are the best
listeners in the
world, as our humans well know. We seldom
interrupt,
just mew a comforting point or two, letting our
humans
know we care. We also have been proven to lower our
human's
blood pressure, just by sitting with them and
allowing them to pet us.
We give them our wisdom
through our squinting, kitty kiss eyes. Now, I
ask
mew, what horse can do this? Oh, my, but the kitty
is still
distressed because...
Lloyd
...horses require more attention than cats do.
They need
to be fed, groomed and exercised. Cats do depend on
their
humans for food, but they know how to groom
themselves and they also
know how to exercise. Cats
are kind of independent you might say. But
cats need
to be stroked and talked to. The humans reward
for
stroking cats is a wonderful PURR. Cats need cuddling
to know
that they are loved. So why can't humans...
Shibui
...appreciate the value of all these
skills? Kleidsdale
loved his humans, but he was tired of being taken
for
granted. But what could impress them? He looked at the
display
case which was filled with silver trophies that the
horses had won. "If
only I could win a trophy," thought
Kleidsdale, "then my humans would
understand what a valuable
cat I am." Kleidsdale realized that he would
have to enter
a contest where talent was more important than
pedigree.
While he was considering his options, he opened a
magazine
and began reading an article about...
Lloyd
...a cat named Morris who was rescued from a
dog and cat
pound. Morris was discovered by a photographer
who
needed a great large yellow cat to represent a cat food
line
called "Nine Lives." Morris indeed had nine lives
because he was
scheduled to be put to sleep. Lucky
Morris became famous on TV
commercials to sell Nine Lives
Cat Food. He led a very pampered life
and became rich
and famous. "Hmmm," mused Kleidsdale, "I wonder if I
could
become a famous cat. Maybe my humans would pay
more attention to
me then. Or, maybe I could try...
Gigi
...writing a comic strip about me! Look at
Garfield-he is
a regular cottage industry! TV specials! Greeting
cards!
Toys! The sky would be the limit. Hmmmm...I wonder if
they
accept cats at cartooning school...just in case they
don't...maybe I
should come up with a back-up plan...
Spike Brewer
...Hmmmm." Kleidsdale thought and
thought. Back up plans were
tough. So was a kitty taking his picture or
finding someone
to draw cartoons of him. He liked the cartoons the
best.
Felix the Cat, Sylvester, Garfield. They even had their
own TV
shows. With these thoughts in mind he decided to
impress his owners
with...
Sasha Brewer
...his hunting skills. He began to
search the horse stalls
for mice. Since this was a normal activity for
him,
Kleidsdale didn't find a lot at first. He really had to
search
hard for those little mousies. He came across a
whole nest hidden in a
straw pile. Whap, Slap, Nip and
there were seven mice in a pile by
Meowmie's back door.
Back to the barn and he managed to rake in another
dozen
mice. Hunt, catch and drag to the pile by the back door
became
his total focus. By the end of the day, his
stack of mousies...
Lloyd
...piled up so high that Kleidsdale's owners
could not swing
the door open to clear them away. All of the
mousie
offerings were buried out back of the barn. "What a
great
mouser you are!" said Kleidsdale's owners. "I
think that you have set a
mouse catching record. We had
better report this in our local
newspaper. You will be a
famous hometown cat for sure." "Hmmm," pondered
Kleidsdale,
"maybe I will become famous then. Maybe the reporter
will
interview me and take my picture. This could make me
a
celebrity. Maybe I should try something else to become more
famous
besides being a great mouse catcher. Hmmm...." Kleidsdale
thought and
thought. Then he had an idea. "Maybe I can...
Buddha Gill
...become a great artist!" So Kleidsdale
quickly found some brushes
and canvas and began to paint and paint. he
worked so hard,
trying to capture every little nuance of the mice
piles. All
day and night he painted away till his Meowmie
said...
Note written by Lloyd as Editor:
There is a break in the story at
this point and the next
entry was lost. The story continues with
this entry:
Mayo
Kleidsdale decided one day to find out what was so special about
them
horses. He snuck into the barn and watched as human after
human
groomed them. "That's it!" he said to himself. "If I
groom myself like
that then maybe they will comment on how
handsome I am." So he groomed
and he groomed and he groomed
until there was nothing left but a
hairball and a beautiful
furred kitty. He pranced through the house so
proud of
himself. He went out to the barn to look for the humans
and
all the horses looked at him in amazement. They could
not get over how
handsome he looked. But, the humans still
did not notice!! He decided
he was going to run away. He
ran and ran as the rain poured down. The
humans was so
furry worried when they noticed he was gone that they
set
out on a city wide kitty hunt. When he was finally found
he was
soaking wet and covered in mud. His human Meowmie
picked him up and
cuddled and loved him like never before.
That is when he realized, love
is not what you look like,
but who you are inside...
Shibui
...But then his Meowmie said, "Oh my, now I
have mud all over
my new white blouse. What you need is a good bath!"
"Oh,
dear," thought Kleidsdale, "I must still convince my
humans
that my appearance doesn't reflect my true value." After
the
ordeal of a bath, his Meowmie fluffed him dry and put
him to bed. It
seemed like he had only drifted off to sleep
when he heard the jarring
sound of an alarm clock. It was
still dark outside and he wondered why
it went off at the
crack of dawn. Then he remembered...this was the
opening
day of the annual State Fair. The horses were competing
in
an event and his humans had to get them ready to leave
early.
They usually left Kleidsdale at home when they took
the horses to a
show. But this time, things would be
different. Kleidsdale began making
a plan, but he would need
the horses' help. Very quietly he...
Sammy Brewer
...snuck out the back door between the
human's legs. He proceeded
to the empty horse trailer and peeked in. It
looked so big and
was furry dark inside. Kleidsdale saw the humans
leading the
horses toward the trailer and without a second thought
he
darted inside and hid in a corner. One of the horses
spotted him
and snickered a hello. Kleidsdale shushed the
horse and quietly told
them his plan. He was furry scared
when the trailer started to move but
the mare touched him
with her soft nose. He settled down to nap until
they got
to the State Fair. When he awoke...
Lloyd
...he heard the hoomans undoing the latch of
the horse carrier.
He stayed hidden in the corner. But his Meowmie saw
him
there. "Oh, Kleidsdale!" she exclaimed. "How did you get
in
here?" "Meowr! I wanted to help show the horses. Please
let me ride one
of them. Wouldn't it be different to see a
cat showing a horse?"
responded Kleidsdale. "Hmmm," thought
his Meowmie. "What kind of plan do
you have, Kleidsdale?"...
Mayo
...Kleidsdale said, "I have an idea. I look so furry nice and
groomed.
Why not let me ride one of them horsies when mew show them?
I
will add to their beauty. What mew say?"...
Lloyd
...Kleidsdale's Meowmie said, "OK, you can ride
the mare. She
knows what to do." So Kleidsdale rode the mare and
the
audience clapped enthusiastically for them. The mare
and
Kleidsdale received a Best of Show trophy for their
performance.
Kleidsdale and the mare headed back to the
stalls where all of the
horses were staying while the other
horses' awards were going on in the
main arena. All at
once, Kleidsdale heard: "Fire! Fire!" A fire had
started in
one of the horse stalls. Quickly Kleidsdale and the mare
led
all of the horses from the stalls to a well-lit parking
lot
where the owners could find their horses.
Kleidsdale noticed...
Spike
...the TV cameras rolling. He was getting film
made of him.
He was going to be on TV! The TV reporter was talking
to
his humans and petting him. Everyone was saying how
wonderful he
was. This was what he wanted and it was
happening.Then Kleidsdale's
human lifted him from the mare,
cuddling him close and told him how
special he was. As he
started to purr he knew that this moment was the
most
important moment in his life. He didn't really care that
when
the 10:00 news that night covered the story about the
horse rescue that
the main focus was on his daring and bravery.
The End
The story of Kleidsdale was written from September 4, 2000,
until October 25, 2000 and is dedicated to BabyCat
Milliken,
a Charter Member of Older Cats Society and a talented poetress,
who passed over the Rainbow Bridge on July 25, 2000.
  
© Older Cats Society
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