Dusty

This is Dusty’s story

Dusty Dusty Dusty…What can I say? Dusty is Dan’s cat. I know we shouldn’t divide up the family…but with a cat like LuLu, we needed to make sure that no added stress of sharing me with someone else would be placed on the oldest baby.

Dusty was brought to us a couple of years ago. She was found by one of Dan’s friends on Decarie service (just off the highway). Apparently, our friend was driving along when she noticed a grey and white kitten standing on top of the divider holding up her paw. When our friend got closer, she noticed that the little kitten’s paw was actually hurt, so much so that bits of her toe pads were flapping in the wind…the kitten was full of car oil and seemed distraught. As soon as our friend pulled next to the cat, the cat jumped in the car through the window…or so the story goes. Our friend could not keep the cat, so she called Dan…the guy with the biggest heart who has trouble saying no to needy beings.

I got a call from Dan saying we are going to have a new addition, a little kitten in distress. Who could say no to that? Again…little did I know.

Subsequent vet visits for the injured paw as well as all the ‘necessary shots’ and the sterilization cost us around $1500. We were not going to let this cat go. So we kept her. Dan took amazing care of her, changing her bandage everyday and administering her medication. The first three weeks Dusty was with us, she spent most of her time under tranquilizers (I KNOW!!! But that’s what the vet told us…we were paying $50/visit to get this advice…) being taken care of by Dan. So naturally she became attached to Dan, and I became the ‘stupid female owner of the mean fat tabby’ to her. Or so I felt.

Dusty quickly let us know that she is an outdoors cat by spending all her time outside and only coming in to sleep and eat. And this was fine by us. Once we even received a call from a neighbor politely asking us to get our cat off their couch because she won’t leave…She is very friendly and street smart. She started bringing us gifts: mice and big insects. Both scare me, mostly the bugs…but we were grateful and thanked her…although stepping on something small, warm, soft and furry right outside the bedroom door on the way to the bathroom at 6am…not a fluffy feeling!

Dusty made friends with the court cat, Bruce Lee AKA Zorro. We would always see them hanging out together. At first Bruce Lee took Dusty around, showed her the neighborhood. Then they started to chill together on court’s steps. When I’d come home from work I would see them hanging out and they would both run towards me to say hello….well…Bruce would walk slowly behind Dusty.

When Bruce decided to adopt us, Dusty took on the role on his protector, protecting him against LuLu who, to this day, pounces on the poor guy every chance she gets. Dusty showed Bruce where the litter box was and how to use it (Bruce is totally feral)

When the kittens came in, on January 1^st, we hoped that Dusty would take on the same role, taking the youngsters under her wing protecting them and showing them around. Man were we wrong!!!! She totally disowned us! She took her stuff and moved upstairs, at Dan’s best friend Alex’s place. If Dusty ever saw the kittens, she attacked them, hissing and hitting.

But the nice vacation at Alex’s could not last forever so now she is back home and having to deal.

The main challenge with Dusty is that she seems to be addicted to carbs. Feline diet is discussed somewhere else but suffice to say that cats SHOULD NOT EAT CARBOHYDRATES. Cats are obligate carnivores. We have decided to stop feeding her special diet (I would cook chicken and steam carrots for her because it is the only thing she will eat outside kibble and cans) and to start feeding her raw. Cats are not stupid, she will not starve herself, and I will be keeping a very close eye on her.

This is our goal with Dusty.