Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

I really should read my own blog.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Early Morning Open Thread: Thank-you Flowers

Early Morning Open Thread: Thank-you Flowers

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From commentor BeaBea:

Several years ago, five cats suddenly started hanging around my house. At least one of them was in heat, and my neighbor and I were often awakened by the yowling at night. We started feeding the cats because we couldn’t let them go hungry, so of course they stuck around. We found out later they had belonged to some people down the street; they had moved away and just left the cats behind.
__
The yowling continued and we wondered what to do. I was maxed out on indoor pets, and my neighbor is actually allergic to cats, so neither of us could take them in. Taking them to the animal shelter was not an option; this part of Louisiana has one of the worst euthanasia rates in the country. Taking adult stray cats to the shelter would have been a likely death sentence. I made some phone calls and found a local feral spay/neuter program that would fix the cats for $35 each. My neighbor and I agreed to split the cost, we got all of them fixed, and decided to let them stay. The yowling stopped and they became our “porch cats.” Over time, all but one became tame and friendly, even though their missing left ear tips mark them as sterilized ferals.
__
One day, my neighbor began finding pink flower petals on her front porch; they were banana flower petals. Odd, because neither of us has any banana trees out front; the nearest ones are at the back of my property, along the fence. She swore the cats were bringing them. I thought that was crazy, and that surely her husband must be playing a joke on her. But then the petals began appearing on my front porch too, on the door mat near the porch cats’ food bowls. I began finding “stashes” of petals by the side of the house, and a few scattered on the front walk.
__
Then one day, while working in my study that overlooks my back yard, I looked up and saw Tom, one of the porch cats, carefully carrying a pink petal in his mouth. He went under the back deck, and from there, under my house (all the houses here are built on piers; nobody has a basement). Later that afternoon, I found a petal on my front door mat.
__
Of the five porch cats, Tom is the only one we’ve ever seen carrying flowers. To this day, we have yet to catch him in the act with the camera, although we have tried. If he knows you’re watching him carrying a flower, he’ll drop it and walk away. It’s as though he wants to keep it a secret. He’s our secret admirer. But when I go out to feed them in the morning and find petals at my door, and I bend down to pick them up, Tom comes right up to me to get his praise. Sometimes, he lies down and goes to sleep next to his flower, as if to guard it until his gift is found.
__
This has been going on for a few years now. The banana trees bloom from early summer till late fall. Then, there’s a break until late winter when the camellias drop their flowers. He’ll start bringing camellias until those are gone in late spring, then there’s another short break in the “deliveries” till the bananas bloom again. The elongated pale pink petals are from banana trees; the bright pink ones that look more like whole flowers, are camellias. The camellia trees make a lot more blooms than the bananas do, so when the camellias are dropping their flowers, it’s not unusual for him to bring a whole bunch during the night, as in this picture from last March.

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    What an extraordinary and beautiful story! Thanks for the great pix and story. I love waking up to the rescue tales.

  10. 10.

    bemused

    A friend forwarded an email about Dr. Martin Goldstein who says pets are over vaccinated which causes much harm to them. I had not read this before and am always skeptical about these type of emails. Any BJ pet owners know what the facts are?

  11. 11.

    Cat Lady

    Lovely story! I have three ferals I feed every day too, and as I sit here, there’s a “gift” for me right outside the door this morning – some poor little sparrow has seen its last sunrise. Flowers, please guys, mmmkay?

  12. 12.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    My male black cats just bring me regurgitated mouse so this is a particularly lovely story. Thank you so much.

  14. 14.

    ocean man

    I have to pass this story around. Love how pets surprise you. I dont have any heart warming pet stories. My cat does leave me stomach turning, half-eaten voles just about every morning. The other night he dropped a terrified, but still quite lively rabbit with a flesh wound in my foyer at midnite. Yes nothing says bedtime than chasing a rabbit with 3 cats around the house. Thank god for slippery wooden floors. Yes the rabbit was caught and released.

  16. 16.

    WereBear

    @bemused: I had a friend who lost their cat because of this; a tumor formed at the injection site. Now they try to rotate those; good practices is no longer to vaccinate every year.

    I think it is worrisome enough to get my cats done every three years or so. They are indoors only, which helps me stretch it out.

  17. 17.

    bemused

    @WereBear:
    I know our dogs don’t get vaccinated for the same things every year. Is rotating vaccinations the norm in vet clinics now?
    btw, because you are very knowledgeable about cats, what do you know about the Siberian breed? I’m very attracted to that type of cat (large, furry, purry) and think a few cats we’ve owned (er, owned us) must have had some Siberian or Maine Coon genes. The claim that they are less allergy provoking is of interest to us too.

  21. 21.

    Beth

    What a handsome boy and he obviously loves you both very much and wants to show you. Our indoor-only kitties have these spongy ball toys that they carry around the house and deposit in our bed and all around the floor at night as offerings. :-)

  22. 22.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Great story, and much better than a dead rodent in your shoe.

    @WereBear: Our vet said that may have been what caused my cat’s cancer. I’d never heard of it until last year. Apparently there isn’t a whole lot of research. But they rotate injection sites, just in case.

  25. 25.

    Woodrowfan

    sweet story. ty. 8-)

    But how soon until some nooge shows up to whine about how we’re “interfering with nature.” ???

  28. 28.

    Josie

    Thank you for this. I have come back to read it several times and it has made me smile each and every time.

  29. 29.

    SBJules

    I’ve had mouse tributes, but flower petals are outstanding and unknown in my house. Wonderful story to start the day.

  30. 30.

    Ash Can

    What a wonderful story, and what a great way to kick off a Monday morning. Ditto on the children’s book idea.

  31. 31.

    Nicole

    Fantastic start to a Monday. It’s so nice to hear of a cat that understands that gifts are meant to be what the recipient would like, not what you would like them to have. I know plenty of humans who haven’t figured this out.

  32. 32.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    Louisiana cats have a personality all their own.

    We say this having brought one up after Katrina.

    Great story, thanks for sharing!

  33. 33.

    donnah

    BeaBea, as noted several times in this thread, this would make a very sweet picture book. As an artist and a writer, I would be very interested in creating a book from your story. Let me know what you think; proceeds would benefit a shelter or two.

    Donna

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @donnah #32: Sorry, that was unfortunate timing. My #33 suggesting photographic illustrations was in no way a response or reaction to your offer to design and illustrate the book, just awkward juxtaposition of posts. Hadn’t seen your post before hitting the submit button, and I certainly wasn’t shooting down your great idea.

    Drawings or paintings would be wonderful and gorgeous, I know. My thinking was just that it’s such an *unlikely* story (especially nearly every day, season to season) that it almost needs to be documented photographically. (Course, BeaBea is going to have to capture that elusive one of Tom actually carrying a floral tribute; keep the camera always at hand, BeaBea!)

    However it turns out, I am really enchanted with the story and think children (“of all ages,” as they say) would adore it. And what a nifty idea of donating proceeds to animal rescue or feral neutering programs.

  43. 43.

    Mister Papercut

    @WereBear: It happened to my sister’s cat, but it likely wasn’t even a case of over-vaccination. I discovered his tumor 6+ years after his last rabies shot. (He hated the outdoors, and so we let it lapse.)

    @kommrade reproductive vigor: Alternately, in my dealings in Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma support, the consensus from VAS owners is to insist on vaccinations as distally as possible on a leg, because it could be amputated if a tumor occurs. It’s much more difficult to get wide margins on the tumor removal if it’s on the hip/flank (like my sister’s cat) and nearly impossible if it occurs in the scruff.

    @WaterGirl: To be honest, I would go ahead and take her in. If it is VAS (though it doesn’t automatically mean it is), the chances of long-term survival are better, obviously, if you catch it while the tumor is small.

    Edit to add: I LOVE this morning’s cat story, BeaBea. I second the request for a children’s book.

  44. 44.

    JCT

    Oh wow, what a mood- lifter after reading about Mitch McConnel’s new goal in life. A one-term Obama presidency.

    And my Mango only brings me icky gifts too, a still-warm sparrow this AM. I will hold him down and tell him all about Tom the gentleman this evening.

    Another vote for a children’s book!

    What a great site, thank you John.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @Mister Papercut: I know when I phoned my vet a couple of weeks after the vaccination, he told me it’s not uncommon for the site to have a bump for as long as 6 months. Do you think they would do a biopsy? I don’t really want to take her in and have him say, oh this happens all the tine, it’s nothing.

  46. 46.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    @WaterGirl: She got the lump way after her shot. From talking to the vet it can show up right away or wait a while. However a bump is a common reaction:

    “Development of a small, firm, non-painful swelling under the skin at the site where the vaccine was given. The swelling usually goes away after several weeks, but if you notice such a swelling, you should contact your veterinarian.”

    http://www.avma.org/vafstf/rbbroch.asp

    Based on what I know now, I would first call the vet and ask. If they want to do a biopsy, ask about injection site cancer (sarcoma). If they don’t know what you’re talking about, find a vet who does.

    IF (and imagine the IF is in 72 pt. font) your cat has ISS, they’ll want to minimize how much they disturb the lump in the course of finding out what it is.

  47. 47.

    cckids

    Way to start the week with smiles. What a smart gentleman–who doesn’t love flowers?
    Thank FSM my cats stopped with the birds. Only one of them could actually catch them, but the other two loved to try. They seemed to sometimes try to work together–one stalking, another waiting, apparently hoping the bird would fly right to him. Fail. Constant fail.

  48. 48.

    Ash Can

    I suggest that this story be kept in reserve, like the doggie going Galt in the bucket, and reposted every so often, on days when we get hammered with unusual amounts of stupidity and all-around assholery, and we’re all running around yelling “green balloons.”

  49. 49.

    K. Grant

    Our outdoor cat needs lessons from Tom. Last week she was sitting proudly on our front porch with her latest gift, a snake just shy of two feet long. Lovely.

  50. 50.

    Mister Papercut

    @WaterGirl: This is true, it isn’t unusual, but I am extremely gun-shy now after the experience with my sister’s cat (I paid for his surgery and all his after-care until he was felled by, well, the vets didn’t know what, exactly, but I’ll stress that they felt it was probably unrelated to the cancer, which didn’t appear to return in his last 18 months), and myself, I would err on the side of caution.

    kommrade reproductive vigor is right about tumors showing up right away or years later. They also don’t seem to behave the same: some can grow rapidly in the course of days, where my sister’s cat’s tumor didn’t noticeably change in the 5 weeks between me finding it and getting him to the vet.

    If it feels like it is attached to the cat’s body wall (which is what instantly raised my vet’s alarms), I would definitely take her in. If it’s able to be moved freely and feels like it’s a lump within the skin, it may yet recede, but I would still watch it like a hawk.

  51. 51.

    ruemara

    25thed on the children’s book idea, this is quite sweet, a wonderful start to a horrible day. Thanks for sharing it.

  53. 53.

    JenJen

    Read this on my phone on the way to work this morning, and just had to come back to tell you how much this story brightened my day. It even brought a little tear.

  54. 54.

    Belvoir

    Sweet story, I loved reading it. Wonderful creaures. I wonder, do cats have an aesthetic sense? Flowers have color, form, and smell.. leaving them as gifts, something that pleases them and you, all signs point to yes.

    (I didn’t know about the clipped-ear thing. Ouch.)

  55. 55.

    M. Bouffant

    Quite late to this, but my mother had a Maine Coon Cat who would go downstairs from her second floor apartment, go to the next-door neighbor’s yard, & bring back whole avocados that had fallen from the neighbor’s tree, to present as if they were mice or other vermin.

  58. 58.

    beabea

    OMG busy day and just now time to check in for a Tunch pic, and there’s my Tom!

    Thanks for the comments everybody, and I’m very glad Tom’s story brightened so many other people’s days today. Just as he brightens mine…got another banana petal just this morning, thankfully before I turned on the TV and let today’s flood of wankery into my home.

    Great idea about the children’s book, and donating the proceeds to an animal welfare org. In addition to telling a sweet story, it would be a good way to raise awareness about spay/neuter and feral caretaking. Working on another book right now but will put this idea in the hopper for next project.

    Thanks Anne Laurie for posting the story, what a great surprise.

  59. 59.

    tesslibrarian

    @WaterGirl: I didn’t see this thread until today, and am relieved you’ll be taking your cat in to be checked. I hope it turns out okay. Fibrosarcoma is scary, but the news that a lump is just a cyst is a huge relief. (I’ve had the same cat get both diagnoses.)

    Also, YES to the children’s book. I have sent this story to everyone today–it’s just so lovely that he scatters flower petals on your porch. Jack scatters chipmunk parts across our patio, and it isn’t nearly as heartwarming to call into the house, “hey, babe–could you bring out a baggie and the carcass tongs?”

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @tesslibrarian:
    @WereBear:

    How do they tell the difference? With a biopsy? Or just from looking?

    A year ago I took my kitty in to the vet for a “just to be on the safe side” visit before I left on vacation and found out he was dying. So I would feel better calling the vet if I had some idea of how the visit might go.

  61. 61.

    rav

    I can vouch for the truthfulness of BeaBea’s story. I’m the neighbor.!!! Tom brought me the first flower the day after I received flowers for my birthday. I wasn’t home when the delivery man came, so he left them at BeaBea’s house next door. Tom may have picked up on my enthusiasm when I picked them up. He was very secretive at first and wouldn’t admit to bringing them. Once he started to bring them to BeaBea, too, he fessed up with BeaBea’s affectionate praise. Since I’ve moved away, I check with BeaBea every once in awhile to make sure he still does this. I miss his sweetness! But I come back to visit occasionally.

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