"We got Apple Jack when my niece, who was living with me and my
husband, asked if she could have a kitty to love while she was away
from her parents. She was living with us to go to a better high
school. My husband and I love pets, especially kitty cats, so we said
yes, even though we had two kitties of our own. Erin (my niece) and
her mother saw an ad in the paper for free kittens, so they went to pick
out one to bring home. They picked Apple Jack, because he was an
orange and white kitty like one she had before.
"She brought Apple Jack in, and we all fell in love with him immediately. He
had a cute habit of sucking his tail and it looked so funny. Apple Jack
would stay with me during the day and come in my room while I was
watching T.V. at night until Erin came home to take her shower and
go to bed. Apple Jack would sleep with Erin every night and suckle
his tail. He looked so funny, and Erin said he would wake her up
because he was so loud. As with all kids they grow up and Erin was
no exception. She finished high school and moved home and then
got married. She could not take Apple Jack with her, so we kept him --
and he had always been my baby anyway. He still suckled his tail even
though he was 2 years old.
"Apple Jack loves to sneak out the door any time he can. We live in the
country, and we have a lot of neighborhood dogs and all kinds of
other wildlife outside, so I really don't like my kitties to go out with
out me being near. He sneaks out
when someone goes out the door, and then we will hear him making a
horrible noise to get back in.
Apple Jack has gone out several times to
bring us back presents. He has brought us mice, tree frogs and
the latest present was a snake. He brought me a baby garter snake; he
put it on my carpet and wanted praise. I am afraid of snakes so it was
pretty hard for me, but I petted him and then made my husband take
the snake out immediately.
"One day a couple of years ago, Apple Jack
must have slipped out and we did not know for awhile until we could
not find him to feed him. My husband and I went looking for him,
but could not find him, then we heard this crying and he came in the
house, but his tail was just hanging on the ground. We still do not
know how he hurt himself. We immediately took him to the vet that
is on the next street over from us. The veterinarian told us she thought his
back and tail were broken and it might have affected his lower half of
his body. She cleaned him up a bit and took him in to x-ray him.
While the vet was out of the room it was the longest time in our
lives. We were so afraid we were going to have to put him asleep,
because of his injury. When the vet came back she took us to another
room and put Apple Jack's x-ray up on the screen. She said he had a
broken back, but it was at the very end of the back where his tail
begins. She said we could give him medication to bring down the
inflammation and something for his pain, and then if he did all right and
had no paralysis, she could operate and remove his tail and he would
live pretty much a normal life. It was quite costly for the surgery, but
we would do whatever we could to get our baby fixed up. Poor baby --
he had his tail removed and no longer had it to suckle!
"This wasn't his only emergency visit to the vet. About a year later he
had an urinary track blockage and had to have another expensive
surgery to clear the blockage. He has been our expensive baby.
"Apple Jack has some quirky habits. When he uses his litter pan he will
scratch the wall thinking he is burying his litter. It is so funny to
watch him. I have never understood why he scratches the wall and
not the kitty litter. He has another strange habit of eating his food
and then scratching the wall as if to bury his food, but then he will eat
a little more food and then scratch the wall and around his food again
until he finishes all he wants.
"Apple Jack is well loved and part of
our family -- we wouldn't know what to do without him and his
sisters, Coconut and Sally."
