Blizzard 07/17/87
(later known as Dipstick)
In July, 1987 my six year old son and I decided that our household needed another furbutt. We had a foofy kitty name "Sid Vicious" who needed a playmate and we thought he'd love to have a sisfur. Off to the animal shelter we went to pick out the perfect companion for our "Sid". Once we arrived we told them we'd love to have a white female. So, they took us to the female ward.
There, all in one cage was a whole litter of precious white kitties, all of whom were terrified - except one. This little baby climbed over, under, around and through her siblings to get to us. We knew right then that we had found the perfect addition to our family because she had chosen us.
To the left is the first picture taken of our new kitty. Notice the small black smudge on her head. There were actually two but they eventually disappeared.
We named our precious little girl "Blizzard". It seemed to fit at the time since she was nearly all white and full of energy. Two weeks after her arrival I became ill and was hospitalized for a week. My son and "Blizzard" went to stay at my sister's house. "Sid Vicious" was much too independant so he stayed at home.
One day my sister and her husband came to visit me at the hospital. My brother-in-law asked me if my sister had told me about "'Blizzard". I didn't know what he meant and became concerned that something awful had happened to her.
But that wasn't the case. It turned out that my sweet little girl wasn't a girl at all. She was a he ! Imagine how silly I felt upon learning this. I had never really looked for evidence of her, or his, gender...I had just taken the word of the people at the animal shelter.
Blizzard
08/12/87
Oh, well. It didn't matter to us and it didn't seem to bother "Sid".
They were instant buddies and always together.
Blizzard & Sid Vicious
Fall 1987
Sid Vicious, Blizzard & Meowmie
November 13, 1987
Two years later we lost our precious "Sid" to liver failure. I was forced to say goodbye with my loving kitty looking me in the eyes as the vet administered the injections. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
The worst part was that the vet refused to do it the first evening. He made me wait until the following morning. I never returned to that vet again.
Blizzard was now an only cat and I was too afraid to love another. The pain of "Sid's" passing was too much to bear.
Blizzard did have other temporary friends along the way. I kitty-sat for my sister's cat "Snowball" while she and her family were on vacation. In the photo below, Blizzard is in the back and Snowball is in front. They were instant friends and Blizzard missed her when she went home.
The photo below is a stray that I fostered who eventually found a forever home with a sweet young woman despite the fact that he was being treated for ear mites and other non-threatening problems. He and Blizzard didn't always get along but did play together occasionally.
Dipstick
January 20. 1989
Blizzard was an indoor kitty but desperately wanted outside. He spent most of his time trying to escape through any means possible. One morning I awoke to find a hole in the screen of my kitchen window. Blizzard was no where to be found. He did return that night and let himself in by putting a new hole in a different window screen. I knew I had my hands full with this one!
Blizzard was always doing crazy things and getting himself into trouble. My son was a Dukes of Hazzard fan and anyone who has seen that silly show knows that the Sheriff was always calling Enos a dipstick.
Well, we found ourselves always calling Blizzard a dipstick because of all the crazy things he'd get into - so the name kinda stuck after a while and "Dipstick" did all he could to live up to his new name.
I eventually gave in to his desire to go outdoors but he never gave up ripping the screens. He'd tear one open to go out and then tear open a different screen to come in. I was constantly repairing screens.
Follow the paw prints to Page 2
