Emmit the cat in one of his favorite chairs.

slideshow

One of my favorite older movies starred a young Johnny Depp, who actually was born in Owensboro, Ky. It’s title was, “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” a movie about a family with lots of problems, including a severely obeses mother.

And Emmit the cat had a problem too, only it took a while to figure out exactly “what.”

Let me tell you about Emmit. He was born to a Mother cat I once owned, who was a natural-born bob-tail, so thus, Emmit was a natural bob-tail too. His mother passed away years ago andEmmit is on his way to possibly setting some sort of record. You see, Emmit is 18 years old and headed toward 19.

My vet tells me that for cats, it’s five human years for every year a cat lives. So Emmit is headed for his 95th birthday!

I gave Emmit to my son as a kitten. He and his wife moved to Florida and Emmit became the pet of my daughter-in-law’s parents, Earl Ray and Marilyn Wright of Russellville.

And now back to Emmit’s dilemma that happened this past summer.

Like most cats, he likes to snooze outside in a deck chair just to sun himself, streched out on the deck itself.

however the Wrights began to notice a somewhat bare area about two inches wide in a circular shape on Emmit’s side. Baffled, they checked to see if it was some type of allergy or possibly some kind of wound. They saw nothings by a smooth circle, barel minus of all hair.

So they began to watch Emmit napping on the deck, from time to time. Imagine their shock when, one day, they happened to see a little bird flutter next to snoozing Emmit and gently pluck a bit of fur in its tiny beak and fly away.

Emmit never stirred. Why should he when the sun felt so good? And well, after all, he is 94-plus and not prone to hunting much anymore.

His masters keep his food bowl full.

The little bird returned several times, plucking fur each time, apparently lining its nest with Emmit’s downy coat.

The mystery was solved, but Emmit could have cared less. He was happy and apparently, the tiny bird was too.

So how long will Emmit live? Could he break a record for I have read of some cats living to be 20-plus.

For now, he is content to be Emmit the cat. And hopefully, next spring will find him snoozing in his favorite place, do “the cat thing” minus catching fluttering little bird.

Till next time!