“We have a holiday coming up this week,” I told the kitties. “It’s on Thursday, and it’s called Thanksgiving.”

Allen and Kiki looked at me with a puzzled look. “What does Thanksgiving mean?” Allen asked.

unsplash/ milada-vigerova

“It’s a special time to remember to be appreciative of all the good things that make our lives better,” I told them.

“You mean like treats and toona,” Kiki asked.

border by Rawpixel

‘Yes, like treats and toona, and lots of other things, too. For instance, I am thankful for a planet to live on, with animals and trees and flowers and mountains and nice, clean air to breathe. Think what it would be like to just be floating around out there in the sky, with no place to sleep and no other animals to keep us company. And I certainly give thanks for a nice house to live in. Unfortunately, there are too many people who don’t have a house to go to. What are some other things you are grateful for?”

“Well,” answered Kiki, “I like to sit on the back of the sofa and soak up the warm sunshine. In fact, I like that sunshine no matter where it is. I’ll settle down there and enjoy that warm place.”

Image attribution: unsplash/ justin docanto

“I like the warm of the sunshine, too. I read an article today about some people who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, which is a very high mountain. On top of high mountains, the air is very cold, and yet, even there, their bodies enjoyed the warm rays of the sun.”

Image attributions:Tatiana Stupek; Kvitas, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

“I am thankful that you have that soft, snuggly blanket. It feels so good to curl up on it,” Allen loves to get up on my lap when I have that nice dark green blanket over me.

“And don’t forget our cat tree.” Kiki was, in fact, calling from one of its platforms. “I love to get up here and be able to see all around the house, and out the window, too.”

Image attribution: pexels/david yu

“When I look out the window, there are lots of critters to see.” Allen said. His little green eyes were flashing with excitement, thinking about them. “I’m thankful for them because they are fun to follow as they flit around outside. The squirrels and the birds and the possums are my favorites. They jump and run on the fence. Sometimes I dream about chasing them.”

Image attributions:pexels (cat in window); unsplash/Robert linder (possum); pexels/ellie burgin (crow); hans-jurgen-weinhardt (squirrel)

Kiki likes the window ledge, too. “Behind the curtain and right in the corner by the window there are some silky webs. I like that I sometimes find a tiny critter to crunch in one of those webs.” She adds, “I see other animals through the window, too. There’s one who comes by a lot. His face looks funny because he has dark circles around his eyes.”

“He is called a raccoon. I’ve seen the raccoons in our yard, too,” I told her.

Image attribution:pixabay

“And there’s one critter with a pointy little nose, who has a bouncy kind of walk. She is black and white like Kiki and I are, but she has stripes going down her back. And she has a very bushy tail that ripples up and down when she walks. I know she’s a girl because one time she was there with some babies that looked just like her.”

Image attribution:rawpixel

“I’m grateful that there are so many animals in our world.,” I told them. “Some we get to see, right here in our yard. Dogs and other cats and sometimes chickens. Bees and butterflies and ladybugs. Crows and bluejays and even parrots fly in and out.  I’ve seen a cougar, which is a big cat, and coyotes, too. I wouldn’t want to tangle with most of them, because they are wild, and they might think one of us is their dinner, but I feel blessed that they share our world with us.”

Image attributions:unsplash/ ruchinda gunasekara (cougar); mana 5280 (coyoye); pete nuig (bear); gary bendig (butterfly); yldiz (bee); Andrew maristch (bluejay); diana Parkhouse (ladybug)

“On the next street up from ours, there have been bears. One of them comes with her cubs, and another one got into our neighbor’s hot tub.”

“Do we have a hot tub?” asked Kiki.

“Well, kind of. ”I smiled at her. “Ours is in the upstairs bathroom. We call it a bathtub. The one we have is called a walk-in bathtub, and I am certainly thankful for that.”

“I remember our old bathtub,” Allen told us. “I fell into it one time and got all wet. I don’t think bathtubs are among the things I am thankful for. I’m really not fond of getting wet.

Image attributions:unsplash/brad pearson (cat in tub); pixabay (wet cat)

I laughed to myself at the memory of that day. After he jumped back out of that tub, he went streaking through the house like a mad cat. I had to catch him and wrap him up in a towel. “I think I’m grateful for nice, fluffy, absorbent towels, too. You were rubbed nice and dry,” I reminded him.

“And speaking of getting wet,” I continued, “I am thankful for the rain. Even though it means that I might get wet, the rain nourishes the flowers and the trees, and it gives us water to drink.”

Image attributions:pixabay

Kiki looked pensive. “I didn’t know the water we drink had anything to do with the rain. I thought that water came in bowls, like our bowl in the kitchen and the big white bowl in the bathroom. Oh, yeah, and like that fountain water thingie that you got us. I love to drink water out of that fountain. I think I am thankful for that.”

Image attributions:unsplash/ carolien-van-oijen

“I thank you for giving us a litter box that is clean most of the time. I don’t know what I would do without that.”

“I am grateful for that, too, Allen, at least partly because I DO know what you would do without that.”

“I know something I am thankful for.” Kiki spoke up again.” We both like to play with our toys. It’s fun to jump and play with the wand thing, the one with the gold and silver stringy things that wiggle around and the ones with feathers.”

Image attributions:pixabay

“And I really love those little gray and brown mousies. They are fun to toss around. I like to try to bite their tails off, but they won’t come off.”

Image attributions:Apricot Cat/MVK

I remembered watching Allen chasing one of those new little fake-fur mousies. The old one had lost its tail within about ten minutes of being in the house.

“I like the big fish.” Kiki jumped down and pushed the fish over to the middle of the room. “Sometimes, I hold it in my arms and kick at it with my back paws. Now that is something to be grateful for. On TV, I saw a cool golden fish swimming around in a tank. Maybe we should get a real fish, Mom, like that one. Allen and I could dip our paws in the water and play with it.”

“Haha, I thought you cats didn’t like to get wet.”

Allen walked over. “I would even make an exception if we could get to play with a fish.”

Image attributions:unsplash/hannah reding

“Well, I think for now, we’ll just stick to your toy fish.”

“We heard something on TV about a cat liking the red dot. What is that? Do we have a red dot?” Allen jumped up on my lap and rubbed his head against my arm.

Image attributions:pinterest

“No actually, we don’t have a red dot here. It’s made with a laser and I never got one because I was afraid someone’s eyes might be hurt by it. Some cats do like to play with them, though.”

“We’re are glad we have you, Mom, to watch out for us.”

“And don’t forget, we do appreciate you for feeding us and giving us treats and water, and bringing us toys, and snuggling with us.”

Image attributions:unsplash/ yerlin matu

“And I am thankful that you two are here with me. I love the sound and feel of your purrs, I love feeling your snuggly body draped across my arm or curled up on my lap. I love to watch you enjoy playing with your toys. I am thankful that my life is so much richer because I get to share it with you kitties.”

And we’re all grateful that you are here with us, our dear readers. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that you are finding many reasons to be thankful.

Image attributions:rawpixel (tulips); Apricot Cat/MVK (cats)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help keep the site running, consider supporting.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Happy Thanksgiving! Please be careful giving your furry friends treats…some human foods like onion, grapes, raisins, etc…are not good for them!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here