We live on a farm. We always have cats. My granddaughter, who loves cats, lives in the city with a little dog and she can’t have cats. This is a girl who says when she grows up she is going to write books and paint pictures and sell them so she can afford to adopt all the cats who don’t have homes.

So what’s a grandma to do?

One year I gave her a cat of her own for her birthday. She understood the kitty would have to live at Grandma and Grandpa’s and she was okay with that. It was the cutest, fluffiest, blackest kitten ever.

It was also female and by the time granddaughter came to visit the next summer she had kittens—3 solid gray with 3 different lengths of fur. And all female, which presents a quandary and forces little granddaughter to face some harsh truths. Either they have to be neutered—a pricey job—or given away. We negotiated. She could keep one and the mommy cat.

By the time she visited the following summer we had two new batches of kittens. Each cat had four. The litters were born within a few days of each other and the two mommy cats shared mothering duties. It was sort of sweet.

However, eight more cats was not acceptable.

So granddaughter got to visit with them and enjoy them, but then had to face a few more hard truths. Some had to go. She chose to keep the two grown cats. All but one of the others has been given away. One is being adopted by the next door neighbor who happens to share the same yard.

So we still have two grown mommy cats. I told granddaughter she could keep them, and I get double the pleasure by providing cats for my granddaughter to enjoy!

My newest release with Love Inspired Historicals, Dakota’s Child, is out in September ‘09 and yes, cats play a role. In fact, you might enjoy the unique role they play in this story.

website: www.lindaford.org