Thelma and Thelma Liz

When I was nine or ten I had a cat named Thelma.  Thelma was a Calico cat.  I remember the night she had a litter of kittens.  My sister was so excited for the new additions.  However, my family wasn't going to keep all of the kittens.  My parents found homes for all of them except for one very small kitten.  It was very small and very sick and probably wasn't going to survive. 

My sister, Shannon took on the responsibility to feed the kitten with a dropper and nurse it to good health.  Shannon named this kitten Thelma Liz after her mother. However, the most awful thing would happen.  Thelma, Thelma Liz's mom would be killed by a neighborhood boy named Steve.  Steve had issues.  Steve was mean.  He was the same age as my sister Shannon.  Shannon and I were heart broken. 

Thelma Liz was a great cat.  Now, I'm not much of a cat person but I loved my cat.  She didn't mind if you loved on her and she would only scratch you occasionally.  It wasn't until later after Thelma Liz was fully grown when she got caught in a trap.  Some type of small animal trap in the woods behind our house.  She was missing for three days.  On the third day she found her way home.  Her leg was badly hurt and was later amputated.  The theory behind her disappearance was that she got caught in one of Steve's traps and when he found her he released her. 

Thelma Liz was Killer's friend.  They would often eat from the same bowl and help to keep each other warm in Killer's doghouse when it was cold.  She would still try to scratch behind her ear with the leg that was amputated even though there was no leg or paw to scratch with and I would lend a hand so she would still get in a good scratch.  She really liked that.