Diesel THEN and NOW ...

A comment from Tai of Aerophant Blog fame inspired me to share a bit of history about Diesel (the white and black cat in the photos ...) Diesel didn't start out so big ... and in his defense, he likely wasn't the culprit in the kitty feed bag break in either ... The likely culprit was the orange feline, who like her mother Ms H, is more feral than tame ...

Diesel came into our lives back in 1996 as the tinest runt of a litter of kittens born when we were in Bella Coola ... he arrived in a house with two other grown cats. Oreo (belonging to our friend W) was 13 when Diesel arrived, and Chloe was almost two. Diesel had been weaned, but arrived and began nursing from Chloe (a spayed female), who began producing milk for her "kitten". In time the tiny little kitten pictured above grew and grew and grew ... when he finally stopped nursing from his adopted mother he was almost twice her size!!

There were moments we thought we were in the midst of a Dr Seuss book - remember the story about Oscar the tiny fish who was fed too much???

On a visit to the Vet once, the Vet expressed concern about Diesel's ever increasing size and suggested we limit his food ... It was a nice idea, but that is as far as it could go. If we took away his cat food, he would eat the dogs' food. If we took away the dogs' food (something the canines didn't really appreciate) Diesel would eat house plants. If we protected the house plants from his grazing, he wasn't above cruising the kitchen counter for edibles ... He was born to eat ... so we kept feeding him healthy cat food after he stopped nursing - though for a time he was eating AND nursing ... it was a little strange.

Now as a more settled adult cat, he frets over an empty food dish, BUT, the tearing open of food bags only began when the former Barn cat Chrysanthemum (the orange cat) arrived ... Diesel will stand and complain and utter tiny little squeaky cries but little else.

Yes, Tai - Diesel is a VERY large cat (he weighs in excess of 20 pounds) ... he has a tiny, tiny little voice ... and has a very loud tick in the midst of his purr (hence the name - he sounds just like an idling diesel engine - and always has, even as a tiny, tiny kitten ...)

Most importantly, Diesel is a delightful cat who has somehow attained a level of Kitty-Zen that is utterly enviable ...

Despite his grand size, he is a delightful cat ... and a beloved family member (as are most cats), though I still wonder if his poppa was a wayward Cougar who came across a sultry house cat that was taken out for dinner rather than becoming dinner ... we may never know, but it would explain his grandiose size ...