Christmas Cats--A Loving Gift From a Dog Person

Our grandson named this cat Whipped Cream.  My husband calls her Wrap Around because she curls around legs when there is food but she is wild otherwise. 

Shadow and Puzzle chowing down in their coal shed condo

My husband hates cats.  Seriously, he doesn't like anything about them, mainly because he sees them as vicious killers who destroy things just for fun.  He says, "The only good cat is a dead cat."  Well, he talks big and bad, but there is something less of a grinch in his heart because he has done an unselfish act for me today, on Christmas Eve, that is a sign that he loves me very much and will do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g for me.  He is always doing special things for me, but this one takes the cake!

You see, I am a cat lover, but am allergic now that there hasn't been one in my home since I married this man who won't have a cat in our household.  He is a tried-and-true dog lover, but he couldn't get away from felines, since our neighbor, Mack, had, literally, hundreds of cats over the years that often hunted for mice in our field.  Most of them were wild, but he fed them well.  When he died last February, I became worried about those cats that had become dependent on his shelter and food.  So, I contacted Best Friends and was supplied with traps to catch the cats and have them spayed, neutered, and given shots for rabies (all free).  The sick ones were taken to the animal shelter so they wouldn't infect the healthy cats.  The others were released back to their feral colony.

Well, here is the miracle--my husband has helped me maintain the feral cat colony.  At first, I didn't let him know I was feeding the cats.  Then, he knew I was trying to save them because of the trapping operation, but he still didn't know I was going to take responsibility for their care (I was a bit afraid to say anything).  I hid the food on the property and would sneak over to feed them.  Eventually, I had to confess I was feeding them and needed to hire someone to feed them when I was going out of town.  He seemed okay with the fact that I felt the need to have cats even if they weren't mine.  Over the months of my reports about the cats and how one of them was becoming my kitty because it let me touch it, he has softened and is supporting me in this project.  He has assisted me in winterizing the coal shed where we feed them and fed them when I've gone out of town.  Now, he has done the most amazing thing.  These pictures tell it all.  Love.  Christmas.  Giving.  Gifts.  Sacrifice.  Love.  Love.  What a dear, precious man!

He plowed a path on the abandoned property across the road from our home.  

It goes through the yard of the empty house (see my shadow in the glass?)

He plowed a path right up to the cats' shed.