Clementine 1989

This is a continuation of the previous story from Nov 4:

As soon as I found homes for the kittens, I took Magic to be neutered and planned on getting Gypsy spayed the following month. But the money didn’t come fast enough and she went into heat. Even tho’ Magic was neutered he tried everything he did before. But it was not enough for Gypsy. A cat in heat can demand a lot of attention and yeowl a lot. When we were not at home, I put her in the basement. But, was dismayed to discover her outside when I returned.She had climbed through a slim hole beside the plumbing that led into the neighbors side of the basement. (We lived in a duplex) The neighbors dogs barked like crazy as she calmly walked along the furnace flue to gain access to the outdoors. The neighbors, concerned about the ruckus their dogs were causing, opened their cellar door only to have Gypsy fly out. They did not know she was in heat, so they let her outside.

Needless to say, Gypsy was pregnant a second time. I had no idea who the father cat could be. There  was a stray white cat with an orange striped tail in the vicinity and I thought maybe it might be him. Then I had a dream that I had a beautiful calico kitten (red, black and white) that had been born to Gypsy. I felt strongly the dream would come true

The day came and went that she gave birth (Aug 27, 1989). Three healthy kittens were born. There was a black and white, a gray and one that sort of was like a calico, but not like the one in the dream.  That night as I tried to sleep, Gypsy kept coming to me and meowing. I continually got up and went to her box with her, but every thing was fine. Her kittens were okay. The next day I realized that her belly wasn’t as soft as it should be and, in fact, it had a hard little lump in it, I figured another kitten was inside, by Gypsy showed no further signs of labor. Eventually because it was a Sunday, I found a vet clinic on the far side of the city who would agree to see her.  I put her and the kittens in the car and departed.

The vet said there was another kitten in ther,alright. But it was dead. He would give Gypsy a shot to help contract her uterus and if it didnt expel the dead kitten in thrreee hours, she would have to have to be cut open and the dead kitten removed at a terribly high price. As we drove home, I explained to Gypsy that I couldn’t really afford it and so, three hours later she gave birth to the calico kitten in my dream.  I named her after the vet: Kelly. That was probably a pretty dumb thing to do as I have since met many people who have calico cats they have named Kelly or Cally.  Although, secretly, I named her Clementine, because I always sing that song to her.

And that's another story