Box of Cats

Hurriedly, I raced to the grocery reaching the door, when a girl ran up to me with a box of cats. "Miss, would you like to have a kitten"? I had just searched the kitten ads and cheerily replied, "I sure would"! She tilted the box to show me her large litter. She said, "You can't have this one, it's been promised! You can't have that one either because I want to keep it." "Fine then! Which one can I have"? "Any of the others but I have to charge five dollars because if I give them away, people might be mean to them!" "Mean", said I horrified? "Yes mam, they feed them to the alligators or snakes"! With that said, I proceed to sneak a peek at the screaming Mimi's. All were jumping around, except this one tiny orange and white kitten who was fast asleep. I grabbed the kitten saying, "Okay, I'll take this one, if it's a girl?". "Oh yes mam, it's a girl and it will be a flat faced cat"! "Okay, what's your name,"I asked? She seemed surprised and mumbled, "Loretta". "Alright, I'll call the kitten Loretta, and if it's a flat faced cat, I'll just call her, ugly Loretta"! We said goodbye. Me, five dollars poorer but with a darling kitten and the girl with a sad, concerned look on her face. I could tell she was worried and so I walked back and handed her my calling card. "Come over anytime, Loretta". Her expression did not change. A quick stop at Pet Smart left me $275.00 poorer and I needed a larger car to get all the toys and play swings in. I then piled the front seat with enough Science diet to take care of an elephant. Now armed with cat fuel ammunition, I headed to the vet and it had to be the best vet in the world. No other would do. I called everybody I have known since my birth and wound up with a vet very near my home. They have 5 vets on duty all the time and would meet me anytime day or night for an emergency. I could live with that and with my master card, I charged in. I had not looked at Loretta good when I snatched her out of that box. She was gorgeous. A calendar cat. It didn't really matter but I felt good checking her out as I waited my turn to see the doctor. Finally, Loretta sat on his table and the vet remarked, " This is a laid back kitten. If my wife wouldn't fuss, I'd take this kitten away from you"! He continued praising Loretta, "Are you going to change Loretta's name"? Horrified I stammered, "No! Why would I do that"? "Because, he said, Loretta is a boy"!