Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins, yes that was his name.  About a year or two after we moved into our new house there came a horrible rain storm.  The Hubby came inside and told me to step outside and listen to a sound he wasn't sure of.  I did and from around the house I heard a kitten screaming.  The Hubby ran out in the rain and there in a huge deep puddle in the grass was a very, very tiny kitten splashing around, drowning.  I knew we had some feral cats around and possible kittens but had only seen the momma one.  And there she was under the bushes watching as one of her babies was drowning.  I snatched him up and rushed inside to dry and warm the tiny thing.  He was still nursing a bit as I quickly found out as he started nuzzling on my t-shirt.  The Hubby went to the store and bought canned food and baby cereal and I mixed it up with a bit of milk and he was able to lap it up.  That sweet little thing became my constant companion after that.  Momma said to NEVER EVER have a male cat or dog as they would pee everywhere but I didn't care.  I loved this little guy like nobody's business.  He grew and grew and grew and became a loving pet for both of us, even though The Hubby did not like cats.  I named him Bilbo Baggins as I had just finished reading The Hobbit and he reminded me of Bilbo.  When I sat down he would get in my lap and suckle my t-shirts all the time which told me that he thought me his mother.  That big ole' Tom cat was huge and still nursing on my t-shirts.  We took him to the vet, got him fixed and gave him a very loving home, better than living the life of a feral.

That was about 1977, then September 1979 sweet Ms. B came.  The whole time I was pregnant Bilbo would sleep in her infant carrier and her baby bed, because he was my baby, or so he thought.  It's funny too because when we came home from the hospital he ceased altogether nursing on my t-shirts.  He weaned himself because a new baby was in town.  Don't get me wrong that big boy still loved to cuddle and nuzzle my chin and purr like crazy.  

BILBO BAGGINS

Sadly, about 5 years later he started getting very sick and taking him to the vet we discovered he had feline leukemia.  It was when the world was finding out about the disease and there were no vaccines yet.  I nursed him back from death's door a couple of times and then one day he just crashed.  I rushed him to the vet but it was too late.  He passed away while the doctor was trying to examine him.  I was heartbroken.  He was our first pet as a married couple.  My sweet boy.  Miss him still.  

Of course we went on to have a few more kitties after him but he will always be my first as a grown up.