After 30.5 years of teaching high school Anatomy and Biology I retired yesterday. On my next to last day I received an email from a coworker describing how her neighbor who works at a restaurant found a kitten eating in their dumpster. In a moment of insanity I called her and said I would take the cat so it would not go to the pound. My wife Karen was not pleased, saying that kittens are much easier to adopt and I should let someone else handle it. I somehow felt drawn to this kitten's story and the look on her face in the attached photo. Karen relented when she saw how I felt about it. We are calling it my retirement present.

The coworker brought the cat to school on my last day and I immediately noticed two things. This kitten was only about 5 weeks old and 'she' was really a 'he'. I had just named the cat Samantha so I changed it to Sam.

I took off the rest of the day so Sam could be checked out by our vet. This did not make the principal's secretary happy. She told me the principal had planned on acknowledging me at the luncheon. I decided quickly that the checkup was the most important thing here so I took Sam to the vet and missed the luncheon.

Sam is 1.4 pounds. He was extremely feisty during the procedures and you could hear him outside the clinic! The vet just shook his head and told me I had adopted a real tiger. Sam had a bad flea infestation and worms but was otherwise a healthy semi-feral kitty. He gave oral and topical flea medications and a deworming pill.

Sam has been with us for two days now in an isolated room with baby gates put up. Don't let the photo fool you. He is a ball of playful energy! He attacks my hands, feet, and the paws of the cats brave enough to come close to the gates. After a brief period of hissing the others settled down and seemed fascinated with Sam's playing. I brought in our mildest nature cat, Beau, to greet Sam. Sam immediately leaped on top of Beau's head and Beau flew over the gate and out of the room!

Sam is doing great. He had to learn how to drink from a bowl and how to play with a ball. He purrs and snuggles a lot in between pouncing on body parts. Here is a photo of the little alpha cat in training.

Congratulations on your "retirement" present

My sister got a cat and named it Suzie..... like you her she was a he............... so he bacame Suzie-Sam.

Only those of us who love animals can understand skipping a luncheon to tend to a small creature needing attention. He is sure a cute little thing. He should be named Lucky since he is lucky to have found such a wonderul home now.

Our daughter had trapped & had a female spayed & shots given with the intention of trying to have her join the family. The cat was not so sure about that and Michelle returned her to the area she got her from and now the cat is really cozying up to her when she sees Michelle come outside at her workplace. She still feeds her and talks to her. We have taken back the stray we took in and gave to a close friend around 2 years ago as he recently passed away so there must have been a reason the cat didn't warm up at the house. Someone else now is interested in the cat so the two of them are working to catch her again so she will not have to live on the streets.

We've had our two "gifts" one year now and in fact they both were no doubt wondering what in the world was going on as we had them spayed & neutered 1 year ago today..... just 2 weeks in our new home and look what they have done to us!!!!!!!!!!

Animals seem to have built in radar to home in on those of us who will take care of them. So glad you are able to take this little guy in.......... Happy retirement and enjoy your wonderful gift to yourself.

hi, Ken
yes
congratulations on your retirement present, sweet little Sam
you know, you will be very busy...
how could anybody resist this wonderful little guy
though,
taking care for 8 cats
and welcoming nr. 9........
that is true love

keep us posted
with a lot of happy pics of Sam
Yours
Eva

congratulations sam on your wonderful new home. you are the cutest thing ever.
be good to your new family ok? and please congratulate your dad on his retirement.
what an amazing accomplishment!

what a wonderful happy ending and beginning!

patricia

What a little cutie!! He's adorable.
Sam, looks like you found the perfect Mommy and Daddy.
Best of luck with your new family and Oh by the way tell your Dad
congratulations on his retirement.

Run, Run, crash! That's what Sam's typical like has been like recently. He pounces on the other cats who will tolerate it and wrestles with them. Sam is acclimating very well to inside home life. He is still a little aggressive around the food bowls and will growl and swipe at the others who try to eat some of "his" food. This probably stems from his days on his own living off of the restaurant dumpster. Other than that he gets along great with the other cats. The black cat Freddie is his usual playmate and Sam loves a little stuffed ball so much that he carries it around and sometimes sleeps with it. Currently he is sacked out on the couch resting up for his play session tonight. Here is Sam in one of his few tranquil moments.

Ken

Sam is precious. He is so lucky to have found such a good home. Now, if he will just realize that and be good to his brothers/sisters! There is nothing like a kitten........... we surely enjoyed Mr. Jingles and his antics. He's "grown up" now that he gets to be outside so much. I called him a teenager the other day as he stayed out all night which is waaaay past his curfew of 8pm.

Keep the cute pictures & stories coming.

yes
i know
my little Felix`s tranquil moments
nature has been wise
to make those babies sooo cute and lovable
Sam is looking so beautiful
Eva
PS.:
i do not know
my Jim is 14 years now
understanding, my soulmate, taking care of me, beeing so lovable
has Jim been ever such a mad baby ?
NO

Thank you everyone for the nice comments and wishes. Well, It's been several weeks now since we got Sam and he has really been a bundle of energy. Sam is very intelligent. Tonight he happened to look at the computer screen while I was editing a photo of another of our cats. He was instantly alert and spent several minutes staring at the screen. You could just tell that he was trying to work out how Luvey cat got into the computer! Sam has a new girlfriend, Ellen, whom he spends a lot of time with and a favorite playmate, Beau. Here is a shot of Sam and Beau fixing to take an afternoon nap.

Take care,
Ken

what a gr8 pic, I love the contented look on sam's face, this is why we love our companions so much,
elaine

hi ken! thank you so much for sharing pix of your beautiful family. i just wanted you to know that every morning when i log in i go straight to new beginnings because i love to start my day off with the first photo you posted of sam. it just makes me happy.

sam you are just so cute. (i hate that word but theres no other way to put it because he is just so so cute). what a lucky little guy you are!
patricia

Thanks to everyone for their nice comments about Sam. Here is Sam the Man wrestling with Elvira in a laundry basket. That boy sure is active!

Ken,

I see why he is "Sam the Man"! What a cutie.............. bet he is lots of entertainment to you as well as the other cats............ What in the world would we do without them???

Jingles is becoming arrogant out here on the farm. Don't think I'll be able to take him back to the city ever again. He followed us up to the back pasture area today and then back down to climb all over the tractor in the farmyard but stayed his distance in case I planned to put him back inside. His main fault is that he has become a very good hunter and catches young rabbits. Makes me mad but I can't catch him to let them loose. He runs like a race horse sometimes and can do pretty good even with a rabbit in his mouth. Kept him in for two days when the robins flew out of the nest as I wanted them to have a chance since I'd been watching them hatch & grow.

Keep the pictures and adventure stories coming.........

Ginger

awwww! hes so small too:) what a little love!