Good Morning on the Farm...Good Morning "Phat Head"

This morning there is sense of relief on the farm.  Our dearly beloved cat, "Phat Head" had been missing since Friday evening.  It is not unusual for Phat Head to be gone for a day or two. He would often return at 5 am each morning leading us to wonder if he is sleeping at somebody else's house and being let out when they wake in the morning.  We had posted his information on Facebook, sent it to the local internet "newspaper", and had been asking around to see if anyone had seen him.

Low and behold, while we were eating supper I heard the screen door on the back porch open and shut.  This is Phat's way of letting himself in. Could it be?  We had heard to door bang shut all weekend long only to find that the wind had blown it open. I hopped up and went to check, praying that our big buddy would be sitting at the door waiting to come in.  When I opened the door, there he was, our prayers had been answered!  He made a beeline for the bathroom, straight to the food bowl.  Scott hadn't seen him come in so I went and picked Phat head up and brought him to the kitchen.  I don't know who was happier, Phat head or my sweetie :0) We were all able to sleep well last night knowing everyone was home, safe and sound.

I had planned on posting a picture of each of the animals here on the farm and giving you a little background on each one of them. I guess we'll start with "Phat Head" since he is the man of the hour.

 

"Phat Head" appeared in the neighborhood sometime before we married.  He had been hanging out at a neighbor's house and had been allowed inside by the lady of the house....only when the Mister wasn't home.  He showed up at our place and decided to stick around.  After a period of time, we found out that he had been at the neighbor's so we asked about him.  He has quite a history!  Phat Head aka Phat has been known to hold his own...not only with other cats but with dogs as well.

As the story goes..... the neighbor had some pit bulls who would chase him.  One day Phat had enough, he was poised for revenge.  He waited patiently on the tailgate of a pickup truck until one of those pit bulls strolled by.  He seized his opportunity and in one quick movement sprung into the air and landed square on that pit bulls head! According to witnesses, the pit bull was seen and heard howling as he ran off with Phat securely fastened to his head, hanging on with all four claws.  Those pit bulls didn't chase Phat after that!

Since he had become a member of our house and had figured out how to come in the doggie door he soon became "ours".  He was appropriately named "Phat Head" due to his HUGE head. He's a big boy weighing in over fourteen pounds. First thing first was to have him neutered. One trip to the litter pan for him and my sweet, patient husband had one whiff too many of a male, unaltered cat.  We had an appointment the next day to have him tested for Feline Leukemia/Feline AIDS and if he was negative for those to be neutered and given his vaccines. Thankfully he tested negative for those diseases and parasites and was fixed, vaccinated and returned home to us.

That was a little over a year ago now. Since then, Phat Head has lost some of his famous huge head due to being neutered, but he still has a large head and is just as loveable and affectionate as ever.  He is well known for his late night/early morning announcement of himself as he returns home from his ramblings.  He meows until he finds us, usually asleep in our warm bed!, then jumps up to groom each of our heads, before jumping down to go and to fill his belly.  After he has eaten his fill he returns to the bed with a "purrt" and a very heavy thud. He then flops, and I mean flops down, right on one of our pillows and usually our head. He is content and purrs very loudly expecting a little petting before we all fall back to sleep....which he gets.