40 replies to this topic

[redqueen]

The Integrity of Ugly

Everyone in the apartment complex I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was the resident tomcat. Ugly loved three things in this world: fighting, eating garbage, and, shall we say, loving. These three things, together with a life spent outside, had taken their toll on Ugly. To start with, he had only one eye, and where the other should have been, was a gaping hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side. His left foot appeared to have been badly broken at one time, and had healed at an unnatural angle, making him look like he was always turning the corner. His tail had long been lost, leaving only the smallest stub which he would constantly jerk and twitch.

Ugly would have been a dark gray, striped tabby except for the sores covering his head and neck. Even his shoulders were covered with thick, yellowing scabs. Every time someone saw Ugly, there was the same reaction...That's one UGLY cat! All the children were warned not to touch him, the adults threw rocks at him, hosed him down, squirted him when he tried to come in their homes, or shut his paws in the door when he would not leave. Ugly always had the same reaction. If you turned the hose on him, he would stand there, getting soaked until you gave up and quit. If you threw things at him, he would curl his lanky body around your feet in forgiveness.

Whenever he spied children, he would come running, meowing frantically, bumping his head against the ir hands, begging for their love. If you ever picked him up, he would immediately begin suckling on your shirt, earrings, whatever he could find. One day Ugly tried to be friendly to the neighbor's huskies. They did not respond kindly, and Ugly was badly mauled. From my apartment I could hear his screams, and I rushed to his aid. By the time I got to him, it was apparent that Ugly's sad life was almost at an end. Ugly lay in a wet puddle, his back legs and lower back twisted grossly out of shape, a gaping tear in the white stripe of fur that ran down his front.

As I picked him up and tried to carry him home, I could hear him wheezing and gasping and I could feel him struggling. It must be hurting him terribly, I thought. Then I felt a familiar tugging, sucking sensation on my ear. Ugly, in so much pain and suffering, obviously dying, was trying to suckle my ear. I pulled him closer to me, and he bumped the palm of my hand with his head, then he turned his one golden eye towards me, and I could hear the distinct sound of purring.

Even in the greatest pain, that ugly, battle-scarred cat was asking only for a little affection, perhaps some compassion. At that moment, I thought Ugly was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he try to bite or scratch me, try to get away from me, or struggle in any way. Ugly just looked up at me completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.

Ugly died in my arms before I could get inside, but I sat and held him for a long time afterwards, thinking about how one scarred, deformed little stray could so alter my opinion about what it means to have true pureness of spirit, to love so totally and truly. Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books, lectures, or talk show specials ever could, and for that I will always be thankful.

He had been scarred on the outside, but I was scarred on the inside, and it was time for me to move on and learn to love truly and deeply, to give my total to those I cared for.

Many people want to be richer, more successful, well-liked, or beautiful. But for me? I will always try to be Ugly.

--Author Unknown

[a$$kicker]

reminds me - i need to send my check in to the la animal shelter. poor kitties an puppies.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

if he were human, they would have put him in jail. Yay rehabilitation!


People don't seem to realize that when an organism's not getting any or little love and affection, the organism wilts. It's unhappy, is more prone to getting sick, more prone to having a shorter life span, more likely to do crazy violent things to help ease it's pain and suffering. Eventually, it can die from complications of this principle. Another example of this is when a girl(or boy) is not with someone and they feel ugly. Then, months after they're happily involved with someone, they "appear" more attractive and happier. Old flings start pouring out of the woodwork, trying to get with them again and they can't figure out why they started thinking about the girl again... My point: sending hate energy or withholding love from an individual is the worst thing you can do to an organism. You might as well just start stabbing them, because that's the effect it has on their luminosity.

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

This just reminds me how much I hate people and how badly I'm going to end up a crazy cat lady. And all my cats will be named Dave Grohl.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 10:41 PM' post='801918']

This just reminds me how much I hate people and how badly I'm going to end up a crazy cat lady. And all my cats will be named Dave Grohl.

when I was in LA and I "rescued" this momma cat and her litter, I was astounded at how mean alot of people were. Nearly all the men in the building would throw stuff at them or take away the food I left out for them.  

[Kickstand27]

you trying to make me cry RQ?

[a$$kicker]

when I was in LA and I "rescued" this momma cat and her litter, I was astounded at how mean alot of people were. Nearly all the men in the building would throw stuff at them or take away the food I left out for them.  

aw, i remember your 'cat family' watch andi. it nearly made up for the poo-colored dank foto.  

[totallybaked]

i like cats but i'm fuckin wickedly allergic to them.

i get asthma and sneeze my face off.....


joke's on me i guess....

[lifer]

That was touching, RQ. Thanks for posting that.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

aw, i remember your 'cat family' watch andi. it nearly made up for the poo-colored dank foto.  

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

Awww <3

We used to have baby kitties under our bay window. We fed them until the no-kill shelter came and picked them up for adoption.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:02 PM' post='801943']Awww <3

We used to have baby kitties under our bay window. We fed them until the no-kill shelter came and picked them up for adoption.

I wanted to keep them, but the landlord said "no". I looved the interaction between them all. Especially the baby kit-kits.

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

I wish I could get more cats now but my cat isn't keen on the idea. After she goes I'm going to just get a ton of kittens.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:05 PM' post='801950']I wish I could get more cats now but my cat isn't keen on the idea. After she goes I'm going to just get a ton of kittens.

I want a whole cat clan. Momma and how ever many of the litter.

[nurse_kagome]

Ohh...I think I am crying....thanks for posting that RQ.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

you know what's the most horrible part of this story??

His compulsion to suckle. He was apparently so abandoned and unloved he was looking for maternal nourishment EVERYWHERE.

[Liquid-Silence]

I used to have this dog named "stormy". She was the sweetest dog....albeit the most retarded one I've ever owned. How did she get her name you ask? Well, it appeared as though the poor thing was dropped or roughed up in some fashion as a pup, or possibly just a birth defect...her spine was, as they put it in Forrest Gump, "crooked as a politician". Her head was always cocked to one-side, and when excited, would start to spin in a circle....continuously until her excitement waned...this is how she got the "stormy" moniker. She was retarded...a retarded dog...but I loved her anyways...even though she was covered in shit(literally) most of the time.

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

I just pissed off my cat by hugging her when she was dead asleep.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:21 PM' post='801973']I just pissed off my cat by hugging her when she was dead asleep.

what's your cat's name?

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

TrixXxie
She's a shelter kitty.

[AnDi-ChRiSt]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:33 PM' post='801987']TrixXxie
She's a shelter kitty.

awww. she's all tuckered out.

she's a pretty kitty, too. *pets her silvery mane*

[totallybaked]

she kinda looks purple.


shoulda named her Prince


or Willy Wonkette

[nurse_kagome]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:33 PM' post='801987']TrixXxie
She's a shelter kitty.

What a beauty...makes me want one really bad....

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

Word. She's always jumping around and finding things to play with, then when I sit down to paint she curls up in a drawer or a box. Or in the case when I went to LA last year, a suitcase.
But she's usually always laying on me (like she is now) or asleep.

she kinda looks purple.


shoulda named her Prince


or Willy Wonkette

But TrixXxie is the name of the hooker that punched Vince Neil out or something an hour away from my house.

[nurse_kagome]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:41 PM' post='802003']Word. She's always jumping around and finding things to play with, then when I sit down to paint she curls up in a drawer or a box. Or in the case when I went to LA last year, a suitcase.
But she's usually always laying on me (like she is now) or asleep.



But TrixXxie is the name of the hooker that punched Vince Neil out or something an hour away from my house.

Yeah....cats rule...I am a cat person with horrible cat allergies and have not been able to find a medication strong enough to let me have one yet.  

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

What a beauty...makes me want one really bad....

Get one! Kitties are amazing.

Yeah....cats rule...I am a cat person with horrible cat allergies and have not been able to find a medication strong enough to let me have one yet.  

Hairless!

[nurse_kagome]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 11:44 PM' post='802009']Get one! Kitties are amazing.
Hairless!

I am saving up for one of those hairless hypoallergenic ones...they are damn expensive though, and you have to go through more paperwork and backround checks to adopt one of those kitties than adopting a child from china!

[lifer]

' date='Jun 20 2006, 07:33 PM' post='801987']TrixXxie
She's a shelter kitty.

She looks a lot like mine with the markings. Yours is a tic-tabby. Adoreable.

[[KyussLovesGlitter]]

I am saving up for one of those hairless hypoallergenic ones...they are damn expensive though, and you have to go through more paperwork and backround checks to adopt one of those kitties than adopting a child from china!

I think it's because a lot of people get them without knowing how to properly take care of hairless cats so that's why they have to make sure the person adopting is right.
The shelter I got my cat from called three times in the first two months to see how things were going.