hoffywhf
- Jan 4, 2017
- 3 min read

The Empire Expands

We wrapped up 2016 in a most unusual way. I often refer to the farm and all of its inhabitants as The Empire, and we ended the year by expanding the empire. The shocking part about the expansion is that it wasn’t me dragging home another WebbPet to add to the empire. Well, I actually am the one that brought it home but I’m not the one that found it and it wasn’t my idea.

Everyone knows I am a sucker for stray animals, cute animals, any animal, and Jason is usually the one screeching on about how we have “too many dependents” and “too many mouths to feed” and saying “NO” when it comes to expanding the empire and adding to the WebbPet collection. Thus it was odd last week when Jason came home from the gas station telling me about a sad, skinny kitten that had apparently been dumped at the gas station up the road from the farm. He had Carter with him at the time and no crate, so he came in the house and told me that I needed to go to the market and get the kitten that was sitting in front of the ice machine, terrified.

I was sitting down at the time which was a good thing, as otherwise I would have passed out and fallen down from shock. I verified with Jason another 27 times that he wanted me to go get a skinny stray kitten and bring it back. He kept saying yes as I kept repeating the question. After receiving the 27th confirmation that I was to go get this kitten . . . I got the cat carrier and drove to the market and got the kitten. This poor kitten was so terrified he wouldn’t move, he just sat in the same spot shaking and crying, and he was nothing but skin and bones. Another person had bought him some cat food at the market and was trying to feed him, and she was thrilled I was there with a crate to take him home.

For the past week we’ve had a starving, terrified kitten living in the (heated) office of the front barn. Jason has determined that the kitten is a boy and named him Igor. We will find out on Monday if Igor is actually a boy after a trip to the vet. Igor spent the first couple of days hiding from the world in the bed we bought for him while shaking and occasionally crying. Thankfully he has been a good eater. On the third day he started coming out of his shell and now purrs when we hold him and pet him, and he continues to get friendlier every day. Jason is infatuated with Igor which is stunning on many levels. Since I’ve known him Jason has told me often that he’s not a cat person, nor is he ever happy when I’ve drug home another cat, dog, fainting goat, pony, horse, etc. Yet he goes to the office of the barn to hold Igor several times per day and takes endless selfies with him.

The Empire has expanded again with the addition of another WebbPet. Unlike Oscar, I am hopeful that Igor will be friendly and actually interact with us. Welcome to The Empire, Igor.

Igor