From: shelley.l.hatcher@us.andersen.com
Date: 2001-05-03 20:11:49+00:00
Subject: Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty



This one is pretty good!  Hope everyone is doing well!



This is unbelievable!  Read the story first.....then look at the picture.

Rodger Degagne a former employee with AECL in Chalk River may be embarking on a
new career as Feline breeder.  Relaxing in his spacious home on the shores of
the Ottawa River, Mr. Degagne recalls how 15 years ago he befriended two stray
young cats on the old AECL research facility at Chalk River.  The kittens had
appeared in late summer and apparently had gotten under a security fence around
the old labs abandoned since the late 50s.  With the help of his tuna sandwich,
Mr. Degagne was able to coax the kitties close enough so that he could pick them
up.  A self-described animal lover, he did not want to place the kittens in the
local Humane Society.  In this largely rural area, cats of all stripes and age
largely go unwanted and are humanely disposed of after a few days.  Later that
evening, his wife Louise and their two children, Nicole and Kelly came to a
family decision to keep the kittens which they named Lost and Found.  Lost
turned out to be female and Found a male.

When nature finally took its course, a litter of kittens was born six years
later.  One of the litter was a big white female with a unique black markings on
her side and tail.  Something about the kitten captured the hearts of the family
and while her siblings eventually found homes elsewhere.  Snowball stayed with
the Degagnes.

While Lost and Found are no longer with us, their progeny live on. In her nine
years Snowball's size has seemed to snowball.  Put simply, Snowball is no
ordinary cat; she measures 69 inches from nose to tail and weighs in at 87 lbs.
"She started out a big kitty and she just seemed to keep growing.

She always meowed for more food, and would climb up on the counter to eat food
which I forgot to cover.  Chicken is her favorite.  Once I left a cooked chicken
on the table that I was going to use for a boat picnic; an hour later, the
chicken was gone," Louise said.  "We knew that Snowball wasn't your average cat
when the neighbors' German Shepherd ran yelping away from his first encounter
with her.  She just isn't afraid of any animals.  After we found a half-eaten
raccoon out by the garage, we decided that maybe Snowball should be kept fenced
in.  We soon discovered that while we can keep Snowball in the yard, we couldn't
keep raccoons from Snowball.  "At least it kept the food bills down," Rodger
laughed. "Like all female cats, she is very territorial, but with us she is just
a big ol' kitten," he said.

So what does an 87-lb. cat eat?  "Snowball goes through about three lbs. of cat
food a day, along with cooked chicken , supplemented with deer and moose that
Rodger hunts in the fall.  She likes pike a lot, so I don't throw them back
anymore."  Snowball often accompanies Rodger fishing on the Ottawa, eagerly
peering over the side of the boat as soon as his line goes tight.

So to what do the Degagnes attribute Snowball's size?  Rodger says, "Well, the
vet thinks it could be her thyroid, but she isn't fat; she's just a real big
cat.  I think maybe her parents got into something at Chalk River that they
shouldn't have."




 - snowball.jpg 








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