The Story of Dottie the Cat, her Kitten and the Goat in the Middle

A beautiful gray and white kitten was born to a cat named Dottie. As cute as kittens are this one was the cutest and sweetest of the litter. On this little kitten's back is written out I (heart) (Dot). The heart has been a symbol to stand for love in many countries along with ancient Babylon in the worship of Osiris. To me it is just a shape that is in nature, like the heart shaped leaf and petals of plants. Also less often it is seen in the fur of animals. http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/25/cute-message-on-kitt.html

This is especially heartening to me, since I have a goat that was also born with a heart on it. His name is Spot of Heart. Spot of Heart was born on a very cold but not quite freezing night. The wind in west Texas was blowing hard and sleet was falling from the sky. But just like the post office, rain, sleet, snow or hail we must go out and milk the goats. On this night with no moonlight three female goats were due. It seems that the coldest and wettest nights are when they kid. This night as I milked the goats I heard the sound that every mother knows. The sound of a new born kid. This night there was not just one bleating kid. Of course they will all kid tonight was the first thought. After finishing the goat that was being milked I went out to check on the new mommy. She was doing great. But tired. She was laying down and pushing out the last little one. She already had two kids next to her. It was not until she stood up to clean off the new kid that the fourth, yes, forth kid was spotted underneath the really fat mommy goat. He was deep in the mud and looked flat in the ground.

Squished into the earth he looked dead. Snoopy, the mommy goat was about to fall down on another of the kids so, my thought moved to them. I needed to protect the ones that were alive. Grabbing two of the little kids and holding them tight to warm them I walked over the sleet covered ground toward the gate and the house that was heated with a wood burning stove. After grabbing the cardboard box I placed the two little kids into it and near the stove. They were already working on standing up and knocking each other down.

Telling my mother that Snoopy had her babies I went out for what I thought was the last live baby. I told my mom that one was dead, so she went to check it. Shortly she ran past me excitedly exclaiming that it was not dead. With the fourth and last kid safe inside the warm house we turned our attention to the one that had been squished. We determined that he was a boy and rubbed him to dry his fur. The other three had long since stood up. But this one with his long floppy ears hanging down just worked on breathing. His eyes blinked open every once in a while as we cleaned and dried him. His legs lay limp and he did not even try to pick up his head. My mother and I looked at each other and agreed that he did not look like he was going to make it. We put him into his own box close to the warmth of the fire place and went to wash all the mud off of us now that the kids were all clean.

When I returned to check on the kids. The three were all laying down now baaing at me to feed them. Looking over at the squished male goat I saw him struggling to sit up as well. Taking a clothe I started nudging him and petting him, like the mommy goats do to encourage them to stand. He jerked up onto his knees and within the hour was weakly standing up. This is when I saw it. On his back was a big beautiful spot shaped like a heart. Down the center of the black heart was a long white batch of hair forming the indent of the heart perfectly. That night he got his name, Spot of Heart. After a few weeks of nightly feedings and spoiling him he was running around just like his brothers and sisters. Now he is a two year old billy and has many kids of his own. He is tall, strong and has not been sick since.