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Enron Mail |
<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 50's. 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. Later that evening his <wife Louise and their two children came to a family decision <to keep the kittens which they named Lost and Found. Lost <was a female and Found was a male. < <When nature finally took it's course, a litter of kittens was born 6 years <later. One of the litter was a big white female with 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 Degagne's. < <In her 9 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 Ibs. < <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 neighbor's <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 ole kitten" he said. <So what does a 87 pound cat eat? Snowball goes through a about 3 <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 any more. Snowball often accompanies Rodger <fishing on the Ottawa, eagerly peering over the side of the boat as soon <as his line goes tight. < <So what do the Degagne's attribute Snowball's size to? 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". < <NOW go have a look at "Snowball."
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