Everyone knows that most horse people are a little crazy–especially about their animals. Susan Wilson, a select amateur, who trains with Highpoint Performances Horses, has a reputation for being an animal lover. At the Texas Amateur Championship show in Waco, she earned the title of “the cat lady” as one lucky stray cat struck gold.
When a stray cat showed up at Charlie Cole and Jason Martin’s stalls in Waco, Wilson immediately bonded with the cat. “All my cats have been strays. Whenever I see one I talk to it in my ‘cat voice’ which is high pitched and either scares people, hurts their ears, makes them laugh at me, or some combination of all of these things,” Wilson said.
But there was something about this cat that made her special. According to Wilson, “She was so sweet and she looked like she might be pregnant. I went to the store the next day and bought cat food for her. She purred so loud while she was eating that I thought she might choke. I would take the caps off of the Pepsi cans and use them as water bowls for her.”
Three days into the show, the stray cat finally got a name courtesy of Charlie Cole. “Susan said something like ‘the poor girl…look at her….she’s just a teenager and she’s going to be a mommy.’ That’s when Charlie said her name should be Jamie Lynn. I asked why and he reminded me of how Britney Spears’ sister Jamie Lynn got pregnant as a teenager. From that point forward, she was known as Jamie Lynn Kitty.”
Cole wanted to be able to offer the cat a home once the horse show was over. “I thought we could take her to our house and we could have a new barn cat.” But Cole was not without reservations. “I like cats, but cats don’t do very well at our house. The last one ate one of our ducks. I told Susan I would take her home and keep her, but if she eats one of my ducks, I will have to get rid of her because I’m not going to have another duck eating cat at my house.”
Then, the last morning of the show, everything changed. Theresa Moran, Highpoint’s client who owns Vital Signs Are Good, looked at Wilson with a mischievous smile and said “We could take her on the plane.” Wilson said, “‘Don’t do that to me. I love Jamie Lynn! I can’t believe I might actually be able to keep her myself.’ The next thing I know the Morans are saying they will take her home. I had tears of happiness. Jamie Lynn Kitty was going to fly to Orange County so I could pick her up the next day and bring her home to San Diego.”
So the Morans packed up Jamie Lynn Kitty and headed to the airport. Theresa explained that after babysitting three of Charlie’s turtles in a laundry basket on a flight to Texas and Jason’s Great Dane, Hudson–flying with a cat in a pet taxi was a breeze. “While we loaded up the plane, we let Jamie Lynn take in her few last minutes of Texas air, buckled her into her seat, and were off to Orange County,” Moran said. “As we headed back to the West Coast, Jamie Lynn slept beside me, although my mom and I noticed that she was breathing heavily, which seemed odd considering we had the plane temperature relatively cool.”
After the Moran family arrived home and went to bed, Theresa woke up the next morning to find that Jamie Lynn had left a little surprise the night before. “I knew that could only mean one thing: Susan Wilson’s one cat had turned into 5. We all knew she was pregnant but not THAT pregnant!”
Theresa adds, “We let Susan know of the good news, and I proudly told my Jamie Lynn story to everyone sitting within a 5 foot radius of me in all of my classes. To say the least, she is a hit at my school. Jamie Lynn’s kittens, Snookie, Britney, Lindsay, and J-Wow as I call them are happily still in our downstairs bathroom waiting for the next adventure in their lives: San Diego.”
“That is the luckiest cat in the world!” remarked Cole.
While Susan was excited to see the pictures of the new arrivals, she couldn’t help but think that Jamie Lynn was her good luck kitty. “She made everyone in the barn laugh and smile and her saga of rags to riches is like a Cinderella story,” Wilson said. “I have to say that everyone in the High Point barn was so nice to her, and it just shows how much the entire group loves animals. The Moran family is so kind and generous, and I thank them so very much for bringing Jamie Lynn to California and for taking care of her and her babies. Little did they know that she would give birth during the
time it would take me to pick her up. I think everyone loves a happy ending to a story and that’s what makes the Jamie Lynn Kitty Cat story so fun!”
***UPDATE 4/29: Cyndi and Brendan Brown, both AQHA judges, read the Jamie Lynn story on GoHorseShow and immediately recognized the frisky feline. “That’s our cat!” said Cyndi. “It hitched a secret ride from Gainesville to Waco. When Brendan was unloading the trailer she jumped and ran..Oh well! Looks like she got a good home! Glad to see she had the kittens!!!!! WOW what a story!” Wilson, after talking to the Browns was happy to report that “I get to keep Jamie Lynn and her babies! How cool is that!”
Become a fan of Jamie Lynn Kitty Wilson on Facebook! Click here to access her page.
