Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Busy, Stressful, but Ultimately Joyful

Well, I've been busy. On Saturday morning an unfamiliar cat sat atop our uppermost retaining wall. Even the most skittish felines I've met receive care from known neighbors, so out of curious concern I took canned food onto our back patio. The hungry critter devoured every bite and eventually followed me into our walkout basement.

Excuse me, I'm eating here...

By early afternoon it occurred to me that our veterinary clinic could scan for an identification chip. After all, that ended well for a little orange tabby who stole stole my heart a few years ago. ~sigh~ Anyway, the clinic was super kind in not charging me for a cursory exam including removal of a few ticks, age estimation, gender identification, the fact he is neutered, etc. Since the left eye had been surgically removed with great skill (and who knows when?), he was introduced around. Alas, nobody there recognized him and no chip found. Taken in by his sweet nature (like us), the staff suggested returning him there for re-homing if necessary.

First, I needed to try and locate an obviously loving family. Various pet finder websites and social media platforms led to a single dead end. One well meaning area lady suggested releasing him to find his home, which might have worked but we have coyotes around. Instead I put flyers around the neighborhood and reached out to clinics and the Humane Society.

Amazingly, while I began typing this post lamenting my stressful search and subsequent attempts to acclimate a (very tolerant) Jezebel to a possible new housemate, my phone rang. A man wanted to meet, having seen the one flyer I drove down the hill to post. As before, I went to the video monitored space outside our local police department and met him and his sweet wife. Success! A little girl will not cry herself to sleep tonight.


Isn't this the best thing you've read all day? What other sweet ending have you heard about lately?

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17 comments:

  1. Bless you for taking care of this precious little one. You're such a sweetheart.

    Have a fabulous day, Darla. Big hug. ♥

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  2. A wonderful success story!
    Hope you carefully mentioned to the owners that a microchip (and maybe a collar) would be helpful in the future.
    But what a gorgeous kitty!

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    1. Yes! I sure did suggest chipping. :) And he is beautiful. What a doll.

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  3. Awww...I love a happy ending. How kind of you to help this cutie. XO

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  4. You did good. I see from above that you suggested chipping. I felt that was not needed with Lily being an indoor cat but when she got off mom's deck 1.5 yrs ago just a few days after mom's funeral, at night, and was lost for hours.....I changed my way of thinking and she was chipped the very next day. I will never forget how she stayed glued to me and the four dogs that night. Not leaving my side. I think she was as scared as I was. So glad you worked hard to help find that babes home and so glad the babe is home now. Well, was it male/female, age, and later you must have found out the name?

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    1. ~hugs~

      Cleo is male but I forgot to ask what year the daughter found a box of kittens. I hope they can afford to get him chipped.

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  5. That's so nice the cat found a home! And success for your efforts!

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  6. So glad you went to the lengths to find that kitty's happy home !

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    1. Thank you. :) Some area folks thought I should let him out to find his own way but we're not so sure since he's always been an indoor only kitty.

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  7. What a wonderful success story!

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  8. Did the man have some sort of proof, I imagine, that it was his cat? I'm glad yo found his owners.

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  9. I had no doubt of the authenticity. The man sounded almost like he had tears in his voice when he called and sent me a telling photo immediately after. That lanky boy loves to jump up on counters, tables, and desks.

    Then, when I arrived at the police station's safe zone, he and his wife were already there. He all but leapt out of his truck asking, 'Where's the cat?' The couple and their kitty were clearly happy. And they said their little girl had been crying herself to sleep.

    What a joy, and a relief. However sweet, that kitty was a handful and eating up all Jezebel's food!

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