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?

-