Kitty success story

Some time ago, M was working among the perennials in the front yard when three young boys came walking up the sidewalk; one of them carried a young gray cat. For reasons that we will likely never learn and would probably not understand, the boys elected to surreptitiously abandon the cat in our driveway. That is how we came to have six cats in our household – again.

Don’t worry. This story has a happy ending.

Is she not beautiful? Graceful yet endearingly goofy, tiny little miaow, curious about everything, and utterly unafraid of the established felines in the household. Which is why none of the other cats could stand her, I think.

M did not want to give the little miss a name, because to name a cat is to keep it. That’s been our history, anyway. When I took the kitty to our trusted Kingsbury Animal Hospital to check for a microchip (none, of course) and for the dreaded feline immunodeficiency and feline leukemia viruses (none, thank goodness), I checked her in as Jane Doe. Jane was a hit at the vet office; the doctor admitted to being a little jealous of our having come into guardianship of such a perfect little critter.

Back home with Provisional Cat Number Six. I had already given info to the local Humane Society in case anyone came looking for the lost kitty, and also placed a ‘found cat’ ad on Craigslist (which neither M or I would have thought of, but which was suggested by both a lab tech at Kingsbury Animal Hospital and a staffer at the Humane Society). There was nothing to do but wait, and after waiting, we heard nothing.

In time – and simply to avoid calling the cat ‘Hey, you’ – we gave her the name Sofia.

This is where regular readers of the blog would probably expect to read, “And Sofia has been with us to this day” – but no! Mirabile dictu, we found a good home for the cat: one of my colleagues at the library where I work had a daughter who dearly wanted another feline in her life. They are good people, cat people, just the kind of folks we would want for any former stray. They have given her the name of Willow, which we think is wonderful. Here’s a recent photo of her taken by my colleague:

There are so many more cats in need than there are people with room in their homes and hearts. Willow is a very lucky girl.