It's a funny thing being a cat! I mean, just look at me! I am adorable! When no one else is around I love to jump on my foster mom's vanity so I can check myself out in the mirror. Can you blame me? And yet, as cute as I am, here I sit in my foster home. Hoping that out of all the kitties out there, someone may smile upon my cute little face. But I guess that is the life of a foster cat for you.
My name is George by the way. I'm not sure why they named me that, I don't think I'm any more curious than the next cat. But, hey, at least I have a name. I see my foster mom looking at different shelters online all the time and a lot of those cats don't even have names. They're just called "Cat #8" or "Tag13648." But I guess that is the life of a shelter cat for you.
This one time, before I was in my foster home, I was eaves dropping and I heard a woman yelling at another woman. She was talking about how her kitty stopped using the litter box so she wanted to "get rid" of him. His name was Alf. He looked over at me with really sad eyes and Alf told me that he had stopped using the litter box because he was feeling sick. It turns out that Alf had diabetes and the woman would have known that if he had seen a vet. Instead he suffered alone and now must hope for a new and loving family. But I guess that is the life of the neglected cat for you.
I love spending time with my foster mom. Sometimes, though, I like to sit in the window and day dream. Sometimes I see another cat outside and my day dream turns in to something else entirely. I begin imagining what it must be like out there. Left out in the rain, left out in the heat, left out in the snow, left out in a place absent of a human to love you or snuggle you or to give you at least two square meals a day. But I guess that is the life of a street cat for you.
Being the sneaky little kitten I am, I have been known to sneak on to the computer from time to time (this is one of those times). I was watching some television clips on Hulu and I saw one about "Hoarders." In the clip it showed a sad kitty that had no happiness left in her eyes. Her mommy had never washed her and hadn't fed her for weeks. She had all of these tiny, black bug looking things all over her and I could tell she was really sleepy. Through the computer monitor she cried for my help so I patted her head with my paw and sighed. But I guess that is the life of the voiceless cat for you.
That same night I decided to learn a little bit more about cats. Do all cats come from bad situations? Aren't there some cats that are loved from the get-go? I was happy to find that not everyone has to see the things that I have already seen in my short life. I actually began chatting with a Silkenthunder Bengal named Mickey and he told me that his family loves him very much. They paid $2,000 for him and he gets to have lots of pictures taken and is a real hit with the Silkenthunder Bengal ladies. My adoption fee is only $100, so this gives me a lot of hope. I was a little sad though because he said that he gets to see lots of other kittens born. Does this mean that those kittens will be taking the homes that me and my friends could be taking instead? Lucky Mickey. But I guess that is the life of a purebred (and exotic) cat for you.
Have you ever seen a really FAT cat whose belly is wiggling? Yeah, never call a cat like that FAT or she will whack you with her paw! I guess that cats like that aren't fat, they're pregnant... Whatever that means. The cat that smacked me was named Cagney and she told me that she had a nice warm home and lived with lots of other cats. Then one day she had a weird desire to go outside and meet some other cool neighborhood cats. The little human girl that lived with her cried for her mother to find Cagney once she realized she was missing so they went driving around and finally found her. A few weeks later they found out that Cagney was fa- I mean PREGNANT, so her mommy decided she didn't want her any more. She did not want a bunch of other cats to take care of and she said she didn't like Cagney much anyways. Cagney is really nice and I feel bad for her. But I guess that is the life of a castaway cat for you.
This one time I saw my foster mommy crying. I curled up in to her lap, began rubbing against her arm and started purring to let her know that everything would be alright. She stroked my ears, which I LOVE, by the way. She then picked me up and snuggled me really closely. I am glad that she loves me so, but I know that all of the purring in the world won't mend her heart; it breaks for every cat she knows she can't save. But I guess that is the loss of a life of an "unwanted" cat for you.I hate to see my foster mommy cry. I just want her to know that I am here too! A gentle purring reminder that even though she may not be able to save all of the lost kitties out there, at least she was able to save this one. And even after I am adopted in to my forever home, I will always love her for that. And that is the life of a rescued cat for you. :)
6 comments:
Another tear jerker! I've only ever rescued cats to keep as my own. Now that I'm "older" and have a home of my own, I foster cats and dogs! I wish I could save them all and I too cry for the unwanted, voiceless, neglected and cast away cats! My heart goes out to them and I only wish I could do more!
Thank you, Jackie! I think we will always wish there was more we could do but the reality is that until everyone takes on the responsibility of being a responsible pet owner, we are always going to have unwanted and cast off pets. For now we have to do the best we can and keep educating our community so we can break the chain! :)
This blog always makes me cry! What a great story and so true! We have 5 rescue cats and we just brought in another off the street. It makes me sad when I think about the animals out there that are abused and neglected.
Don't be sad! You are definitely doing your part by rescuing your 5 cats. When they needed you, you answered the call. We need more people like you in this world! :)
Oh goodness. The tears are just rolling down right now! All 3 cats we've every owned have all been rescues: the first from a "free kitten" ad, then one saved from a tree it got itself stuck in, and then the most recent from our local shelter. I proudly wear my Rescue Mom magnet on my car! It just breaks my heart to see people abusing and mistreating their animals like this mentioned.
My mom and I just saved two 3 month old kittens from our neighbors who abused them, left them outside to come back to the door like they were dogs, and the like. Final straw was June 26th when we found the young boy marked up with red magic marker all over his body and both him and his sister extremely thin. We tried to give them back, but they just shut the door in our face, so I ran into town to get a new litter box, bowls, canned food, and two collars, then set them up in our large carrier and put them in my car since it'd be cold that night and gave them my favorite fleece scarf to cuddle in before I drove them to the shelter in the morning. Food was gone in 7 minutes! Luckily, the male - nicknamed Felix, has already been adopted and his sister may be spoken for soon as well!
Thank you for everything you do. I wish that I could save each animal that ever needed a home, but then I'd end up on hoarders! Love the blog now :)
Thank you for sharing that story, Laura. We are always happy to hear from such compassionate people like yourself. Rescue work is not easy but having great, responsible people like you out there makes it so much easier! You are setting a great example for the community and that alone does so much to help these animals! Thank you so much! :)
If you're ever interested, we are always looking for fosters too! Kitten season is especially rough but we also need homes to help socialize cats we get in from hoarding cases here and there. Our foster application is linked right above our "about me" on this page.
Glad you enjoyed the blog! We have plenty more to make you teary eyed coming up. :P
Post a Comment