The Story of a Stray

Almost one year ago, Kitty, our cat, came into our life. It was right after Christmas last year, and a small, timid cat followed my husband and brother-in-law, David (visiting from Japan) into our apartment. It was so cold outside and my heart softened when I saw her, so we let her in. The only cat-suitable food we had was canned salmon; she happily ate it. Almost from the start, she seemed very comfortable in our home, as if she’s been here forever. During that first few nights, she would jump on the guest bed and try to share it with David only to be thrown off again and again.

In the midst of trying to find her owner, and then trying to place her in a shelter, it took a while for us to decide to keep her. She obviously didn’t have an owner. I just couldn’t put her in a local shelter, which means she would be euthanized within a week if she’s not claimed or adopted. Then I discovered the no-kill animal organizations. I called and e-mailed almost every single one of them in the area only to be told that they are all full and not accepting new animals. My next idea was to become a new foster parent for one of the no-kill shelters, so that I could foster her until she’s adopted. Well, the commitment of taking her to the weekend adoption shows was just too much. I was in the middle of my surgery rotation.

So Kitty stayed with us and began fitting into our life seamlessly. She was a little sickly at first, weighing just over 6 lbs., and was vomiting and coughing. We dewormed her with OTC dewormer (I won’t go in the gory detail of how I knew she had worms) and began feeding her regular cat food. She soon got healthy and gained weight and now weighs 9.5 lbs. I eventually took her to the vet, got her shots and blood tested. I am so happy to say that she is FIV negative and Feline leukemia free. She was already spayed (the vet showed me a tiny scar on her abdomen) which means she must have belonged to someone at one time. Well, I already knew that because she’s very loving and comfortable around us, not feral at all. Her age is still a mystery, though.

I read that stray cats tend to be very loving and affectionate because they knew hardship and are grateful for being rescued. I truly believe that. Kitty loves to rub her nose against our legs and is the perfect nap partner sleeping next to us. We let her outside when she asks and when we are not home. Invariably, she’s always sleeping outside waiting for us when we come home. No litter box required in our small apartment since she goes outside. At first, I didn’t know if I’d have the time for a cat, but she turned out to be the perfect pet for us. Very low maintenance, very loving.

Paul loves her just as much as me, but he likes to joke that we should just get rid of her someday. My experience with Kitty has showed me the plight of many unfortunate cats. I really do have a soft spot for them. It makes me angry that irresponsible people are having pets! It’s so important for people to neuter and spay their cats and never abandon them, as I suspect is what happened to Kitty. Well, there's a happy ending with Kitty. She's a huge delight to us, and we can't imagine coming home without seeing her face or hearing her meow.