There's a colony of feral cats behind our apartment and we had the idea to rescue one and give it to someone else, trying to save at least one before the winter. My husband caught the ugliest little kitten instead of the cat we had befriended all summer. She was a blotchy orange with these giant ears. Poor thing was terrified of us, she'd buzz when we held her. We kept her in the bathroom when we had to leave the house, because her litter was there and we could keep track of her there. When she roamed around, she got caught in the tiniest spaces, mewing her pathetic little meow to rescue her. We would try and hold her a lot to get her used to us. Slowly she started to explore the apartment instead of bolting to go hide somewhere.
One time we though we lost her. We figured she had escaped out of the door when we weren't looking. We looked in the basement, went outside looking for her. After a full day of looking for her, we found nothing. I sat down on our crappy old hide-a-bed couch. I heard the springs move. Then I sat still for a moment and heard the springs move again. Silly cat was INSIDE the couch.
When we had her a few weeks (still with no name since we weren't sure we were going to keep her since I'm allergic to cats) I noticed she was limping a bit. Then the next day her leg seemed swollen. We figured it was time to take her to the vet, and she was somewhat tame by then. Turns out she was bitten by another animal and would have died without antibiotics. She had a huge abscess in her leg which they had to drain.
After a couple of months of hellish allergies I'm no longer allergic to Sweetie. After 5 years she is sooo not a feral cat anymore, snuggling with us whenever she gets the chance. She cries when she sees the grooming brush (we call it the slicker brush), she sleeps with her head on my husband's pillow in between us (she thinks she's people), she pretends to hate Daisy but will sleep near her. Whenever we put the baby on his playmat, she would lie near him, I think to keep an eye on him. I was worried about her separation anxiety when we went away for 10 days. I love this cat so much. She greets me at the door when I come home, so I think the feeling is mutual.
Poor no name kitty living in our bathroom trembling every time we held her.
Keeping an eye on her peeps in the alley.
Sweetie helping to hatch the baby belly
Kitty-Baby Mind Meld
