lately, our life has been disrupted by cats. don’t get me wrong--TJ and i vehemently love cats. we’ve always wanted one, but just didn’t feel like it was our time. we didn’t want the responsibility and we were gone so much anyway. we could love them, but we’d love them at a distance where they weren’t relying on us to eat.
then, we got this idea in our heads one night that we were ready. we discussed it for a few days, and made our decision. after much ado, we got the okay from our landlord. we got the food, litter, toys, and scratcher. we had everything except the cat.
we went to the san diego humane society and picked out the sweetest cat. her name was Harmony and she was very shy. she was a 2 year old, female, black cat (the least likely to get adopted!) and came from a neglect/abuse situation. she was stifled and often overlooked in an environment with numerous other cats around. we wanted the underdog, and we found her.
we took her home and let her loose in her new home, excited to show her how much we wanted her. she immediately ran and hid under the furniture. we gave her some space, but she only got more skittish as she knocked over some picture frames and books, and lost her footing on a shelf. she was so startled by all of this that we decided to leave for a few minutes while she took some time to get comfortable. we returned about 20 minutes later and she was nowhere to be found. she wasn’t in her spot under the futon. she wasn’t anywhere in the living room or kitchen. we saw paw prints on another chair, and figured she was just hiding somewhere else in the house. we searched closets, behind major appliances, under beds. nothing. we pulled out boxes, unloaded shelves, destroyed any sense of order in the house. this cat was nowhere to be found. i started panicking, then sobbing. we owned a cat for less than 20 minutes and then we lost her.
the only explanation we could come up with is that she had gotten out of the cracked window by the futon where the screen wasn’t fully secured. she would have had to do quite a maneuver, but she could have wriggled out the window, pushed open the screen, and jumped outside. she was so scared of us and her new situation, that she would never come back. she was going to die out there, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it.
the rest of the day was a fog. we walked around the neighborhood looking for her. we sat on the couch staring at that stupid cracked window. we cried and asked each other what we were going to do, then repeated the cycle. we did everything we could think of- left kibble all over the house and on the front porch, put out full cans of tuna and treats, and played with cat toys in open spaces hoping to lure her out of some fabled hiding spot we’d missed.
the next morning we woke up and checked the tuna we’d left out. nothing. we checked the litter box, the food, the water, the front porch- nothing. we decided that, while we were devastated, there was nothing we could do for her. behind the devastation of losing the cat was the ache was that we had cat accessories all over the house, but no cat.
so, we decided to get another cat.
we drove to the escondido campus of the humane society, unable to show our faces in the san diego location we had been at the day before. we picked a new feisty cat, a tiny little 2 year old orange tabby who had the same color hair as TJ. she had been picked up as a stray and was much more outgoing. we immediately renamed her from her shelter name (Amber) to Piper Cub, after the little yellow airplane she resembled.
we were much more prepared this time around- we let her roam in the guest room only, attempting to get her familiar with her surroundings before letting her loose. she explored and cuddled and jumped onto shelves. she had only been here for a few minutes, but this was where she belonged. i still thought about Harmony. i still cried at the thought of her fending for herself. but we had Piper now, and that was our new reality.
eventually we let Piper loose in the house. a few minutes after she started exploring, we heard another loud meow. it didn’t come from Piper, so TJ ran out to the alley where we thought Harmony would have jumped, but he found nothing. he came back inside feeling slightly defeated.
then we heard it again. it was coming from inside the house.
“the refrigerator!” i yelled to TJ. he pulled out the refrigerator and in a tiny enclave underneath, a little black head peeked out. even though we’d looked behind the refrigerator, Harmony had managed to wedge herself into a tiny space underneath the fridge where she was no longer able to remove herself. she had been back there for over 24 hours without making a sound until she sensed Piper.
we definitely only intended on getting one cat, but we like to think that it took getting Piper to help us save Harmony. we’ve slowly been introducing the cats to each other, and they are quickly becoming friends. Harmony still has a long way to go before she feels at home, but Piper has been helping to draw her out.
then, we got this idea in our heads one night that we were ready. we discussed it for a few days, and made our decision. after much ado, we got the okay from our landlord. we got the food, litter, toys, and scratcher. we had everything except the cat.
we went to the san diego humane society and picked out the sweetest cat. her name was Harmony and she was very shy. she was a 2 year old, female, black cat (the least likely to get adopted!) and came from a neglect/abuse situation. she was stifled and often overlooked in an environment with numerous other cats around. we wanted the underdog, and we found her.
we took her home and let her loose in her new home, excited to show her how much we wanted her. she immediately ran and hid under the furniture. we gave her some space, but she only got more skittish as she knocked over some picture frames and books, and lost her footing on a shelf. she was so startled by all of this that we decided to leave for a few minutes while she took some time to get comfortable. we returned about 20 minutes later and she was nowhere to be found. she wasn’t in her spot under the futon. she wasn’t anywhere in the living room or kitchen. we saw paw prints on another chair, and figured she was just hiding somewhere else in the house. we searched closets, behind major appliances, under beds. nothing. we pulled out boxes, unloaded shelves, destroyed any sense of order in the house. this cat was nowhere to be found. i started panicking, then sobbing. we owned a cat for less than 20 minutes and then we lost her.
the only explanation we could come up with is that she had gotten out of the cracked window by the futon where the screen wasn’t fully secured. she would have had to do quite a maneuver, but she could have wriggled out the window, pushed open the screen, and jumped outside. she was so scared of us and her new situation, that she would never come back. she was going to die out there, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it.
the rest of the day was a fog. we walked around the neighborhood looking for her. we sat on the couch staring at that stupid cracked window. we cried and asked each other what we were going to do, then repeated the cycle. we did everything we could think of- left kibble all over the house and on the front porch, put out full cans of tuna and treats, and played with cat toys in open spaces hoping to lure her out of some fabled hiding spot we’d missed.
the next morning we woke up and checked the tuna we’d left out. nothing. we checked the litter box, the food, the water, the front porch- nothing. we decided that, while we were devastated, there was nothing we could do for her. behind the devastation of losing the cat was the ache was that we had cat accessories all over the house, but no cat.
so, we decided to get another cat.
we drove to the escondido campus of the humane society, unable to show our faces in the san diego location we had been at the day before. we picked a new feisty cat, a tiny little 2 year old orange tabby who had the same color hair as TJ. she had been picked up as a stray and was much more outgoing. we immediately renamed her from her shelter name (Amber) to Piper Cub, after the little yellow airplane she resembled.
we were much more prepared this time around- we let her roam in the guest room only, attempting to get her familiar with her surroundings before letting her loose. she explored and cuddled and jumped onto shelves. she had only been here for a few minutes, but this was where she belonged. i still thought about Harmony. i still cried at the thought of her fending for herself. but we had Piper now, and that was our new reality.
eventually we let Piper loose in the house. a few minutes after she started exploring, we heard another loud meow. it didn’t come from Piper, so TJ ran out to the alley where we thought Harmony would have jumped, but he found nothing. he came back inside feeling slightly defeated.
then we heard it again. it was coming from inside the house.
“the refrigerator!” i yelled to TJ. he pulled out the refrigerator and in a tiny enclave underneath, a little black head peeked out. even though we’d looked behind the refrigerator, Harmony had managed to wedge herself into a tiny space underneath the fridge where she was no longer able to remove herself. she had been back there for over 24 hours without making a sound until she sensed Piper.
we definitely only intended on getting one cat, but we like to think that it took getting Piper to help us save Harmony. we’ve slowly been introducing the cats to each other, and they are quickly becoming friends. Harmony still has a long way to go before she feels at home, but Piper has been helping to draw her out.
it’s been a huge adjustment, but TJ and i have learned a lot through the process. more on that later.
