Last Tuesday morning I was talking on the phone and surfing the internet, while checking hundreds of emails.  When I decided to pull up the Tails web site, which is the Pet rescue place where we adopted Sanosuke in February of this year.

 I had sent Tails a copy and link to my Blog story about Sanosuke,  the one where I wrote about his adoption.  Soon after that Blog posting, Sano’s litter mates were adopted and their pictures disappeared off the adoption site.  So when I pulled up their site I was very surprised to see a kitten that looked like one of Sano’s sisters. Her name was Hershey.

I was curious about her history.  Why was she still there? Was she brought back?  Maybe I was wrong!  Cats look very similar, right?

I pulled out Sanosuke’s file and compared the litter numbers; they matched except for the last two digits. Which made sense each kitten would have their own number.

Biting my nails I clicked off the site and went about to reading emails.

Then my curiosity got to me and I called Tails and asked if any of Sanosuke’s litter mates where still there. I gave my phone number to the woman and was told I would get a call back.

Within thirty minutes Tails called back. I was told; one of Sano’s sisters had never been adopted. When the other kittens were adopted they moved her out of the cage into the cat room.  It wasn’t a good place for her. She was placed in a room that was being closed off due to a fungal infection.

Ooops!

I was told she was never ill. She never had an infection! Yet, she had to go through the incubation period of nearly two months while she got dipped; physically held down under water with only her eyes and mouth showing. The process can make a cat crazy and this kitten was in a room with a lot of other cats that needed help. They only had two wonderful people to take care of them physically and mentally. Hershey wasn’t given the attention she needed.  So her mental health was set to the side while they dealt with other cats, seemly, more stressed than her.  

I felt claustrophobic just hearing about it.

Now if you had read my original story on Sanosuke, you would know that he and his litter mates had very little human contact, besides getting medical care and being fed.  We were warned he was nearly feral.

Now, here I was hearing that she may never be just right, ‘and’ she will need a lot of one-on-one care. ‘And’ she wasn’t very social. ‘And’ she would freak when someone came near her. I thanked the woman for calling me back and hung up.

Then I hunted down Michael and told him the story.

Michael asked what I was going to do. One more kitten would be an expense. But then again cats are very clean and social animals. But this one may be broken.  Then he walked away from me…

It took me ten minutes of thinking.

The cats I had for years were from a mama kitty. She was my daughter’s first animal rescue.  My daughter was ten years old at that time.  I had been very surprised when that little cat gave birth, in the closet, within a month of coming into the house.  Her kittens never left my life. The last one, Sandy died at eighteen while I  held her.   

I grabbed my keys and headed for the car. Michael laughed and called out the door. “Don’t come back without her!”

When I entered Tails, the receptionist looked up and smiled and asked me if, I was there to adopt Hershey?

Laughing I asked, how she knew? She told me Michael had already called and informed them I was coming for her.

I filled out some paperwork while she located someone to help me.

A wonderfully patient volunteer took me in a room to talk. “When you saw, Hershey how did you get along with her? Was she friendly?”

I had to be honest; I haven’t seen her since we adopted Sanosuke and I told her so. I did ask, if Hershey was the kitten that had been staring at me though the glass wall?  She had spotted me when I walked in and we had ‘a moment’ through the glass. I cooed. And she stared.

I was told that was her.

Then, I explained that I was taking, Hershey home to her brother.

The woman looked at me quietly and said. “He may not remember her.”

“He will!” I said with a smile. “I have fed and observed feral cats for years. They know a family member when they are reunited.”

I don’t think she believed me…

She was trying to stop me from being disappointed.

When I said, “They just need to be shown to each other gently and with love.”

The interview was over and I finished signing the papers.

Hershey was placed in a room for me to observe her, and allowing me time to change my mind. I was warned not to enter the room.  I was told; she would freak due to her history and lack of human contact, and may hurt me or herself.  I needed to wait before I entered the room. She had just clawed the technician who brought her to me 

I waited a few minutes for the kitten to move away from the door. Then I entered the room.

I sat on the chair and waited.

She hid behind a chair and stared.

She had a look in her eyes similar to the animals on the commercials that have been abused.  So sad and scared!  I started talking telling her about her brother. She wasn’t listening to me at all.

Cats need to form a bond with humans in order to see them. Otherwise they have eyes only for other cats. Here she was, stuck in a room with a human.  And the only other people she knew would grab her and give her medicine and didn’t have time to play.

Carefully I moved the chair she was hiding behind and picked her up. She was stiff and extremely frighten. I started to rock her like a baby, and then she leaned against me without relaxing.

During this time I could hear the sound of the puppies and dogs from the doggie area. I wanted to go see them, but not today.

So many animals calling out for someone to love!

When I brought her home, Michael grabbed the carrier from the care and carefully set it down in the living room.

Tomoe hissed and hid.

                                  Kenshin glared and hid.

                                                                         PJ walked up and said, hello.  When she hissed at him, PJ looked like his feelings were hurt.

                                                                              Then

                                                                                    Sanosuke, slowly

                                                                                                            walked up

                                                                                                                          to the carrier.

They touched noses, and made happy sounds. She reached through the bars and gentle touched Sano’s head. He rubbed against the cage as she cried loudly from inside. Sanosuke sat and watched, as we set her up in a cage in the living room. He never stopped taking to her!  

They remembered each other and both are very happy. We changed her name to Kaoru…

Helping an animal doesn’t mean you have to adopt. You could volunteer, or donate money, or cat and dog crates, or baby blankets or new toys.   

If everyone can save just one animal, just one..   Just think how wonderful that would be!

I was able to grab the camera and take pictures without waking up Tomoe. She slept for three hours before she had to hit the litter box. Tomoe owns the bed after I get up. It was very early and I wasn’t ready to get up.  She didn’t care.

Then Uriah needed to go.

 I resigned myself to the day starting very early and set off outside into the early morning sunshine. Birds screamed at me as I carefully walked around spider webs and newly opened dandelions. Uriah barreled under the pink crabapple blossoms and stepped on the greenish-reddish stalks of unopened peonies. I noticed the Lilac’s flowers were still in the small budding stage in a few more days I will smell their fragrant perfume. I probably won’t bring them indoors, Sano eats everything. I don’t believe they are poisonous to cats.  But he will make a mess of them.

When I came back in I noticed the coffee was already brewing. Michael had gotten up when I took Uriah out and set up the coffee pot. In a daze of complete coffee bliss I told Michael he was like a God to me. Bad move! He kept repeating that all day. Very irritating! 

Yesterday I had heard on the radio that the Tick season has started in Illinois. Great! Ticks love me! Any Tick, in a ten mile radius, will jump its way on over to me.

Michael thinks it’s hilarious, when Ticks leap from the grass and trees towards me.

We are not amused! Heavy sigh!

Well, yesterday evening I took Uriah for a walk and came back inside. Not thinking about Ticks at all… It was a cool evening, not summer cool but that spring cold where you’re wondering if it will snow by morning, definitely not insect weather. I walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water and noticed a slow moving black bug on my arm.  I brushed it into the sink and called Michael to tell me what it was.  I didn’t have on my glasses, so it could have been a spider or a piece of dirt.  I was surprised he said it was a Tick and quickly washed it down the drain.

I asked him if he could see any more. Arms out, I did slow turn.

Leer, leer!  Wink, wink!  

“Just look for Ticks!” I grumbled and rolled my eyes.

Michael announced I was Tick free. He was wrong…I was wearing black pants and Ticks love dark colors. I sat down and noticed a shiny little body crawling on my pant leg. Then another and another…Eeek!

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If you’re interested here’s a site about ticks:

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pccommonticks.htm