Sunday, March 7, 2010

Visiting Cat

We were awoken in the early dark this morning (Saturday), just before sunrise, by the plaintif sound of a cat's mournful whining.  Instantly we leapt out of bed and checked the location of our two cats, both of whom were safely sleeping in the living room.

Upon heading back to bed we heard the cry again.  I opened the front door of our second-floor apartment and the cat stopped crying, wherever it was, but I could see nothing.  So, I closed the door.  But while I was in the other room, Teresa opened the door again and here was a small, sleek, solid black young cat, who marched right in the open door.

Well, Teresa had to pick him up and put him in the back office before he came in contact with our two, lest he impart some disease or get into it with them.

For the rest of the day and well into the evening, we got to know this amazingly gentle soul.  He wasn't hungry, was well cared for, had no fleas and no fear of humans.  Though he also had no collar, he was clearly someones well-cared-for beloved pet.

Teresa said she had heard a car door open, then close and then the car drove off, just before the cat first started crying outside, and she thought perhaps he had been abandoned - dropped off here by someone who could no longer care for him.

Both of us would spend some time with him and he quickly settled into Teresa's office chair for the day.  He enjoyed being carried and  never bit or scratched or hissed.  We quickly fell in love with the little friend.

Teresa especially became instantly fond of him and spent great hunks of time with him over the course of the day.

We realized he might have an owner here in the apartments, so at first we were going to put up "found cat" posters.  But then we thought that we'd just make the rounds to the usual posting places to see if anyone had put up lost cat flyers.  We'd also check with the manager's office (which is closed on Saturdays) and if all else failed, take him to the vet on Monday to see if he had an ID chip implant.

After falling in love with the little beast on first sight and hoping we might keep him, we settled in a for a late evening game of Mexican Railroad Dominos.  After a few hands I suddenly had the feeling we ought to go out and see if anyone had posted a "lost cat" flyer by the mail boxes.

We got our jackets on and grabbed some recylcing to drop in the bin on our way out and stepped outside.  And just at that moment was a young man and his wife calling for a kitty in the dark.  I told them we had taken in a lost cat and they described him.

Kitty's name is Uno and he was from the woman's sisters apartment just over a few doors where she had just moved in.  The man said that she had let him out too soon after moving and he hadn't come home.

One of those weird coincidences where you get a feeling to do something and it turns into something important at just the right time.

I don't know if he would have gone home if we hadn't taken him in, but it was 34 degrees out and no one was around - plus, he came right into our house when we opened the door.

Either way, we are so glad to have ahd the chance to meet our visiting cat, and are also glad he was safe and warm and loved while he was with us.

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