Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Smith...the Cat

4WD got me onto a rocky beach of the Smith River where my phone conversation with Michelle kept being interrupted by a cat mewing. I figured it was some kind of bird and tried to ignore it. But it kept on. Finally I decided to investigate.

She was a couple of hundred feet away. In the fading light I coaxed her closer with an offering of canned tuna. Her ribs stood out and she ate ravenously, so fast in fact, that she threw up the first round. She was able to keep the next one down and chased it with some water. 

Thinking her too skittish to come inside, I let her stay out. But she was there in the morning, under the car. She made the move into the car easily enough and we went to see about shots, etc.   

At the veterinarian's in Crescent City the receptionist said she and her co-workers were sharing the raising of three kittens they'd found abandoned. She said people in that part of the world are irresponsible. Land is cheap too, I heard.

She's put me through the ringer: 





I bought a harness and let it lie around for a day to give her time to sniff at it. We seemed pretty settled in this morning after having breakfast (I had coffee) so I put it on while I washed up and sewed suspender buttons on my new pants. During a break we took a "walk" of about 150 feet on the leash; 300 roundtrip. Then I took the lead off and she crawled under the car with the harness on.


"Friggin' harness. I'll show you."




An hour later the buttons were done and the car packed. I started saying "Where's that cat?" which worked the day before. I started the car and called a few more times. No cat. 

I looked under the car: no cat. I thought how maybe she'd gotten hung up on a shrub or something and turned off the car to listen. Whistling and calling -- now thinking "Oh well, that's how it feels when things don't work out. I'll get over it." -- I kept calling. Time became interminable. A long ten minutes later she emerged from the forest -- it's dense with ferns and brush -- sans harness. I'll get another but will "accustom" her to it when she's inside. Live and learn. 

It's great to be in love! IF she sticks around.

11 comments:

  1. Is wonderful to know a kitty adopted you !! It will take a while for her to settle, she's in a new environment, other thing to take in consideration is the fact she may be missing her liter mates. Give 'er love & she'll stay !! And, also feed her, love is very important but a full belly is essential... LOL.
    PS: Does she have @ name ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Smith is her name, since she was on the Smith River and is settling in just fine. We're trying different kinds of food to see what she likes. So far raw chicken heart is at the top followed by raw sirloin.

      Delete
  2. This baby has sad eyes, she needs LOTS OF LOVE !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's come to the right place. I need to get her to a vet to have her checked out, see if she needs to be spayed, etc. Can you suggest someone? We'll be in Astoria, Oregon tonight.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Yeah, and a real schmoozwad, too.

      Delete
    2. "I once had a cat, or should I say, she once had me..."

      Delete
  4. How exciting! I am so jealous. She looks like she's full of cat drama.

    ReplyDelete
  5. YOU GOT A KITTY!!! I was never so bold - I'll be following this story.

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMG you have a travel buddy and a cute one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, she's a lot of fun! And with a great sense of humor. The other day I was taking care of business and she came tearing across the prairie, screeched to a halt a foot away and began digging like she was heading for China. She then squared herself into position with exaggerated butt wiggles. After less than five seconds she turned, sniffed a few times, scraped a couple of times and dashed off. It all happened so fast it took me a full minute to realize she hadn't actually "done" anything and I was the target of a joke!

      Delete