A Rescued Cat and Traveling Dog

Recently , our home has become a sanctuary for needy cats and dogs. Okay, well ONE cat and ONE dog.

The ONE dog

Some friends of ours unexpectedly and quickly had to move to Australia. They had to leave their dog behind as they had not had time to get all the tests and prerequisites done for the pup to make the trek. So now we have two dogs temporarily.  Jingle is loving it and I think Dinx is getting used to his puppy amount of energy.

The ONE cat

I was at a good friends house having a playdate for Z (and a coffee date for me) on a Friday and I got a Facetime call from Chad. I thought it was a butt-dial, but all of a sudden a little kitten appeared on my screen. A kitten that did not belong to us, because Chad is allergic to cats, and because we have a dog that loves to chase cats.

Chad had saved the kitten from the neighborhood dogs and it was in shock. So Chad got the kitty all set up in Jingles old kennel and gave it some food and water.

I knew it would be difficult for Z to not get attached to the cat. So on our  way home from the playdate, I told her what happened and that we would be doing our best to find it’s home.

“Whiskers” became the cats temporary name. I did my best to make the cat feel at home while keeping distant so as not to want to keep it.

Whiskers was small and so tame. She let Z carry her around like a little baby. Z just loved her up. It was adorable.

Z and I walked around the neighborhood asking everyone if they knew who the cat belonged to. No luck.

I made facebook posts and plastered the local groups and pages asking for anyone’s help in finding it’s home (or giving it a home).

I made actual flyers in English and Thai (pretty badly translated, but got the point across) and covered the neighborhoods electric poles with them. I was hoping and praying that the owner would show up quickly and that the kitten wasn’t just dumped. Dumped cats and dogs are extremely common here, so I started to lose hope that the cat had a home.

Two days later, Z was playing with the kitty in our large guest bathroom (that is where we had to keep the cat when the dogs were in the house for her safety and Chad’s allergies). Chad and I sat down and tried to figure out what we should do with Whiskers. We were all getting attached and Chad and I tried to figure out how we would make her an outside cat so we could keep her.

We just couldn’t figure out what to do next. Chad went and started playing with the cat and Z.

My phone rang, it was a lady speaking in Thai. All I could understand was “my cat”… I did my best to tell her where we lived and she gave me her address, we lived on the same street!

I ran and told Chad and Z that the owner was found and explained to Z what was happening. Z was sad but took it fairly well. I told her that we were going to walk the cat to its home and she could hold it the whole way. We left our house to walk to the owners home.  A scooter rolled up as soon as we left our gate and a Thai lady jumped off the back and happily showed us one of my flyers and tried her best to communicate that the cat was her sons and she was so thankful that we had kept the cat safe. She had tears in her eyes and looked so relieved.

Z held onto the cat and I called a friend that could translate for me, I asked if we could come and visit the cat sometimes as Z really loved her. The owner of the kitty gladly agreed and started walking towards her house. She let Z hold the kitty the whole way.

It was such an interesting and surreal experience, everyone along the walk to her house came out of their houses and cheered that the cat was found! It was like being in a homecoming parade. As we got closer to her home, her son (who was 10) came out and cheered and danced. Everyone kindly let Z hold See Dam (the cats real name which means black in Thai) until we arrived at their actual house, where their whole family piled out of the front door and thanked us. They also brought out the cats brother and let Z hold him as well.

Z teared up a little when I told her it was time to give the kitty to its family, she gave her one last hug and handed her to the son. We walked home and talked about what had happened and how fantastic it was that Z loved and took such good care of “Whiskers” for the boy.

I think overall, the “Whiskers” experience was a great one for all of us. Chad and I breathed a sigh of relief that all was taken care of without us having to make any hard decisions. Z is excited because I kept the kitten food and litter we had bought to bring to their house another day. “Whiskers” will be a cat that we will see again.

Have you ever taken in a stray animal? Did you have an awesome story like this one to share? Leave a comment and share it!