Well, for those of you who don't know, Disaster Cat lives with her husband, house-mate and furry friends, in a 200 year old Irish Rectory/Farm House. When we moved in, we had a terrible rat problem and I thought that a natural solution might be better than the tons of rat poison the previous owners put down every year. Besides, looking at the results of their efforts, I was not impressed. Thus began the saga of the Kilmurry House Barn Cats, a continuing story that has gone on for the entire seven years we have lived here. All of our barn cats are spayed or neutered, all are loved and get plenty of food and basic health care. Most are happy with their jobs, and I try to re-home the ones that are unsuited to the outdoor life. Either by temperament, delicate health or old age. At the moment we also have a full compliment of indoor kitties (most are Norwegian Forest Cats) so its hard for me to move any more into our house at this point. But over time, I've managed to find good homes for most of the extra barn cats...all except one. ...
Akorahil was born here at the house, an accidental "opps" between a Main Coon lady and a Forest Cat tom. All the rest of the litter eventually found homes (some after a couple of years) and are spread out from Northern California to Scotland. But tiny, semi-feral Akorahil just went wild and skiddy. Despite the fact that as a baby she was most loving and lovable of the litter. Sometime after she moved outside; something must have happened to her. She became fearful and ran away from everyone. Loud noises cause the amazing vertical cat, followed by a black cat shaped streak running across the yard. Sometimes, when it was very cold outside, she would still let me pet her, but only for a few minutes. I knew she was very unhappy living outside as a barn kitty, but I couldn't imagine how anyone would take her on as a pet. I couldn't even get her to come into the kitchen for a treat!
Then, two weekends ago, our little feral kitty fell in love. Into her life walked a friend of my husband, the one they now call: The Cat Whisperer. Now I was aware of this mans effect on cats...I'd seen him in action before. In fact, in the days before he had a lady friend, I used to watch him with kitties and say to myself (in that way that very married ladies often do) "I'll bet he's going to make some women VERY happy someday..." Anyway, back to the story...
Two Saturdays ago, I looked out my bedroom window to see The Cat Whisperer happily enjoying the company of one of the barn cats. Both cat and human were in an ecstasy of delight, it took a few moments to realize that he was petting: HER! And not only that, when he walked away for a moment, the no longer feral one was following him. She was begging him to come back! I was shocked but delighted. No one had told the Cat Whisperer that this was a feral cat...and I suspect that for him, there is no such thing as a feral cat anyway. Two days of bliss followed for human and kitty. But then tragedy struck...the Cat Whisperer DISAPPEARED! (Humans knew he went home to Belfast, but the kitty didn't..)
For two days she sat upon the log where he had petted her, waiting for him. No one else would do. When a family member came by she would leap up with joy, only to fall back down listlessly or run behind the shed. No attempts at kitty treats would help. She would allow a small amount of petting, but not much. We had a very sad, depressed, black, fluffy on our hands.
Then surprise, we saw our friend this week and told him how much the kitty missed him. Turns out, he had been telling his lady how sad he had been to leave the cat. She was depressed about it too. Then came the real surprise, despite the fact that they have four cats already, they were delighted when I suggested that they could have Akorahil if they wanted her (I was sure they would have to say no). Today, just three days later, The Cat Whisperer took a day off from work, and drove down from Belfast to get his new kitty. As soon as he got out of the car, she came toward him, slowly at first and then ran up to be petted. First attempts to get her into a cat carrier proved futile (The Cat Whisperer does not enjoy making kitties uncomfortable). And our dog thought that chase the cat was a great game. We went into the house for tea, while my husband locked up our dog and then plopped the cat into the cat carrier. Despite being a skiddy kitty, she happily sat in the carrier while we all had tea. I think she knew she was going home to her new family. She was still hesitant about the Cat Whisperer's mate (what, you mean there's another female in your life?)...but she will get used to it.
Over all, I think she will be much happier, even if she has to share the Cat Whisperer with his human lady and four other kitties. An hour after he showed up to collect her, they drove off toward home. When you think about how much stuff goes wrong in life, its really special to be present when something goes right...Even better when the good news involves a CAT!
Stayed tuned for more of the Adventures of Disaster Cat