Lucky the Cat
My husband has named most of the Kats’n Us staff. I don’t mind since the names seemed to always fit.
Lucky was no exception.
Phil, my husband was driving home from work, it was around dusk. He was within blocks of our house, driving on a very busy road. As he drove up the hill he saw something in the middle of the road pop its head up. Phil was stunned that that dark lump in the middle of the road was alive! He pulled over, ran out to the little figure and picked him up before more cars drove by. This poor little gray cat was all bloody, wet and shaking. He tried to get a hold of the local vet but they were already closed. He even thought of going to the Fire Dept. since they were a block away. Instead he got a hold of me and I called our vet. By this time we had the pleasure of having 9 cats of all ages on and off. So we had been going to our vet for over 15 years. He was willing to stay open and wait for me to bring this little cat down.
So Phil wrapped him in a tarp, the poor thing didn’t know what was going on. We met and I drove him to the vet. This cute little cat was only 7 months old and we were not sure if he had been hit by a car or what. So as the vet checked him out, we discovered he had no broken bones, no fractures, nothing life threatening. Just a bloody nose and a few bruises. How Lucky! We surmised that he probably ran out into traffic and was bumped by a car which as years have gone on, I figured he had had a concussion.
So the vet cleaned him up, we set up schedules to get shots, to be fixed and what not. We still were not sure we were keeping this little guy or if he already had a home but just to be safe. We isolated him away in a room from our other cats. You want to introduce a new cat slowly. At the same time Phil checked the neighborhood where he found the little kitty to see if anyone was missing a cat. We discovered over time that this little cat probably was living on the streets and didn’t have a home. As we gave him time to heal, you can tell that this kitty hadn’t been in a home or with people.
So everyday, after work, I would spend time with him. Bring him food, water, change his litter box, (It is amazing how they know to use that without being taught). I would also try to play with him. Sometimes he
would play from a distance, sometimes he would hide. We took him back to the vet and got him fixed and his first shots. So after a couple of months and he seemed to be feeling better, we brought him down in a large dog crate and tried to introduce him to the other clan.
That didn’t work. He did not like being in the crate. So after a couple days we let him out. I don’t think I have ever seen a cat climb a wall. He was scared and just wanted to be free. Now our household is indoor/outdoor. We have a kitty door that opens into our basement. So our cats roam freely. By this time my husband had named him Lucky. Well, Lucky decided he had had enough of all of this and left. At first we were not sure if he had left for good or not. I was hoping that those couple of months of TLC might of sunk in. I was relived that he at least had shots and was fixed but not happy he was roaming loose. So for a few days we wondering the neighborhood to see if we could find him.
Now the neighbor across the street was remodeling his house. He mentioned to us one day that he kept finding cat toys like sparkle balls in his house. We all chuckled thinking that we had a stray cat in the area that was stealing them from us. At the same time we noticed food disappearing as well. Again not thinking it was Lucky but some stray cat. Lucky was so freaked that we thought he was long gone.
Until one day…….
My office window has a view of my neighbor’s house, who is remodeling. One day, while I was up there I noticed this little gray cat come
from under his house, stop, look both ways and run across the street to our house. So Lucky was the thief! He would come over and eat, steal a toy and go back over to that house. Finally a few days later, I was outside on that side of the street. Lucky was hiding under their car. I took a piece of rope and started dragging it from the middle of the street towards our house. Lucky started at first reluctantly but then with more interest following the rope. I finally got him close enough to grab him and started to pet him softly. He fell apart. Started purring and drooling. It was like maybe all that work when he was recuperating paid off. Maybe he finally realized that we were okay
and this is where he should be.
I guess you can say we decided to keep him. Well, he has been part of the Kats’n Us family for 10 years. He still is skittish around people and maybe due to his trauma he never learned how to meow correctly but he is the only cat we have had that will let me do anything to him when he is not feeling well, injured or whatever. Total trust. He also still plays with sparkle balls but doesn’t steal them anymore. He just hides them under furniture. Is he Lucky to be alive or are we Lucky we found him? In either case our lives are more enjoyable.