Serendipitous

Sometimes a series of events just fall into place and puts you in a situation that you would not normally be in.

I was going to stop after work to get a bottle of rum. I decided not to and instead washed my car - my poor filthy, salty car. I would not recommend washing your car on an 18 degree day...

Right there I think is what set the wheels in motion. If I had just gotten my rum or even just gone home I may not have seen the cute little black and grey tabby walking up the middle of the road...

The signs have been all over. One of my customers has recently started fostering a dog that uses her cats as toys, an old friend sent me an email just this morning about cats vs. dogs and then another customer admitted that she was a cat-lady. I've been missing the allure of the feline mystique. Our dogs are just so open and loving - they have nothing to hide. Cats are so different.

Anyway, I was driving home on one of our back roads and this cute little kitty was jotting up the hill - I had to slow WAY down because because he wasn't moving out of my way. This is where things could have gone differently: I could have kept going once he did finally get out of my way - but, that's not what happened. I decided that it would be best to roll down my window and ask if he was okay. He was meowing up a storm. I noticed right away that he has six or seven toes on his front paws. He came right over to my driver's side door and was still meowing. I thought he was going to jump right in! Then I noticed the scuff mark on his ear. I had to get out and make sure he wasn't injured. He didn't seem to be injured, but he was very skinny. The plowed bank is pretty high. The kitty jumped onto the snow bank and then onto my shoulders - purring and meowing the whole time. His meows were very demanding - "pay attention to me!"

I went to the 3 of the houses on that road, four if you count the abandoned one. No one claimed the cat. I drive on this road twice a day, six days a week. I've never seem him before. In fact, I've only ever seen one other cat on that road and I know where he lives. I did get to see a guy in a bright neon green snowmobile suit peeing on a tractor tire. That was fun...

Kitty cat settled into the car like he owned the place. He did scratch on the back seat once, and tested out a few spots for comfort. He decided to hunker down on a pile of wintery accessories piled in Emma's car seat. He travels better than our dog Jazzy!

Grandma Laura got to see Kitty Face on our way home. I rolled down the back window so she could get a better look. I told her that I wasn't sure how Scott was going to react but that I would fill her in.

Once we got home I had Scott come outside without the dogs. He saw me with a cat and said "put that down!" He thought it was one of our neighbor cats. I told him that the cat came home with me and that we had to feed him. I did a flea check - looks good. This will be an outside cat. That is, if he comes back...

We brought him in and introduced him to the doggies. I wanted to make sure that they didn't freak out over a strange cat once they went outside. Our dog Bailey is on a special raw food diet for kidney issues. I was prepared to make a meal for the kitty, but then realized that our next door neighbors would be happy to give us some food to tide us over. Good people... good people. Then it occurred to me that Grandma Laura was on her way to town when I saw her - I could have asked her to pick up a bag of food...

So, after a nice meal and some semi frozen water, Scatt has gone explorinating. That's my word - I like it. It has been about 4 hours since he took off. I even made him a bed out of wool sweaters in a box under an enclosed table on the porch. I worry, I can't help it. And yes, I decided to call him Scatt. Cool, right - Scatt Cat.

Come home little kitty, come home!