The Cat in the Basket

This is a story with a happy ending!

For those who follow my blog, you already know that we care for 13 feral cats. Well, once they were feral, but now most allow us to pet them. They have all been trapped, neutered/spayed, and released. We feed them and provide shelter.

Two weeks ago, a little gray kitten with a white nose and white feet crawled out from under the shelter house to try and sneak a few bites of food from the trays. The older cats were not kind. They growled and smacked at him. I tagged him Little Gus. He had to flatten himself like a pancake to crawl under the house to get away from them. But, he continued to crawl out each morning to grab some food. I kept consoling him and after a couple of days I could pet him. A couple days later I picked him up and he purred, although he was very frightened. So, I called our vet and made arrangements to take him in for a check up and to be neutered.

He was just so sweet that we hated to put him back outdoors to fend for himself. Even the vet wished they weren't overloaded with cats so they could help. I posted his picture and story on Facebook hoping someone with a loving heart would adopt him.

We had Little Gus neutered, tested negative for FIV, and then brought him home. We kept him on our screened in deck to heal. At first he was very scared of the "big cage" and he could see the other cats and the familiar back yard, but couldn't figure out how to get there. I kept loving on him and he soon realized humans were okay. I went outside the next morning and he had eaten the entire bowl of food and drank all the water! But I couldn't find him. I kept looking and looking and finally...

There he was in a basket of flowers.

That afternoon, we received a call from our son, whose wife had been begging to get Little Gus. He wanted to surprise her, so he told her we had a project he needed to help with. He brought her over and we sat on the deck. I handed Little Gus to her and she sat in the chair petting the kitty and giving her hubby a pleading look. He laughed and then said:

"She doesn't know why she's here."

Me:  "She doesn't know about the project?"

He:  "No. I didn't tell her."

Me:  "Well, you better tell her or I will."

He:  "You tell her."

Me:  "It was your idea, so you tell her."

All this time, she kept looking from one to the other, and said, "Well, somebody tell me."

He:  "We're taking the kitty home with us."

She teared up and kept saying "Really?"  Tears streamed down her cheeks and she kept hugging the kitty.  Yes, Little Gus found a loving home where he'll be spoiled and cared for. And, they took his basket of flowers along so he'd have something familiar. He also has a new name...Chance.  Because he now has a new chance at life!

Now that's a happy ending!