I Have Your Cat

And I don't even know who you are.

I was in Esquimalt in late September, caddying at a bridge tournament being held at the Rec Centre. A filthy, flea-bitten and emaciated cat with runny eyes and nose was trying to warm herself under cars or in any bit of sunshine she could find. The perimeter of the parking lot revealed evidence of other people's attempts to feed her.

I talked to her and she came right over, rubbed up against my ankle and meowed. Ran my hand down her back and every vertebrae poked itself through her skin. Every rib stuck out, and even her little face was skinny.

So I ran to the nearest grocery store and bought a bag of cat food, found a couple of containers for food and water, and returned to the parking lot. She was still there, and almost ran up to me when she heard me opening the bag of dry cat food. I put food and water down for her in a corner, and stood back to see her practically inhale what was in front of her.

I fed her for the next couple of days, and then decided she needed to come home with me. I felt that if her owner did live nearby, that person didn't have the right to have her and not take proper care of her.

My son and daughter-in-law were co-conspirators. They loaned me their kitty-carrier. The day I left town, I scooped up Pluck (PLK, for Parking Lot Kitty) and she settled right down in the carrier, surrounded by soft towels.

We took her to our vet, who found a tattoo in her ear. She had indeed been spayed (yay!), but the tattoo was so faded that we could not identify the vet clinic who had done her spaying, or the year of her birth. So, she's either from Comox or Mill Bay, and is either 8 or 15 years old.

She has had treatment for worms, fleas, earmites, as well as both sets of shots, which we were happy to pay for (even though we couldn't afford it).

Pluck, our little girl kitty, has blossomed living in a strictly-indoor environment. Her coat is soft and glossy, her eyes and nose still drip a bit, but nothing like before, she is bug- and parasite-free, she always has lots of the BEST cat food available (Orijen which is made in Canada of all Canadian ingredients), fresh water, clean litter and all the love and cuddles she can handle.

If Pluck sounds like your cat, please leave me your address so we can send you the bill for the veterinary care we have paid for. If you have any notion of seeing her again, forget it. You didn't take care of her when you should have, which has done you out of the option of ever seeing her again.