To the rescue … this time for cats.
My second rescue attempt went well today. A mama cat found in Houston with her tiny kittens was spotted in a parking lot, and they needed to get her to a rescue organization just over the river from my house. It is always good to find neighbors ready and willing to step up to the plate. This isn’t a cheap way to spend your time. Trips are often over two hundred miles, they need to be checked over by a veterinarian, and they need to be fostered by people who will take the time to get them to adoption centers. This couple is doing yeoman duty, but they prefer to keep their profile low.
I didn’t think I would make the trip yesterday because the young lady who first spotted the mama cat had to go find someone to accept her. When she went back, mama cat had moved the kittens. So I was so surprised when I saw a facebook message that the cats were crated and would be on the way.
I am a drudge in the mornings, sitting in my studio in my underwear while I sip my coffee and go through the day’s emails, postings and news feeds. But I fired off a reply, telling them that I would need a bit of time to prepare, and that I was shocked to find the kittens were found after a lot of searching. Not much impresses me these days, but that sure did.
Normally I would have gassed up the car before, disinfected and cleaned the cages, put everything on a handy clipboard, and been ready when it was time to go. But this time, I rushed around getting dressed, discovered that the batteries in my hearing aids were dead. My hearing aids connect to my cellphone and I can hardly understand people without that lash-up working.
But after making the poor lady repeat herself frequently, we managed to locate a WalMart store in College Station, Texas that is about mid-way between my home and Houston. Just as I was about to leave, ‘becca da beagle decides to go for a morning stroll, sans leash. She is a very stubborn dog, and once her nose gets onto something, it disengages her hearing. So Snookums chased her down as I vacuumed the shipping crates and disinfected them, plugged the directions into the GPS, and went sailing off only to notice that the gas gage was about ¼ tank. So a few minutes lost there while I gassed up and took on another ½ gallon of drinking water.
Then I was off in earnest. The miles went by quickly, but the nag in the GPS kept telling me I was 28 minutes behind. I just could not make up any time running along at 75 mph. The cops here don’t give any grace with the higher limits, and 75 is just about the top of my reaction speed anyway. Growing old sucks that way.
Shortly after lunch I pulled in alongside my transport partner, mama cat and babies were put into my small travel cage, and away we went back home. They had a lot of construction around that WalMart and I couldn’t get on my road via that route. So I toured quite a bit of South College Station before finally getting back on the freeway. But we did it.
The trip back was pretty much the same as the trip there with a few delays for slow trucks and one for a tractor. I know farmers. They hate wearing out their breaks so when I espied him heading toward the road, I knew he would come right out. And he did, but I had already slowed.
Mama mewed a couple of times. I think she was a bit dry, but she was just going to have to live with it for a bit longer. My GPS fibbed a little bit on the final address, but a quick phone call got me back on track and I delivered mama and babies, and met my neighbors.
I have never met as determined, cheerful, hardworking persistent people in my life. They are the hero’s in this tale, and I am super impressed with them all. And they do it for nothing. Just for a love of animals. They’ll put a dog out seconds before they are euthanized, find a foster, find a transporter, find a vet, and find a home. Then go home and take care of their families.
I am proud to associate with them.
Rusty's Armory 