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<\/a><\/p>\nShe was with me for many months as I got her to be less afraid and more accustomed to being indoors. But then I started getting anxious about the fact that she was proving a challenging placement. (Hey, anyone want to adopt a cat who will be afraid of you for quite a while, not want to be touched and be picky about her food to boot?<\/em>) When a home materialized in June, my gut told me the home was not quite right for this special girl, but my anxiousness overrode my gut instincts and I delivered her tearfully to her new home in a swanky\u00a0coastal neighborhood.<\/p>\n And then, four days later, she jumped out a two-story window.<\/p>\n I was beside myself with concern\u00a0for her, now running loose in a strange area, maybe with injuries. And I was also upset that the new family didn’t seem to care all that much. (In hindsight, I’m not sure I should have blamed them. They only had her for four days, during which time she hid.) So it was I alone who papered the neighborhood with flyers in mailboxes, and drove around calling her twice a day. When days turned into a week, I was tearfully losing hope.<\/p>\n Then I got the call from a complete stranger just a few houses away from her adoptive home. “I think your cat is here on my fence!” said a man named Frank, who had kept my flyer and recognized her. I raced over with a carrier, hands trembling, and called to her. Margaret came out from under a bush, looking scared but otherwise fine. In my anxiousness to get to her, I climbed over a low cyclone fence, jabbing a bare ankle on the wire, but I was undaunted. I approached her, she stood her ground.Then I grabbed her, threw her in the carrier triumphantly, and let out a whoop!<\/p>\n And then Margaret freaked out, literally broke open the carrier door in her mad scramble, and ran off into the gathering night. THEN I was daunted, in pain and beside myself with anguish.<\/p>\n Frank and his wonderful wife Chris said not to worry – they would help me track her down. \u00a0So for another 4-5 days they kept watch and would text me when she was sighted. (Talk about the kindness of strangers?! Never have I seen such compassion.) I went to the area twice a day, finding her hideout, leaving food for her (she wouldn’t come close after the betrayal of putting her in the carrier) and eventually I started leaving out a trap. She wouldn’t go near it.<\/p>\n How far would I go to recapture Margaret? It occurred to me that she might be more inclined to go in the trap if it smelled like me. So I sat in my car, checked my mirrors for passing cars or pedestrians, reached up under my blouse and awkwardly pulled my camisole down over my legs. Lifting the front entrance, I put it in the trap. Laugh all you want to, I was able to get her the next day. \u00a0 \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n But the miracles weren’t quite over yet. Humbled by my bad decision in taking the first<\/em> home that presented itself, I decided that Margaret’s happiness was worth waiting as long as it took to find the right<\/em> home, and I would stop stressing about it and just enjoy having this wonderful kitty in my life.<\/p>\n And just a day or two later, I got the email: we saw an old flyer about Margaret – is she still available?<\/em> Just chatting with the interested couple I could tell they were sensitive, kind, experienced with challenging cats, and hankering for another tortie like the one they have. Again, it was a lesson in the wisdom of letting go of trying to control\u00a0the universe, because\u00a0the universe has its own plans.<\/p>\n I curled up next to her on the bed that night, and told her what was going to happen. She purred and I cried, knowing this separation would be for good.<\/p>\n (I do believe there is an equation at work here: for every month of cohabitation with a cat there is x amount of emotional investment and x number of weeks of grieving when they are adopted. For me, at 5 months, it feels like giving away my own cat – something I could never do with my long-timers.)<\/p>\n Anyway, Margaret has been there a week or so now, and after a rocky couple of days, she is blossoming. She is not only letting herself be petted, but she is purring, and laying claim to her new mom’s computer – something my own cats also seem to love to do. I miss her terribly, but am so happy that she is being loved for who she is.<\/p>\n Saint Francis, thanks for heeding my prayers. And for making it possible to make a good ending out of a bad decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve blogged so little this year that I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t recall the story of Margaret, the sweet calico street cat with eyes like saucers who was attacked by a predator and almost lost her tail this … Continue reading <\/a>\u00a0 Margaret in trap – note black camisole strap under her foot.<\/p>\n
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