This past August, one afternoon Rudy says, “Let’s go to UCAPS and get a new cat.” Well, of course, I’m on board! Rudy, Daisy and I went to the UCAPS Adoption Center. They allowed us to see around 20 of their 65 adoptable cats. Well, we cruised and cruised the room, petting and holding every cat allowed. There was this one cat that hid under a blanket the entire time we were in the room. I dismissed this cat thinking, “we are not a timid cat family.” Well, Daisy – the cat whisperer, got ole Agnes to come out from under the blanket and she purred like a kitten once picked up and passed around, family member to family member. The lady at the shelter went and got other shelter workers to “Come look at this! She’s been here for a year and no one has been able to pick her up!” I feel that might have been a bit of a ploy to seal the deal, but it worked. We made our selection, or preferably she made hers. At the shelter she had been named Xena, perhaps this is why she hid under the blanket for so long. I would have, too. By the time we made it to the car, a new more apt name of Agnes Sundae Bright was made. Although, we did not get to take Agnes home that day. We had to be vetted, and she had to be vetted. We had paperwork and they had to check to make sure we were a good home. Agnes actually had to go to the vet to be looked over. Well, we waited days with no call from the shelter. I finally started calling. Agnes had been taken to the vet, but had to stay the night. They let us know a tooth had to be pulled, but on further investigation it turned out all her top teeth from canine to canine had to be removed. We use the same veterinarian so we knew that if he had to pull all those teeth then she must have really needed it. But, I must say it was a shock. I’m so glad she came to our home where she will be able to live a long life.
Now, the saga only just began. We picked up Agnes from the vet, I went to the shelter to pay for her. We didn’t want to traumatize her anymore by being sent back and then onto our home. Well, here we get this toothless, scaredy cat home and she is terrified. She hides behind furniture; we pet her; she hides some more. The vet said we needed to feed her wet food; we put it out; she doesn’t eat it. So proceeds the first day. We have a couple of days of this; she starts moving around the house. She is so quiet, never making a sound. Our cat Snow and Agnes are unsure of each other, hissing when they see each other and then running out of the room. We are trying to help Agnes acclimate. A cat poops in Dean’s bed. I don’t know which one, but I have my suspensions. This all goes on for a day or two. Then the night comes. She disappears. We wake up the next morning and she is no where to be found. Oh, no. A new toothless cat who feels unwell, no where to be found. I mean, nowhere. We look in every room, behind every piece of furniture. Okay, she will come out eventually. She doesn’t. A night passes. Then a day. We search and search. Another night. Rudy has left town. It’s just Daisy and I. We do a room to room search. I lift furniture; Daisy looks under. I pull out drawers; Daisy looks behind shelves. We are thorough with each room. In every room, we put out a plate of wet cat food, cat treats and cat nip. We shut the door and cover the crack with a pillow, just in case she’s able to flatten her body and push her way through. The trap is laid, we check in the morning for signs of nighttime wildlife. We awaken the next morning and check room to room. Nothing in here, all looks the same. Nothing in here. Nothing. We call Rudy. I think she’s gone. Probably hidden in a wall or somewhere and trapped and cannot get out. Our poor, poor new kitty, dying in our walls. We will find her in due time, but that’s really not how I want to find her. Did I mention we even checked the fireplace chimney? We looked everywhere. No cat to be seen.
That was until the fourth night of Agnes Sundae Bright’s sneaky excursion. You see, Daisy is a college student that was home for the summer. Her sleep schedule is different from ours, as all her friends are up and online from midnight on, thus she is, too. So, Miss Daisy was up in the kitchen along about 2:00 a.m. when she looks over from the sun porch red faux leather swivel chairs to see the pantry door crack open and a black shadow streak past. It was Agnes! We never thought that little, tiny, sickly cat could push open a big heavy door. She could. And she did. And that is where we found her next morning, under the pantry shelves in the laundry room with the big heavy swinging pantry door that Agnes could push open.
Well, we bought Agnes a collar and a bell, because she is so quiet. And she has become quite acclimated to the house now, sitting on laps, claiming cardboard boxes with blankets for her own, snacking on treats. She still is afraid of Snow and hisses at her and then runs out of the room, but only when they lock eyes after sitting in the same room for hours. Snow now could not be bothered, unless she wants up in the lap that Agnes is sitting in, then she just sits below on the ground looking at Agnes and not saying a word, until Agnes panics and leaves.
Also, I’d like to throw in that the idea was to get this cat so that I would have a cat and Rudy would have a cat. Rudy now has two cats that prefer his lap to mine. I secretly am okay with that.
Cherie's Sayings 