Meet Hailey. This is what she looked like before she disappeared.
She loves to lay on window sills, so I didn't think much of it until I couldn't find her one day. I discovered that the screen was loose and she'd slipped between the screen and frame. I figured this out by a tuft of hair caught on the screen.
I knew she was in the neighborhood, because I'd caught sight of her twice, but she ran from me before I could get her.
There are a lot of feral cats in the neighborhood, and I was afraid she'd been chased off by one. Anyway you cut it, though, she was not set for the feral life.
Before she died, her previous owner had Hailey spayed, chipped, and declawed. A declawed cat does not survive in the wild very well, and my biggest fear about her being outside. She's 20 years old and has always been an indoor cat. I kept scouring the neighborhood, contacted the humane society, etc, but still no Hailey. I had pretty much given up hope that I'd ever see her again.
Friday night, I was sitting at the table with the door open when I heard an unusual meow. It was not the usual feral cat I feed, do I went to investigate, trying not to get my hopes up, but there she was on the front stoop. I opened the screen curtain and she entered in a shot. Ran into the bedroom and hid. I was overcome with joy, because I knew it was her. I immediately put out some catfood for her, and she came out. She knew she was home.
She took a nibble of the canned food, a few laps of water, a few laps of milk. It was then, when I pettted her that I realized she would have been dead in a few days if she hadn't come home. Her once formidable bulk was skin, bones, and dirty fur. She was beyond interest in eating. As I was going over my checklist of foods, I remembered I had just bought treats for my kitten. I put some down in front of her, and her demeanor changed. TREATS!!! she snaffed them in no time, drank some more milk and cuddled to me.she was starved for food and family. Right now, she's cuddled in my arms, acting like she'd never left. The nighsre now over.
She's easily lost half her weight, her life g fur was dirty and matted, and she was scarred. When I went to bed that night, she came in and snuggled Like always. She wakes me up for breakfast and lunch, has her "me" time where she hides but let's me see where she's at, and stays close so she doesn't lose me.
Yeah, I like cats because they're inde po emdent. I love Hailey because she loves me.
