I “stole” a cat.

I’m not proud of it, on second thought, actually I am. “Stole” is a harsh word though; technically I took over caring for an abandoned cat. Besides this is a judgment free zone, right? I’m not even 100% sure whose cat she was, but she was always waiting for me in my driveway when I came home from work. I would pet her and go inside and get her treats. We’d spend several minutes together before I went inside for the night. I called her “Boo” because she seemed afraid of everything except for me. Winter was coming and she was quite thick in the middle. I thought she could be pregnant. I would lay awake at night and worry about Boo out in the cold. I already had a cat and didn’t want to just let her in for fear of them not getting along. One stormy night I couldn’t take it anymore. I got a couple of towels to make a bed, a litter box and food and water dishes. I set up a spot in our 2 car garage in the corner and I opened the door and invited her in. She immediately gobbled up the food and then proceeded to get comfy in the makeshift towel bed. This became our nightly routine. In the morning when I would open the door to leave for work, she would go outside and like clockwork at the end of the day she would be in the driveway waiting for me. No invitation was necessary now; she would run right to her corner bed. I eventually upgraded her to a real bed and was able to isolate her from our cat in our unfinished basement until I could take her for a checkup. Winter passed and she never did have kittens. Apparently she was just stocky. She no longer had to wait in the driveway for me to come home, but that little black and white face would be in the basement window every evening watching for me.

 

Rescuing Boo

My husband and I were in the process of buying a new home about an hour away. I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her behind. We had become quite attached to each other. I even started letting her and my other cat get to know each other a little bit. They weren’t best buddies but they seemed to tolerate each other. On moving day, I thought about knocking on the neighbors’ buy propecia finasteride door that I suspected Boo came from. She had been living in my basement for months now. There were no flyers for a missing black and white cat. No one was looking for poor little Boo so I decided to just proceed with rescueing her. I packed her up along with everything else and we moved into our new home.

 

Caring for Boo

Boo has since passed away from bladder cancer. The last two years of her life was quite a struggle. She battled constant bladder infections and developed bladder stones. She actually had to have surgery to remove the stones because they weren’t the kind that would pass. She recovered from that but would still get bladder infections. She was on antibiotics long term but was struggling in the litter box and I feared her having an accident. I put down puppy pads and she immediately took to using them. During the day when no one was home, I would put her in the basement (which in our new house was finished and quite lovely). I would put several puppy pads around on the floor and that’s where she would go. It was quite easy cleanup actually. At night we would bring her upstairs and spend time loving her. She was content to just sit on my lap while I watched TV. She also liked to curl up with my husband on the couch. She was probably the sweetest cat I’ve ever known. I almost feel like she knew I saved her.

In the end though, there was nothing more left to do. They discovered a tumor in her bladder. We discussed surgery to remove it, however they would also have to remove at least a third of her bladder and reconstruct it. They could not guarantee that it would solve her chronic infections/urination issues. She had just recovered from the bladder stone removal about 6 months earlier so after a lot of thought we decided not to put her through the second surgery. We managed her discomfort with Metacam and continued loving her daily until she appeared to be giving up. I held her in my arms and kissed her goodbye as the vet administered the medication to put her to rest. Looking back, I believe she actually “stole” my heart.

Now I am not recommending stealing anyone’s pet, as Boo and I were a special circumstance, but I am advocating you rescuing a pet in need.