Sneaking a cat tale onto the dog blog: On a mission of Thanksgiving

My cousin, Patti Lynn--she of the pumpkin cookies and kitchen sink cookies--and her husband, Charlie--he of all those rescued dogs--send this report from south Texas:

What a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Patti asked if I could get her some last-minute items for Thanksgiving dinner, so I was off to the grocery store on a mission. But first I had to stop at my niece's work place to drop off a gift certificate we had gotten her.

She hadn't arrived at the office yet, so either wait, or do my shopping and come back later. I decided to take a short drive and come back.

Three or four bocks into my drive, I noticed traffic ahead of me acting somewhat peculiar; some swerving to the left, others to the right and some driving straight through. As I approached, I noticed a small kitty in the middle of the road. Oh man, road kill. Then I noticed his little head was upright. Surely that's how he landed after being struck by some cold and uncaring car bumper or tire. I, too, gently swerved around him with his image affixed in my rear view mirror.

What? What was that? Did I see his ear twitch? Could it be that..... Yes! He did move!

I had to travel two more blocks before I could make a U-turn. I floored the gas pedal and whipped that U-turn as my car started breaking the sound barrier. With absolute resolve, I thought, "I will get there in time to help him."

Much to my dismay I hit a red traffic light with a long line of vehicles ahead of me. Worse yet, an equally long line of traffic was in the opposite direction heading straight for the kitty.

I seriously contemplated jumping out of my vehicle and running to him, as surely this would be faster. But just then, the light turned green and off I went, determined to beat the oncoming traffic.

As soon as I approached, another U-turn was in order. With caution to the wind, I executed my newly discovered Demolition Derby move and wouldn't you know, got honked at, yelled at and flipped a couple of birds (more like a flock, to be honest).

But I had made it back.

Hazard lights flashing, door wide open and me running, I recalled that earlier I had been on a mission to the grocery store.

Mission indeed.

To be honest, I fully expected this little creature to be severely hurt. My only intention was to get him off the road, take him to the vet and have him put to sleep. This was the least I could do. No person or animal should die in absolute fear and pain.

I picked him up and much to my surprise, he was totally coherent.

"Well, well, well. Hello, little kitty. Let's go back to my niece's office and drop off that gift certificate on our way to the vet."

This is where the magic of this Kitty starts.

My niece works at a wildlife and nature preserve. I had no more walked in when the girls in the office, the director, and visitors all jumped up and almost ran to this kitty, all saying how beautiful he was. I told them the story and said I was on my way to the vet. Everyone seemed to slowly inherit an honest and sincere look. "We'll find him a good home!" ( more like, "Damn Right He's Going To Have A Home.")

I stood back in amazement. Cell phones popped out, camera phones started flashing and people looked around as if searching for something.

Finally we made it to the vet. I told him how I had found the kitty in the middle of the street and he assured me he would give him a complete check-up.

The results? No internal injuries. No broken bones. Just one small scratch on his left leg.

He asked if I was going to keep him. I told him it was impossible because we already had four dogs, all rescues who are now part of our home. (One of our rescue dogs was smuggled in from Mexico. Patti had threatened to leave me in Mexico if I didn't smuggle him in.)

He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "Your problem, not mine."

We headed back home.

Now, the visit to the vet's office took an hour and a half. Long story short, by the time we got home, there must have been 20 or more people trying to find a home for this kitty.

A wonderful lady was found who had a broken hearted little girl -- her kitty had been stolen, and the girl was in desperate need of comfort and reassurance. So we met with them, and as soon as she saw my little kitty friend you could see the wonderment of love.

Kitty's name is now "Fluffy," lives indoors, sleeps with little girl and surely has all the toys and fun a kitty could want.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am so grateful and appreciative.

NOTE: Kitten picture from Google. Not the actual rescued kitten. But almost as cute. Other pictures: Charlie, and Patti.