Catching the California Wave

** All names have been changed to protect the innocent. If anyone is interested in donating to my roomie’s incredible rescue, please contact me. My contact information is in the Contacts section.

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
            Only this and nothing more.” Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

Yester’ morning, I awoke, feeling uncharacteristically energetic, so I poured myself a glass of coffee and sat down at my computer to get to work.

“meow” I heard outside my door, which I ignored.

“Meow”, I heard again.

“Who could be meowing at my door?” I muttered to myself.

Tis the neighbor’s cat and nothing more.

“MEOW” I heard again, until I could ignore no more.

I opened my chamber door and in walked a cat, a cat and sat down right on my floor.

“meow” he said, “meow” and nothing more….

“So, shit,” I muttered to myself, “there is a cat on my floor”.

I texted my roomie, who owns a pet rescue, who came over with food, litter, and a microchip scanner that had been donated.

We scanned her and discovered she had a chip. I called the number listed. However, after a day spent calling numbers, we were unable to contact the owner.

Raven was her name, according her her tag. She ate premium food my roomie brought over and took a nap in my bed.

This morning, she awoke me with a kiss.

I called the microchip company again this morning to see if there were any updates, but there were none.

A few minutes after I hung up with the microchip company, one of their reps called me from her cell phone. She said it was against policy, but she had called the number listed and someone answered the phone saying that they had found the cell phone in the middle of a parking lot, causing instant concern.

We wondered if she had escaped, or had an owner in distress, and couldn’t imagine why the owner’s cell phone had been found in a parking lot.

The woman from the microchip company who called from her cell phone did give me an alternative contact number.

Upon calling the alternative number, a woman answered and said that they had indeed lost a cat and would be over right away to pick her up.

About three hours later, the owner and her mother arrived as the “gang” was hanging out in front.

My roomie who owns the pet rescue was able to speak to the owner and understand a bit more what was happening.

The owner is currently in transition and working on improving her life, which we decided we wanted to support.

Since Little Raven’s mom is temporarily living in her car with her, we decided that she would go through my roomie’s pet rescue and Little Raven would be placed temporarily in my care while mom works on finding a new place to live.

I told her I’d be happy to keep her however long she needs me to and since Little Raven is her cat, she can return for her whenever she wishes. She decided to take her home for one more night and said she would bring her over tomorrow.

I feel good about this decision, even though I’m technically not allowed to have pets in my unit. I told the mom she can come and visit.

I don’t know if Little Raven will return tomorrow or not, but we are working on rearranging our tiny studio, which seems to be filling, so that if she does, she will have a comfortable place to stay.

Last fall, when my 15 year old cat and 14 year old dog were both euthanized for age-related illnesses, I was asked if I’d ever have another pet.

“Nevermore,” was all that I said. “Nevermore”.

But a few nights ago, I guess fate had other plans, when a little lost kitty came meowing at my door.

UPDATE: Lil’ Raven’s mom did come back to leave her with us this afternoon. She came with her carrier, premium cat food, litter, box, and harness. She had a new charm on her collar. She told me she had just received a flea treatment. This is a very well-cared for and loved cat. I am so glad we can be here for them as things get settled. I don’t know if she’ll be with us of a day, a week, a month, or forever, but we will take great care of her as long as we have her.

When Lil’ Raven’s mom and grandmother came to drop her off, they saw a large picture in my kitchen of poppies. The conversation turned to how to make the painting a bit more interesting (it’s a thrift store find). Lil’ Raven’s mom held out her arm. She had a tattoo of a large poppy on her arm. All of this just seems meant to be.