Thursday, April 30, 2009

Luck be a Lady (Feline, that is)


A while ago I was talking with some friends and we were discussing rescue animals. Specifically, some very odd and wonderful ways animals came into our lives. It reminded me of my nephew Paul's story.

One evening about 4 years ago he left some friend's house late in the evening (maybe early morning). He got on the highway (this is the greater Atlanta area) and proceed to drive around 80 mph, which in Atlanta is quite normal. After a bit he began to hear a weird noise so he turned down the radio and listened.

Meow. Meeeeeow. Meoooooow.


Paul pulled over to the shoulder, got out and looked all around both inside and outside of his car. Nothing. Thinking he was hearing things, he got back into the car and drove off, again at "normal" Atlanta speeds.

Meow. Meeeeeow. Meoooooow.

By this time Paul knew he wasn't just hearing things. When he came to the next exit, he pulled off the highway and drove into a well lit gas station. He got out of the car and again looked all around.

Nothing.

So, he opened the hood and there was this little black kitten with a stub of a tail (which wasn't injured during this wild ride) hanging on to the engine.

Paul, being the kind and wonderful man that he is, took the kitten and put it in his car. Well, the kitten was friendly enough, but very scared and probably never knew the inside of any structure, let alone a car, proceeded to "mess" it up quite a bit. Oh, well . . . Paul was more concerned about the cat and the car cleaned up just fine the next day.


Not missing a beat, Paul arrive home. His landlord, Jamie, also has cats, so there was a litter box available and Paul showed the kitten where it was. Cats are smart and it figured it out, but it was obvious that this cat had worms, was a little sick and needed a vet. Paul took the kitten to the vet right away, had it treated and given all of its shots. Turns out the kitty is a Manx, a breed of cat known for its short, stubby tails.

For a few days Paul hemmed and hawed about keeping the kitten, but it didn't take long for the kitten to creep into Paul's heart, something we all knew happened the minute Paul opened that hood!

Paul named her Lucky.

A very lucky kitty indeed.

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