happy tales

We adopted Pye from the Deschutes County Animal Shelter 2-1/2 years ago on one of our annual summer vacations to our Sisters home.  She was not the friendliest of cats, perhaps because she was our third cat and she was low man on the totem pole. She did not like to be held and hissed and bit when you picked her up. She was independent and very interested in all things that moved, but being from Southern California, famous home of coyotes, we kept her indoors. She was known for trying to escape out the door of our Sisters house and had actually gone on a previous adventure the summer past. That time, she was gone for three days but a wind storm came up and she came home in the middle of the night and tried to dig her way through a screened window to get in. This past summer, 2 days before we were scheduled to go back home, the front door somehow got left open and our little adventuress took off again.  We assumed she was out having herself a good time and that she would show up before we left. But she didn't. We scoured the area around our home and called until we were hoarse. But because of business and children's fall sports, we had to leave.  We informed all our nearby relatives and friends to keep an eye out for Pye, and several times these good people came to our house to look for her, call her name, and leave food but she never showed up.

Five weeks went by with no sign of our little kitty. Because our house was in a remote area, we had to assume the worst. It was just awful not knowing what had happened to her. One day toward the end of September a friend of ours came to our house on an errand and drove down the driveway. As he neared the house, he saw a black cat run across the porch and disappear! Could it be? All I knew was that I had to know if it was Pye. With winter fast approaching I knew that she would not be able to survive the cold temperatures, but I didn't know how to catch her if she wouldn't show up for people. So I turned to the Internet to help find an organization that would help me catch her. I could only find one name: CRAFT. This wonderful rescue organization immediately stepped up to the plate. They sent one of their volunteers to my house who confirmed the Pye sighting and long story short, within a few days had trapped her with their secret magic formula (Kentucky Fried Chicken)! CRAFT not only managed to trap our baby, but they took her to the vet for a checkup, found her a crate and placed her on a plane ride for home. Within a week of her first sighting, we were picking Pye up at the San Diego airport, where she crawled out of the crate, into my daughter's arms and started purring and licking her.

They say that rescued animals show their gratitude by being more loving. I can attest to this fact. When Pye arrived home, she weighed 8 pounds ... down from her usual 14. Since then, she has slowly regained her weight, but more importantly, she is a more affectionate kitty, who likes to be petted and touched. I'm not too sure of what she thinks about being left behind but I'm sure it has left a lasting impression on all of us. We are so deeply indebted to CRAFT for bringing our kitty home to us. We cannot thank them enough.