Our Cat

Our cat has her own story, as many pets do. I don't know where hers began but I do know that it must have been very rough for a cat. She was two when we adopted her - but let me back up to that part of the story. Our family was devastated over the loss of our dog and for quite some time didn't want to get another animal. We waited a couple of years before we felt we were ready. We wanted a cat. My daughter had some specific ideas about what she wanted in a cat - it had to be a girl, had to be 2 years old, had to be soft as velvet, had to be grey, had to be "about this big' as she showed me with her hands. I just said okay, we'll see what we can find, but I figured she'd be happy with a cat anyway, no matter if it met all those specifics. Finding what she had her heart set on was going to be difficult even if possible.

The following Saturday we headed out to find our cat. I knew that sometimes the pet stores have adoptable pets on the weekends so we stopped at the first one we came to, just to check it out. It was a PetSmart, one we hadn't been in before. Walking in we saw no animals, usually there are several dogs and some cats in stacked cages. We asked at the counter and we were told they come only every other weekend and this was the off weekend. We milled around for awhile, looking at cat beds and toys and talking about our new addition to the family. We came across a wall of cages behind a big grated fence. Peering into it we saw that there was one animal in a cage in there - a cat all by itself. It was grey. It was the size we liked. The note on the front of the cage said it was a girl, 2 years old, and her name was Velvet! We knew we had to have this cat. What were we going to do, we couldn't leave her there. We talked at length about options and what we might try. We asked the guy at the counter again and we were told that they have nothing to do with the animals there, we'd have to take our chances and come back the next weekend. We just couldn't leave the store and not take 'our' cat. That was out of the question.

As we were standing around talking near the row of cages two women approached us. They set some flyers down and we saw that they were from the animal control. What a Godsend they were! Yes, it was not their day to be at the store but they had come in to just drop off some things. Yes, they would allow us to adopt this cat. We went through an interview process and filled out papers. We bought a cardboard cat carrier to place her in. We were told that she was not good with people and hated children as she had been very mistreated before she came to their shelter. No one had wanted to adopt her. Velvet did not like to be touched, to be taken out of the cage, to be placed in the box, to be carried in the carrier, or the ride home! Once we got her home she ran off to hide and wouldn't come out. We knew it would take some time for her to get used to us and we were determined that we had done the right thing and this cat would grow to love us. It was fate and it was in God's hands and He had brought us to her. That was obvious. She was everything on the list. We didn't keep the name Velvet and felt she needed a new start. My daughter named her Soiresse.

Little by little she would peek out from where she was hiding. We put her little food and water dishes near where she could get them if she waited until the house was dark and everyone was asleep. As the weeks went by we didn't see her much. We let her be and gave her whatever space she felt she wanted or needed. Time would tell and we were patient. She needed to heal from whatever trauma she had been through. We knew she was eating and using the cat box so all that was doing fine. There were days we would see her. If we approached she would run. One day I slowly crawled toward her, laying close to the floor and nudging myself carefully forward. I laid my head sideways on the floor and when she saw me do that she rolled over. Hmmmm, this was something new. I laid my head on the floor the other direction and she rolled over the other direction. We had made a breakthrough! For several days I played this game with her at least a couple of times. Every time she rolled over. She was getting used to me. I would lay on the floor with one arm stretched out and just lay there and she would slowly come close to my hand to sniff it and check me out. I never did try to pet her. That would have been going too far too soon.

As you might have guessed we grew to love each other. There was no overnight success. It took years and patience and love and understanding. She has been with us for seven years now. At this point I can pick her up but hold her only for a short moment and then she doesn't like it. If I am working on my computer or watching television she wants to sit on my lap and sleep. In the morning before I wake up she lays on top of me. She wants to be close when it is on her terms and she doesn't like to cuddle. If people come over she hides. She avoids people even if she knows them. I teach art classes in my home studio a few days a week. I have noticed lately that when I am having a class she will walk by the door and peek in. She has been brave enough only once or twice to actually enter, walk up to me for a quick pet and then exit.

She is our bundle of love. She has her own personality and is healing from her abused past. It is taking a long time. There are some traumas we never get over. I don't know what actually happened to her, I will never know. What I do know is that we will love her through it. People are like that too. We don't know what trials or troubles they have faced or are facing. We need to show patience, loving, caring, and give them their space and time to heal and to grow - with love. We need to love them through it.