We can be so cruel

Smokey reaches out to my wife for comfort.

This story started yesterday when my wife and a young nursing student, who's been helping my wife around our house, went to rescue a seven month old mixed Siamese cat named Snowflake. The nursing student saw the cat being tossed from a second story apartment where she lived. She came rushing over to our house to tell my wife about it. My wife knew were there was a local SPCA shelter, across from the Mall at Millenea, and so the two of them went back and found Snowflake, alive and fortunately unharmed, and took Snowflake to the shelter.

I got a complete blow-by-blow when my wife got back. I wanted to write about Snowflake's plight, and asked if I could go take a few photos of Snowflake at the SPCA shelter. Unfortunately it was too late in the day for that, so I made plans to go there today and check up on Snowflake.

Snowflake's story turned out to have a happy ending; when we got there around noon and asked to see Snowflake, we found out that Snowflake had been adopted soon after Snowflake had been dropped off Saturday. In the meantime, while we were looking for Snowflake at the SPCA, we came across the room where other orphaned cats were being kept, and a particular cat named Smokey.

I don't know why Smokey was there, but Smokey really wanted to be with somebody. According to Smokey's card on her cage, she was a six month old cat who was listed as a sweet lap cat. And I could tell from the way Smokey reached out to us through the bars, without extending her claws. I hope she hadn't been declawed, but it looked like she hadn't. It was just that Smokey really wanted to be touched and to touch back.

If I'd had the strength of my convictions I'd have adopted Smokey right there. But I rationalized not adopting Smokey by noting our household already has three cats (all of them adopted) as well as two Labs (one of them adopted). Instead, I turned around and walked away. I further rationalized my decision to leave Smokey behind by noting a large family coming in to look at cats for possible adoption.

I'm going back Monday to check on Smokey. I hope she finds a home before I get there, as I don't know what I'm going to do if she's still there. I hope my wife is forgiving...

Update 21 March

My wife and daughter went by the SPCA to check on Smokey. She was still there, but was being prepared to go home with another person; someone had decided to adopt her after we left yesterday. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is good all around.

Smokey gets a new home, and I don't have to worry how to integrate a fourth cat into a home with three cats and two Labs. I think Lucy would have been the most impacted by Smokey's presence; Lucy's really attached herself to me, and she is a one-to-one type of cat.

But I'm still going to miss Smokey.