Another goodbye

I realized I didn't post about the cat who showed up at our place on here (because I posted the pictures on Facebook). As most of you know, I abhor cats. Over the years I've gotten better- I mean, I won't run out of the room glancing over my shoulder to make sure the homicidal psycho jungle cat isn't hot on my trail. I'll even pet some of them if they come to me, but I still deep down suspect that they're just waiting for the opportunity to go for the jugular. My heart usually kicks it up by ten or twenty beats a minute. So much for animals being a calming influence.

So the cat on our porch. As I was running up the front steps about a month ago, I saw a cat sprawled out underneath and about jumped out of my skin. Goosebumps and all! She was watching intently, and I was terrified that she'd reach through the steps and tear off my leg in one fell swoop. I told you- scared of cats. It was hot out, though, and I got to feeling bad for her since she was so skinny, so I put out some sliced turkey (five big slices in all) and bowl of water.

Yeah, I know now. She spent the next five hours yowling at the front door and brushing against my legs when I walked out. In fact, she even sat in my lap for a little while and sprawled out on her back next to me as I sat talking on the phone. I've never heard such a vocal cat. I had to go somewhere that evening, though, and was reluctant to leave her. I figured she'd come back.... which she didn't (after Peleke accidentally scared her off the porch when he came home, that is).

So for the past month I've been secretly hoping she'd show up again. The Beast might enjoy the company when she gets down here and the cat isn't too bad as far as cats go. I had resigned myself to enjoying just the company of her for that one day until today. On this hot afternoon, she was there under the stairs again. She followed me up for some water and a little bit of food, but she looked much skinner (hips poking through skin) and had a sore on her neck. I called the shelter and they said if I couldn't bring her in to call animal control. So I did.

Now I feel like the worst person ever. I even connected with Peleke way up north via iChat to introduce them and ask for his help. We can't take her, though. By next week, we won't be around to care for an animal, and realistically a feral cat likely won't get along with a dog even if she does enjoy human company. What is really tearing me up is that she will almost certainly be put down. They put the animals down after five days if nobody adopts them and are picking up twenty to thirty a day. We're in a touristy area that is being hit hard by the economy as well, so nobody is really looking for another animal (perusing the "free" section of Craigslist is sobering).

I'm just not sure I did the right thing, and she was such a neat cat (an ocicat, I think).