Weekend Visitor

So this past weekend we had record low temperatures. I’m talking 16 degrees with 40 mph winds,and a wind chill that made it feel like it was in the single digits. Very unusual for central Texas! There were tons of stories on the news all last week about the animal shelters bringing their animals indoors, and the local zoo taking extra precautions to keep their animals safe and warm. I can’t even imagine someone leaving their pets outdoors in such freezing temperatures. Well, that’s where our weekend visitor comes into play.

Mr. H’s grandparents have been feeding a sweet kitty in their neighborhood, named Goldie, for several months now. Goldie’s owner moved out to the burbs, and left Goldie behind. She still owns the house and her stepson lives there, but he does not take care of that cat, at all. When Mr. H and I saw how cold it was going to be we were very concerned for Goldie. We called Mr. H’s granny to check on him. His owner hadn’t been out there to check on him that week, and it was Thursday night. Mr. H’s granny didn’t want to take Goldie inside because they have a feisty cat named Sissy and Granny was worried about how Sissy would react. I’m guessing not well. That is one mean cat (and I love cats)! We could not bear for Goldie to be outside, so we drove over to their house to pick him up and keep him at our house until the temperatures warmed up. Mr. H’s granny is funny. She let us take Goldie because she didn’t want anything to happen to him, but she was convinced that A) We could be arrested, and B) Goldie’s owner was going to sue her!

Well, Goldie came to stay with us from Thursday night until Monday morning. He is one of the friendliest, sweetest, laid back kitties I have ever met. It felt so good knowing that Goldie was cozy and toasty, and inside with us. I hated having to take Goldie back on Monday…absolutely hated it. Poor Goldie has a cold (sneezey and coughy), goopy eyes, waxy ears, and fleas, and that’s just what I could see on the surface. We had to keep Goldie separated from Katie and Sebastian, and I had to sanitize and wash everything in Goldie’s space after he left, just to make sure they wouldn’t catch anything (that included getting a fresh dose of Advantage).

It just isn’t right that Goldie’s owner doesn’t take care of him. She lets Goldie run around without a collar, and without regular medical attention. Mr. H and I would make sure that Goldie had regular visits to our vet, lots of love and attention, and an inside home. We are firm believers that kitties have no business being outside, unsupervised. It’s a sure way to shorten their lifespan. Our big orange fur ball, Katie, loves to go outside and she does…on walks, on a leash.

We went by on Monday night after work to check on Goldie. He seemed to be doing good. And it was much warmer. We talked to Mr. H’s granny and asked if the next time Goldie’s owner came by, if she would tell her that we would love to take Goldie in. We told her to tell her about Goldie’s cold, fleas, being left outdoors, etc. Well, she came by there yesterday morning, and Granny talked to her. She did not tell her about Goldie’s fleas. She said she hoped they crawled all over that woman! Goldie’s owner said she would think about letting us have Goldie, but she didn’t know if she could do it because her two little girl’s would really miss Goldie. Well, if that’s the case then why isn’t Goldie home with you, crazy lady?! Mr. H’s pa said that we should just take Goldie because that women doesn’t care enough to take care of him. I like how Pa thinks! Of course Granny brought up the whole getting arrested thing again!

All joking aside, I really hope that Goldie’s owner takes time to seriously reflect on the life that she is providing for him. Right now, it is Mr. H’s granny that is taking care of Goldie, not her, not her little girls. She may love Goldie, and she may feel that she isn’t doing anything wrong, but I honestly don’t believe that it’s fair for her to have any say in what happens to Goldie. She hasn’t demonstrated any ability to make smart, sensitive choices on behalf of Goldie. He deserves to have the best, longest life that he possibly can! Mr. H and I are not going to give up hope that we will be able to provide that to Goldie, and with any luck it will be one day really soon.