I moved to Kelso in July 2021. For two years, I saw a small cat across the street many times. She…read morewould often be on the sidewalk near an intersection where cars speed past way too fast. I would cringe every time a car went by... Twelve months ago, she came across the street to check me out while I was outside my back door. She was very shy and scared, but I could see she was also very hungry and thin. She was asking me for help, I could tell.
Over a period of several weeks, I gained her trust and was feeding her daily outside. We became very close; she was very, very sweet. Winter was coming, so I built her a shelter out of a large 2x2x3 foot plastic storage bin with a lid. I insulated the interior walls, and I even put an electric heating pad inside. (there just happened to be an electric outlet in the outside wall, right next to the bin.) I placed her food and water bowls inside, and she got comfortable inside pretty quickly. When she wasn't inside it, she would be perched on top when I came out to feed her and visit. She seemed relieved to have a safe place to be, and a friend to give her love. When she looked up at me with her one yellow eye and one brown eye, we really started to bond.
At some point, she stopped wanting to go into the shelter. I thought maybe some other animal had gone in and left its scent. The freezing temperatures were fast approaching, so I decided to adopt her and bring her inside to live. Even though I was feeding her a lot of food, she was still thin, and she was a pretty small adult kitty to begin with; I was afraid she might freeze to death otherwise.
I already had two cats; they all seemed to get along fine after a few weeks went by. After a few months, everything was calm and casual among them. The two big boys like to wrestle with each other sometimes; maybe two or three times a week they get in the mood. The little girl though, who I named 'Moonpie', had no desire to participate; she was happy just to watch.
A whole year went by, and Moonpie and I had a strong bond, along with the two boys. About ten days ago, Moonpie's cheek started to swell up. I was worried, because that usually indicates a tooth problem. I know that can involve X-rays, blood tests, antibiotics, tooth extraction under anesthetic, and a special medicinal diet... All of that can cost $1,000 or more I would estimate, and I just didn't have the money to deal with it.
Someone suggested taking Moonpie to the Longview Humane Society to see if they could help. I called, and they said they had people who could treat her for free, even if it was a bad tooth. I took her in, and they told me that if Moonpie could be saved, I could have her back. They called me the next morning, and I was very happy to hear that my little kitty had no tooth problems at all, just an abscess that needed to be drained. They said she would be fine, and I could come get her after they treated her with antibiotics for three days.
While Moonpie was there, I spent the whole time thinking how I would donate money to the organization when I could in the near future, because I was so grateful that they were willing to help me for free; I just didn't have any money at the time of the emergency.
After the weekend and the Columbus Day holiday, I was ready to go pick up Moonpie; I was really looking forward to seeing her gentle little face, without the swollen cheek. I called on Tuesday to check the status. I spoke to Dreama, (or Drima?) who was the person who received the cat days before. To my shock, she told that Moonpie had been given to someone else and she now had a new home, and I couldn't have her back. I told her how wrong this situation was, and it should NOT be happening. She argued with me, and put words in my mouth that I never said; She said that I had told her before that I didn't want Moonpie back, which was utter bullshit.
I suspect what happened was, someone in the office there fell in love with her sweet little face just as I had, so they just decided to take her for themself.
Dreama, this isn't over.
