he came to us from chattanooga. he is a two year old feral cat who was being fostered by our friends daliah and mark.
the little man was found living in a barn with a family of strays. our friends took it upon themselves to foster this family and get them healthy enough to be adopted into human homes (which i think earns them both a spot in heaven).
they called him "buster" (short for bustepher jones...the "cat about town" from the T.S. Eliot poem). i love that they are familiar with old possum's book of practical cats!
they knew with buster it would be a difficult battle to get him acclimated to people and living indoors.
his need for a safe home indoors took a dramatic upswing a few weeks ago. this poor creature was hit by a car, and his little jaw was broken. his mandible needed to have a wire put in it for him to heal properly.
we got an email from daliah and mark that they would be in town (visiting friend and family) and were asking if anyone had room in their homes for buster. they weren't having much luck finding anyone in tennessee that could take in a cat with these rather unique problems, so they wanted to cast a wider net.
when tony showed me the email, my heart broke for this furry creature who had been through so much.
we have been talking about getting another cat. we lost our lewis in february. and i know we can offer safety, comfort, and lots of snuggles. so after a great deal of talking, tony and i decided we would take this cat in, and do our best to continue his rehabilitation.
after a few days with our new boarder, we started to call him "cash". as in johnny. he is from tennessee after all. and a man in black. so it seemed like a good fit!
it's been a rough few days. because of the wire in his mouth, cash will only eat a little bit at a time, and it takes a lot of coaxing. we have finally discovered that baby food, specifically pureed chicken, will whet his appetite. but we have to feed him by hand, which takes a great deal of patience. and is pretty messy. i end up with more chicken on me, than on him.
it's worth it though. when we are able to get him out from under the bed, he is really the most snuggly of cats. very sweet, and super loving.
cash is still wary of every noise in the house. and totally freaked out by mahjong (he has an existing fear of dogs). and he still has the wire for another 5 weeks. but we're hopeful that he will find comfort here, and learn that this really is a safe place.
No comments:
Post a Comment