My best friend and I were having a writer's day early in November. We heard cats crying and we went out to see if we could help. The cries led us to a home on my street. In the back of the house was an abandoned chicken coop behind a tangle of used auto parts, beer cans and spare wood. We could see Daisy and Dusty locked into a 1 foot by 4 foot section of the coop.
There was no evidence of food or water and no litter box. The cats looked panicked and dirty and smelled terrible. I could not reach in to pet them through the chicken wire. We talked to the children who lived in the home, and they told us Daisy and Dusty belonged to an uncle who had to give them up when he moved. They said the cats had been there for about a month. I asked if I could talk to the uncle and talk to him about signing the two girls over to me so I could re-home them. On Thanksgiving day, the children came to the door saying their uncle had come to visit and would we come down to get the cats. The cat's owner did not speak much English, but he told me he was very sad this had happened to the cats, and cried and kissed them goodbye when I packed both girls to bring them back to my home. Daisy was so friendly and so sweet, she took to our family right away. Dusty was shy for the first few weeks, sitting far away and watching me with her sapphire eyes. It took about a month to get the girls back to a decent weight, and smelling better. A pre-adoption physical revealed serious dental issues for both Daisy and Dusty - with Daisy having a great deal of teeth removed. She had 1 remaining fang and all the teeth on one side removed. Daisy also had a bad case of ear mites that had scarred her ears. After their surgery, both girls recovered quickly.Daisy is a total people cat and sweet love bug. Even given all of the pain she had to be dealing with, she was generous with her purrs and affection. Dusty had grown comfortable enough to regulary demand belly rubs. We knew it would difficult to find forever homes for the 7 year old girls, as they did not show well in the cages at the mobile adoptions. We were fortunate to have found wonderful homes for both ladies. Dusty used her sweet deep blue eyes to win the heart of her "soul mate". The lucky new adopter had said that she and Dusty belonged together because they had so much in common. Daisy met her new life companion at Your Basic Bird in Berkeley. She is now the benevolent alpha cat in a four cat home full of love and kitty perks. She has been re-named Ruthie, and her new mom posts pictures of her on facebook.
