I wish I could get paid for saving animals
I just said this to Ben. His reply was: that’s what Orenna is. Having him say that was really powerful. Let me backtrack.
About a month or so ago a few neighbors and I decided to finally do something about the feral cat situation in our neighborhood. We had already rescued one five-week old kitten from our neighbor’s engine bay about nine months ago. Her poor resident tortoiseshell mama kept getting pregnant and we knew it was time to start the TNR process, (trap, neuter, release). By the way, that adorable rescue is now a member of our pack and has earned the name Stella “The Sheriff” Stinkface.
My neighbors Neil and Jennifer trapped and hosted the five ferals, I volunteered to do fundraising and borrow traps and enclosures. Another neighbor pitched in, as well. It was a fair amount of work but absolutely worth it. Three of the cats were socialized and adopted, the two older ones remained too feral and were released back into our neighborhood. Unfortunately, Stella’s mom was not among the ones trapped. We hadn’t seen her around in a while.
Several weeks ago, while walking our dog in the evening, Ben found Stella’s mom by the side of the road. She had crossed that darn rainbow bridge and had been pregnant again. We were too late. Out of respect, we buried her in our yard and gave her the name Tallulah. We thanked her for giving us Stella and planted a beautiful plant over her grave. The very next week, as Ben was driving back from being in the field in Bandon, OR, an adorable hungry and tiny cat comes up to him at a roadside burger joint. It was established that she was a stray. Naturally, she came back home with him.
We found out that she was pregnant. That meant my office has turned into a Labor and Delivery wing while we help her put some weight back on and get her the medical attention she needs. We were too late for Tallulah and her kittens but just in time for Sasha SweetPea and hers!
Circling back to the beginning of this story, this morning I went upstairs and saw our first rescue, Sid “FaceWalker” Vicious, and Stella messing about in the bathroom. I went to investigate and found that they had cornered a baby vole. It was not injured so I was able to rescue it and walk it over to the nearest hill. I’m not naïve enough to believe it doesn’t run the risk of dying there. But at least it will feed the red-shouldered hawk that lives on that hillside rather than dying a slow death by the hands of two playful cats. In my house. I have rescued many little critters from a slow death since adopting the first two cats.
I texted Ben the story and said to him, I wish I could get paid for saving animals. That’s the idea!
Meet the feline representatives of our larger pack: Sasha, (tricolored), Sid, (black bengal), and Stella (tabby)
