Monday 20 February 2012

TRUST NO-ONE: or TRUST BUT VERIFY

The name of this cat, at the time I took the photo, was Cleo.

Preamble.
I'm not suggesting that anyone, named or unnamed, in the piece deliberately told me lies.

What my wife told me.
"The people you go to see just want to get rid of a cat. That's their motivation. They want to get rid of it."

What happened.
I'm not daft. I've been doing this long enough to know that people can be economical with the truth. To be honest, I don't really care either as long as I can help a cat in need.

Okay, so I get a phone call asking if I can take a well pregnant cat. She was a stray they'd taken in after their male cat had been missing for over two weeks. He'd come back and they didn't get on. I called Carole who would take in the pregnant cat.

It was Sunday morning and I had a couple of calls to make. First to pick up the cat and take it to Carole's, then to Dalton-le-Dale, Seaham to drop off food with Elizabeth, one of our fosterers. At my first call, I found a pleasant young couple with young child, seven week old kitten (very friendly) unneutered male (fine) and a big friendly female called Cleo. I briefly checked Cleo out and didn't think she was pregnant, just a big cat. Into the carrier she went and off to Carole's.

There, Carole checked her out and verified that she wasn't pregnant. Not only wasn't she pregnant she wasn't a she but a neutered male. Guess who should have checked this before taking the cat? Yeah, right. This caused a problem because while Carole can squeeze in a pregnant cat by keeping it in a cage in her kitchen, she has no room in the shed for any males. I rang Elizabeth to ask her a big favour and, yes, she would take the misnamed Cleo.

Here's another photo of her/him.

And here's one of him just arrived in his new foster home. Isn't he beautiful?
Elizabeth emailed me today to say that he's settling in nicely and that he does indeed have a nice nature. He's being followed all over the house by two six month old kittens Elizabeth is also fostering for us. She's named him Beattie (as in BT) because, she writes, he's got the longest tongue she's ever seen in a cat. Sorry, Elizabeth, but I don't get the joke.

I'm a bit annoyed with myself because I should have checked him out thoroughly but it's worked out for the best for him. 

Two cats at Carole's.
The first is a pregnant female she's looking after. The second has been featured with her kittens in previous posts. The kittens all have homes now and we're looking for one for her. She's small, very pretty and very friendly. Any offers?





No comments: