Suckers

I was fully preparing an "Ode to Q " post in memory of our lost cat Q. He was a part of our family since Jacob's first birthday. At times we questioned our sanity on inviting this wild eyed white kitten into our home as he manically ran around our then rented duplex. Then as he grew into a cat we again wondered what we were thinking as he was LARGE, hard to keep clean, and completely unpredictable.

I am not a cat person. And yet over the last 7 months he has truly grown on me. Our move to Texas was rough on him. You should have heard the noises he was making from his crate. He was not happy. But he made it. After a near poisoning by fire ant bait not long after we got here we were sure he was a gonner - one life down. Then he disappeared for 5 days and we were about to write him off when we heard a meow at our door - Q had made it back (from Kitty camp is what we told the kids). Then Kudjo moved in next door and although I am 89% sure the dog didn't eat my cat - I am pretty sure Q finally felt like enough was enough. He left right before Christmas and never came back.

Brian and I have posted signs, run ads on Craigslist and put out the word with the local shelters that we were missing our cat. No hits. We would hear phantom meows in the middle of the night and Brian would race to the door in his underwear to open it for... nothing. Sad, very sad.

Then last week the kids were getting into bed and Jacob shouts down that he heard something outside - "like a meow!" I raced outside to find... not Q. A calico little kitty had been hanging out around the house a couple of days ago and I figured her to be a neighbor's cat. But here she was outside - it was dark, surely she would have been brought inside by now. I brought out some food (we kept just in case) and she chowed down like she hadn't eaten in days. I brought her inside knowing it was likely to freeze that night.

Well, that was the end of that. We kept putting her back outside during the day and she kept coming back in. We have placed an ad on Craigslist for a found cat and called local shelters. Nobody is looking for her. Guess she's ours now. She is quickly assuming her feline throne in this household. She looks around from her high perch and I am certain she is thinking, "Suckers!" And I have to admit for not being a cat person, I am smitten.