A Matter of Trust

Today, while clearing up some papers on Cat-Dad’s desk, I ran across the personal diary of Mindy, one of our foster residents. Well, OK, in truth, it was stashed behind one of our litter boxes and I sneaked a peek while using “the necessary.” She and her brother Mork came to live with us almost 12 months ago, and are a pair with whom Cat-Dad has invested many hours of patient conditioning. Almost identical brown tabbies, he and I often chuckle together because their personalities could not be more dissimilar. Mindy is a wonderful cat, and Cat-Dad often refers to her as his “Little Firefly” because of how coy and delicately she flits around our home. This entry yesterday from her diary which I share below gives insight to differences between two individuals growing up within the same environment.

October 13, 2008 – Monday

How bold you are dear brother, sitting there on the counter calmly munching the salad greens that Cat-Dad is using to prepare his evening meal. I jump up there too, but it still just doesn’t feel right. Always I’m so nervous, so jumpy, despite the love I know he feels for us both. How long has it been? One year? Almost to the day. A lifetime when you’re only 14 months old.

Do you remember, brother, how frightened we both were? Plucked from out of the street when barely eight weeks old, the lifeless body of our sister lying there beside us. Taken to a veterinary clinic where eventually we were confined in a large cage in his waiting room. I’m sure it was well intentioned, but somewhat frightening with all those dog-patients and their owners staring; always staring… staring… at us. Was that where I first learned to fear?

Although I could never tell you this dear brother, your presence growing up with me is such a comfort, and I appreciate you so much. You have adapted quicker than me and I marvel now at the self-confidence you’ve gained. Sometimes I wonder what’s to become of us. Will we find a forever home together? Can humans have the patience to understand me? How much of the wildness inside me will I be able to control and let a forever person get beyond my walls? I see the closeness that Cat-Dad shares with so many in this foster home as each of us walks our own path of progress. The bonds of trust are firm... but not just yet for me.

How typical this sentiment is in a feline rescue/foster home, and indeed, in many human lives. Each of our residents comes to us carrying the weight of a traumatic past, and our task, in addition to repairing broken bodies, is to also mend broken hearts and minds. I’ll always remember something Ursula (a former foster resident) confided to me. One day when she was feeling particularly down, Cat-Dad took her into his arms and said,

“Ursula, every kitten can be likened to a large and fragile mirror. When a true forever person looks deeply into her soul they see reflected back a polished image of perfect love. But a traumatic start in life can shatter that looking glass into a thousand pieces leaving them frightened and wary of everything. The task of a rescue/foster person is to gently collect those broken shards and patiently work to piece them together into a beautiful mosaic pattern. Never again will you be whole, but this tessellation now reflects back many times the single image of that perfect love.”

What hurt are you or your feline companion harboring inside today? Do you feel broken in spirit or body? Time and again we have proven that foster cats and kittens can heal, and although sometimes wild at heart, are capable of the fiercest love. That love can affect their human companion in a most therapeutic way, and the joining of the two brings healing to both. In feline rescue work we are always aware of this powerful truth, and it’s a force that keeps us going.

Mindy and her brother will find loving homes with a human who understands the power of having them fulfill their destiny. It is our pledge to them; it is a pledge by which we live.

With purrs to all,

Sasha
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And God created the cat that man might know the pleasure of caressing the tiger.
- Fernand Mery

Welcome to Cat-Dad Enterprises!

Well, dear Reader, I have been charged with quite a task! Cat-Dad, my human companion, has sent me on ahead to lay the groundwork for a formal launch of our new Cat-Dad Enterprises website, Cat-Dad.com. This venture has been in the planning stages for many months now, and is being created to help cats and their people everywhere to understand one another and live better and happier lives together. All of us living in this foster home – patients, residents, and permanent cats alike – are excited, and we look forward to having you come to know each of us through the written word. Perhaps to even meet us one day by means of a live Webcam, as is planned for our Delivery Room and Kitten Nursery.

As the Director of Feline-Human Relations for Cat-Dad Enterprises, I will be a primary voice of Cat-Dad’s home, and therefore, it's appropriate to begin by introducing myself. I am Sasha, a Domestic Short-Hair Tortoiseshell, and I was brought to Cat-Dad’s home when only four days old. With me were my mother (Nakindi) and three natural siblings, plus three adopted kittens that were placed into our cage shortly after we were born in the Animal Shelter. Being taken from that place which was forced to euthanize so many innocent animals was my first introduction to feline rescue organizations. Greatly moved by the act of compassion that saved me, my entire family, and our new-found siblings, I made the decision to adopt Cat-Dad as my permanent human companion when I was only five weeks old. Ever since that time, I have worked by his side in our ongoing task of rescuing and teaching other felines to trust once again. The full story of how I became involved in feline rescue is one chapter of our book, The Kitten Chronicles, soon to be published and made available on the Cat-Dad.com website.

The idea for Cat-Dad Enterprises, and our website Cat-Dad.com, is a logical extension of the work my human companion has been doing through a nonprofit organization well recognized in the Washington, DC rescue community. He has learned a great deal during these last five years having personally dealt with the problems and personalities of well over 250 cats and kittens. In his sphere of influence, Cat-Dad counsels individuals and families on developing feline relationships through a wide range of issues, such as proper nutrition, channeling clawing behavior, litter box problems, etc. In our foster home, daily experiences with cats in various states of repair provide the ongoing laboratory for learning more about the marvelous “feline mystique”. The goal now is to extend the benefits of this knowledge and experience far beyond the DC Metro Area.

Our emerging website aspires to be the definitive resource for all humans who wish to better understand their feline companions, and all felines who wish to understand their human companions. Features to watch for will include various blogs by the Cat-Dad feline staff, free white papers and reference materials, a series of Cat-Dad guide books, online seminars and courses, MP3 downloads and DVDs, programs to support the feline companions of our military personnel when their humans are assigned abroad, and methods to assist those cats whose human companions have passed on.

I invite you to RSS tag this page and join us in the exciting venture we envision. As the name of this column implies, The Scratching Post is a place where you, too, dear Reader can leave your mark (posts).

With purrs to all,

Sasha