This story was shared within the framework of the Fur Fam Storytelling Contest. Submissions have been accepted through December 5. Voting will take place December 6 through December 31. The three grand prize winners will receive a $500 prize, plus a $500 prize pool. $2000 cash and supplies for their favorite shelter. View all stories here!
“Miss Mew” is a brown stray who started visiting our backyard a few years ago. One of our other cats, Dodger, first brought Miss Mew to our attention by talking loudly to her friend through our sliding door. Then he would run up to us, nagging his ‘parents’ about his skinny friend outside in dire need of some TLC!
She was clearly wild: tiny, exposed ribs, gray, and absolutely terrified of us. We started feeding her, mixing antibiotics, vitamins, dewormers and some painkillers. She began to love my husband and gradually began to trust him. Whenever he went out into the garden, she would follow him, jump towards him and then jump back when he would look in her direction! She’s also developed the cutest little sound for him, a kind of “growl” that’s her special way of letting him know that it’s time to REPLY TO HIM! But don’t touch.
After a few months she would allow us to sit on our deck while she was laying on it. Our only concern is that she won’t let us get close enough to catch her so we can get her to the vet, fix her up, and add her to the family in the house. But only Trevor is allowed to touch: never me.
Then one day, suddenly, she wasn’t there. Trevor goes out and calls her before work, at dinner, and finally before bed. And then again, the next day. And next. We became seriously nervous, because we were facing an extremely busy street, and she could easily get bumped. Trevor spent a week going out and calling her, looking for her until we gave up hope. We both feel extremely guilty that we couldn’t get her to safety.
Finally, one morning before work, Trevor went out on deck as usual AND HEAR him CALL HIM! He frantically searched the backyard while she weakly called out to him the whole time. Somehow, she had scratched a small dent in the soil under the fence and was waiting for her father to find her. Back then, he couldn’t believe that she was still alive and that she had somehow found her way back to us, as she had apparently been hit by some kind of vehicle.
She was covered in blood, one leg was definitely broken and internal injuries. Trevor ran over and told me what happened. He grabbed one of our carriers, removed the top, lined it with the t-shirt he was wearing to try to keep her calm with his scent, and gently lifted her to the bottom of the bed. carrier. Miss Mew allowed him to pick her up, even though she was going through excruciating pain, and she didn’t hiss, spit, bite or scratch – not even once! She was so happy to see him, she started whining and continued to growl for the constant trip to the vet. Once she was in the car and they were on the move, he called ahead to prepare them for the accelerating emergency.
Because the leg was broken so much, this was not an easy cut, so our vet decided to call in a specialist – who can’t be here from Guelph for three days! We have now discovered that SHE is an HE: he was heavily sedated, and three days after his leg was amputated, he was also disabled. A week later, we brought him home and set him up for a small bed on our king-size bed, with his food and water on the windowsill, and his own little pan. I’m in the corner of the room. Once he knew where it was, that was it: like all cats he instinctively knew what the pan was for, even though he had never seen it before.
He spent the next few weeks in bed with us, where he ate, drank, and slept. We put a stool towards the end of the bed for him to use and again he completely surprised us by starting to use it right away. He eats and drinks more every day, but mostly he sleeps. We mix his potions into his food, so there’s never any struggle to properly give him the potion.
For the first few weeks, our hearts broke every time we looked at him, but he never once seemed to realize that there was something “different”. Instantly, the shaved hair grew back, and this little kitten turned into a beautiful, black cat! We named it Asparagus, Gus for short, after a cat in the musical Cats.
For a short while, Gus hobbled all over the house and he ran around in the hallways, sometimes alone, sometimes playing cards with Dodger and the rest of us. We have a “cat tree” that he just levitates and stretches out, on the top shelf to watch the world outside – as long as he’s safe inside.
Today, Gus is a big boy with the most gorgeous black hair you’ve ever seen! His eyes are large and golden. His tail is roughly the width of his missing leg. In short, it is one of the most beautiful cats I have ever seen. And the missing leg? He has no opinion! He even caught the occasional rat that sneaked in.
And so you have the history of our remarkable Asparagus. We love and admire him: don’t you wish you had the same ability to “get on” with life after such a bad start? My husband used to say, “Gus went a million miles,” and he did. Luckily for us ladies, somewhere in his incredible journey, he also took the time to teach us a few things.
This story was submitted by Sharon Dunford, with support from Animal Rescue Krew (ARK). To see other Fur Fam Story Contest entries, click here!
