Adoption Day for Pearlie Blue

So, she isn’t blue. She is a brown tiger with a tail that looks like it should be on a raccoon. Her name was Samoa, but I didn’t like that. I wanted to name her something that would be dear to my heart so I chose Pearlie Blue after the title of a bluegrass song my father liked.

A couple of weeks ago I called Cascades Humane Society here in Jackson, Michigan to inquire as to whether they had a cat foster program. “Yes we do,” volunteer Amber said. I asked if they had any older cats. She asked how old. I said, “as old as possible”. She said they had a ten-year-old cat by the name of Samoa who could go into the foster program. She asked when I wanted to come in and meet her. I said I was just inquiring. She said she had time that afternoon and what would work for me. I said I got off at 4 PM. She said that she had time to squeeze me in before a dog meet and greet. I said I could be there by 4:30 PM. She said Samoa takes some time to get used to warm up, but once she does she is a very loving cat.

With a bit of reluctance for what I had just been talked into, I drove to the humane society and was guided into a room where an aloof, brown-tiger cat who sat on the couch across from me. I picked up a toy and tried to get her attention. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind. She adjusted herself, wrapping her tail about her tightly and curling her paws under her body. She looked at the door. I felt so bad. This cat obviously didn’t like me at all. I felt rejected and hurt.

Amber, the woman I spoke to on the phone, cracked the door open and said, “how’s it going?”

“It’s not,” I said. “She doesn’t seem to like me.”

Amber explained that Samoa had lost her owner, been shipped to a cat rescue, where her ear had been docked, been with Cascades Humane Society for two months. Her sister was adopted, but she was not.

“This poor cat has been through a lot of loss in her life,” I said. I could relate having lost both of my dear parents, jobs, boyfriends, etc. I felt in that moment that I could relate on a deep level with this cat over the losses we had suffered.

She agreed.

“How much is it to foster a cat?”
“Nothing. We supply whatever you need. We give you the food, liter, a bed–everything,” she said.

I decided to foster Samoa to see if she would warm up to me and choose me as her human companion. I wasn’t sure about this cat, but wanted to give it a try.

“Do you have a rolling carrier?” I asked, knowing the answer would be “no” and that I would then say, “Well, I’ll think about it.”

The woman said she would check. A few minutes later she rolled in a large carrier. I was surprised that “yes” she had found a rolling carrier. My reasons against taking Samoa home with me were appeased. I had no more excuses. I was taking this cat period.

The woman brought in a box with three small bags of food–Science Diet Optimal Care, six cans of wet food, several small toys, two blankets, a bed, and her bedding from her cage. I was told to set up a room in my home (the downstairs bathroom) with her food, water, liter and bedding and allow her to come out of the carrier on her terms, when she was ready. She carried out the box of food , toys and blankets and the bed while I pulled the rolling carrier behind me out to my car.

I put the carrier in behind my seat in the car. The cat was quiet the entire ride home.

At home, I set up the bathroom with food, water, the liter was in it’s container. I carried Samoa in and opened the carrier door. She did not come out. I closed the bathroom door to allow her privacy as she became used to her surroundings. In the morning, I found her asleep in her bed outside of the cage. I closed the door to the carrier and approached the cat.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” I said as I reached down and softly stroked her head. She didn’t recoil as I thought she might.

Checking her food, I saw that she had eaten some of it. I added a spoonful of wet food to her dry-food bowl and again shut the door.

After working all day in the dining room at the computer work had given me, I checked on her. I couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in her bed or behind the toilet. I checked the tub and there she sat.

“Well, you poor thing,” I said. I left the door open. She ventured out, standing at attention with her ears perked up and her front leg curled under her body, she listened.

“It’s just us,” I said as reassuringly as I could

She proceeded to hunt for the other cats she could smell. (Not all of my cats used the liter box as frequently as they should have). Once she had done a thorough search and was reassured that there were no cats here, she rubbed her little body and head all over me–my arms, legs and face were baptized by fur. Good thing I’m not allergic to cats or their fur.

Since then, she has proved herself very loving. She sits with me and watches TV, she lays between my arms sleeping as I work. Sometimes I have trouble typing, so I place her on the floor. In no time, she returns to the position between my arms.

Today, May 6th, 2020, I was contacted by Cascades Humane Society to find out if I wanted to adopt her and to tell me about the adoption event they are having Saturday, May 9th.

“Did you want to adopt Samoa?”

“Yes, I do,” I said.

“Bring her in at noon Saturday and we’ll get her micro chipped and complete the adoption,” she said.

“All right,” I agreed.

So Saturday we will make this union of cat and human complete. Now that I have a loving cat again, I cannot imagine my life without her.