Angus: Why I Foster Kitties

What Angus thinks of people who are mean to kitties

After a few days, I let Angus and Amanda out in the kitty house together. Amanda clearly did not like Angus but seemed only to hiss and spit at him periodically - nothing to worry about. Angus just ignored her and looked out on the world. However, there was more tension between them than I realized, and one Friday evening, I went out to check on Angus - and he was GONE! He had found an escape route out of my kitty house to avoid Amanda and had disappeared. I had last seen him about four hours earlier and he was fine. But now he was gone.

I was sick. Here I was, supposed to be saving kitties and I had lost one! Dana, my husband, and I immediately went out in the neighborhood, scouring bushes and looking under cars for him, but no Angus. I sent an email out to my MCR team, telling them of my horrible news. All of them sent back suggestions, ideas, and prayers for his safe return. We found out how he had escaped and blocked off that route forever. We put Amanda back in her cage and kept her there.

We made up a flyer and posted it around the neighborhood. I had been told that lost kitties do not go far, and to walk around at night, looking for shining eyes under bushes and cars. We did so, night after night.
Still no Angus.
I called shelters and dropped off flyers at them.
Still no Angus.
We left the door of our kitty house open with food in his bowl. Every morning the food was gone, but I attributed it to raccoons or squirrels.
Still no Angus.
A week went by with no phone calls from our flyers. I felt sick. I couldn't sleep. I cried and prayer for Angus. It was my fault he was lost.
Still no Angus.

Angus disappeared on a Friday and a week later, on a Sunday, Dana and I took flyers and went door-to-door knocking on the blocks around our house, talking to folks and handing out flyers. On the block north of us, and at the opposite end of the block from where we lived, a woman answered the door, saw my flyer and said,"Yes! I've seen him! He's been eating Izzy's food." I started crying with relief and hugged her. Izzy is a neighborhood cat on that block and she had seen Angus eating Izzy's food in her backyard. We made plans to bring a trap the next day to get Angus. I was so relieved, and slept well for the first time in a week.

Angus, however, had other plans. Dana woke up at 2 am that night, looked out the window, and saw Angus leaving our kitty house - it was Angus who had been eating the food we left for him! Dana woke me; I ran out into the backyard without my glasses - which meant I couldn't see anything! -- but I could see well enough to grab Angus. Never has a kitty been hugged so hard! He looked terrible....his fur was even more worn and ragged than when I first got him and he had a terrible rash on his face.
But Angus was home.

I put him into his cage, fed him a lot of food, and emailed the MCR folks who had been praying and worrying with me. His rash turned out to ringworm, which took a while to clear. He lived in the garage so he would not spread it to my other kitties. He was happy to be home - he ate a lot, had a lot to tell me about when he saw me, and even started purring.

Not long after Angus's adventure, I received an email from Judy. The family had lost their big mellow Maine Coon a year before, and was ready for a new kitty; she thought Angus sounded like the kitty for them. Judy and I talked and e-mailed often - what a great family this would be for Angus! They wanted a big, mellow kitty that had a lot of "girth" - the more, the better! Well, Angus was certainly growing towards that and he had the personality to match. Katie, her little six year old, started carrying an orange stuffed kitty around with her.

And so Angus and I went on a kitty road trip, in January 2004; I drove him to Westlake to meet Judy, Katie, and David (her four year old boy) for a few hours. Angus lived up to his reputation for being mellow - after the long drive south, he laid down in Judy's house and took a snooze. Over the course of the two-hour visit, he would periodically wake up, purr, get pets, and fall asleep again. They loved him. Since he still was recovering from his ringworm and needed dental work done, he came home with me for another few weeks, got completely healthy, and then traveled south to live with his new family.

Here is a recent email from his new family, written by Judy:

"I hope this finds you, your family, and the kitties happy and healthy. Here are some Angus pictures for your entertainment. A six month update on Angus.

He is, to put it simply, an awesome cat. (Chris, my husband, was worried that he might bolt at the first opportunity. Hardly. Angus, I guess remembering life in the rough outdoors, hasn't made a break for it or shown any signs of doing so. He's simply content to sit in front of the door/nap while we entertain/hang out in the backyard.)

Angus loves his cat toys -- especially his fuzzy mice. He's not big on catnip or other kitty treats but loves his canned food. (We don't need an alarm clock. At 6 o'clock every morning, he meows up a storm demanding it. He's made sleeping in practically non-existent. However, we did figure out that our daughter Katie, who's an early riser, can feed him first thing in the morning (what better way to introduce her to the concept of "allowances?" She's very excited about being given that responsibility and we're happy that we can get in an addition few minutes. It's a win-win situation.)

We were concerned initially that, as a five year old, Angus would be too passive for our active kids and entertained the though of adopting a kitten just for them. Another "hardly." He chases anything that catches his eye -- toes, fingers, it's all open game. Yet, he's very gentle and never scratches or bites us with malice. Katie and David have taken to "camping out" in Katie's room and, every night, Angus joins them. He also loves to power up the six foot loft bed ladder and hang out with the kids up in it.

Angus is a very smart cat. Once admonished for doing something unacceptable (i.e., jumping on the kitchen counter), he doesn't do it again (well, not in front of us, at least. I know he's smart enough to probably wait until he's not seen before doing so). Angus has become the family's shadow and he had to be in the thick of things around here -- another valued and loved member of the family. (Right now, he's stalking Chris. Waited for him outside the bathroom and is now following him around the house.)

He's a love and his fur is so soft (compared to when we first got him -- his fur, for lack of a better term, was somewhat gritty back then). Because he's missing his bottom fangs, he often sits/sleeps with his tongue sticking out (which only adds to his adorable-ness). We cannot love a cat more than we love Angus."

...And that is why I spend my time doing rescue work.