that was unexpected

[seasnakes]

Originally published at snekblog. You can comment here or there.

I went out for lunch with my mother yesterday. We went to a local cafe and I bought some yarn, we had a nice afternoon, everything was peaceful and the sun was shining and I felt really happy to be out of the house and doing something. And then we headed home, except as we were driving away from the cafe we saw a kitten crossing the road. But, not crossing, actually, just sort of standing there. A car was heading towards it, slowing down, but not quite stopping, and the cat wasn’t moving.

“I’m going to grab it,” I said. She stopped. I got out of the car and ran to pick up the kitten. I had meant to just carry it to safety on the other side of the road, but when I picked it up I realised that a) it wasn’t a kitten, just a tiny little skinny cat and b) it wasn’t very well. It was terrified, and confused, and didn’t seem to be able to see very well. We thought maybe a car had clipped it and left it stunned and maybe injured.

A few other people had stopped and gathered to see if the cat was okay. They knocked on a few doors nearby looking for an owner, but no luck. I said I’d take it to the vet, exchanged phone numbers with a few of them so they could get in touch if they found someone looking for a cat. I wrapped it in my cardigan and got back into my mum’s car. Did I mention that my mother is the most patient person in the world? She drove to the vet without a second thought.

Of course, we had both completely forgotten it was Sunday. The vet was closed.

We called the RSPCA. They came out, said they thought she was old and arthritic rather than injured, checked to see if she was chipped (no, and no collar either) and finally said they could do nothing for her except take her back to the shelter and see if someone either claimed or adopted her. Yeah, no. I know perfectly well what’s going to happen to a  blind, elderly cat in a shelter and adoption is not it.

So now there’s a tiny blind cat sleeping on my sofa. She’s weirdly trusting, just sat on my lap most of the afternoon. Ate and drank like she hadn’t seen food or water in forever, which makes me wonder if she might have been lost for a few days. I’ve posted pictures of her on missing-pet sites, and tomorrow I’ll put up a flyer at the vet’s and ask if they’ve had any missing kitties reported. I hope, if she does have humans who are worrying and missing her, that I’ll be able to track them down; I know I’d be flipping my shit if one of my cats had got lost, especially an elderly disabled kitty.

I feel so weird about the whole thing, though. Two minutes earlier or later, I’d never have seen her; she might have been hit by the next car to come along, or wandered into a field and never been found. I hope she’s going to be okay, but even if she’s really on her last legs, at least she’s somewhere safe and warm and not wandering lost and alone into traffic, right?