Sandy's Stories - Missy the Cat

Published on: 1/20/2010

Please enjoy one of "Sandy's Stories" - a Rescue Tail written by one of our long-time volunteers.

In the midst of a full lobby, with children excited to see the pets up for adoption at HAWS, and a stormy day brewing outside, someone left a cat carrier in the lobby.  They did not tell anyone they were doing this; they just set it down and walked out.

An employee noticed the carrier and asked whose carrier it was - but when no one answered, she looked inside...and found a beautiful calico cat!  When she looked closer, she discovered that there were also six tiny kittens.  There were two orange tabbies, one tortoise shell, one black, and two calico kittens.

At that time, all of the usual HAWS volunteer foster homes were full, so we took mother and brood home until they would be old enough to be adopted.  I put them in our spare bedroom which I use for fostering animals, and from the first we couldn't believe what a wonderful, caring mother she was.  She was no more than a kitten herself, with her age estimated at 8 months.  Her sweet face had a little brown mustache on each side of her pink nose.

As the weeks went by she became special to us with her loving ways and tender heart.  The time came for us to return all of them to HAWS for adoption and with a heavy heart we did what we should.  (We had four other cats in our home at the time, so we felt it was the right thing to do - return her to HAWS so she could be adopted by another family.)

While at HAWS, for some reason not known to those of us that loved her, "Missy the Mom Cat" was not getting adopted.  One night my husband was at HAWS for a meeting and went back to see her.  She ran to the front of the cage, called out and stuck her paw through the cage at my husband.  Right then and there we failed the definition of "foster" and she became cat # 5 in our home.  She has become a constant companion to my husband, sitting on his lap with paws outstretched as much as she can, and cuddling to him in bed while fighting with our black Lab for the closest position next to him.

MIssy is the "mother" to all our other animals, and when she is on your lap, purring and rubbing, we know she is showering us with her love.   We feel she is a blessing with a fur coat.  I’ve heard said that God sends you the animals he wants you to have and we are so grateful that he sent Missy to us and HAWS.

By the way - there are many ways you can help the HAWS cause, and becoming a Foster Home is one of the most rewarding!  Contact us for more information on being a foster caregiver at 262-542-8851.