ONE Year GotchaAnniversary

Happy First GotchaAnniversary Abby!

Today is my GOTCHAnniversary. I am a very happy poodin. This is what my Momma wrote on June 12th while she was waiting to find me:

The previous weekend we went to PetsMart to look at Gracie from Lucky Cat Adoptions, hoping with anticipation that she was the one. But, my heart was saddened when I knew she wasn’t for me. As sweet as she probably was, she was larger than Jinx, and I wanted a sister for Boo. Luckily though, fate shined on us and the following Monday I received word from Lucky Cat Adoptions that another TUX kitty was found, 5 pounds, a virtual love bug—could it be?

Abby is her name. Will she be the right one for me this Sunday? I want a cat that speaks to me. I wanted another girl kittie for my Boo, and I wanted to find another black and white tuxedo that is smallish like Boo. I wanted a lap kittie!! Is it wrong to want a specific cat? One weekend Lucky Cat Adoptions had this cute little orange and white (more white than orange) tabby named Charlie. He was so darling, and he had the temperament and personality I was looking for, except he was orange and white. Was I wrong for passing him by? I went back the next weekend to see if he was still available for adoption, and he wasn’t; some lucky family adopted him the weekend before. I knew he would be gone because he was such a sweet thing. I always felt this tug of war, I wanted something really specific, and I wasn’t sure I was going to find it, and did I want to settle? A cat is a lifetime investment. Don’t you want to be sure of your decision, I kept asking myself? So I waited. Impatiently.

And then there she was in her tiny little igloo bed, petite, dainty and perfect. Beth (from Lucky Cat Adoptions) took her out of the cage and she clung to me, mostly from fear I suspect. But, she was perfect. She looked amazingly like Boo, which was a total and happy surprise. Then Beth said she doesn’t have a tail. What? No tail! I didn’t even notice. But then who cared, she was perfect. She climbed up my shoulder and clung to me, my new baby.

We were in PetsMart a few hours doing all the paperwork, and getting a few necessities for our other cats. We even got Abby’s nail trimmed. She didn’t resist or seem to mind all that much, which was totally wrong, although I didn’t know that at the time; the poor kittie was traumatized, I didn’t know how much right at that moment, but it would be clear to me after I learned more of her story. One thought seared itself into my brain that day, Beth from Lucky Cat Adoptions said “the Father of the family who had Abby informed me that if I didn’t want Abby to just drop her off behind PetsMart because I (the Father) don’t want her back!” By telling me that the Father felt this way; she sealed my decision even firmer about Abby and made my resolve strong.

After getting her some extra food & litter & a new scratching post, we were off. Abby and her cute little meow rode like a dream in the car, hardly any reaction at all. Did she like riding in the car, or was she terrified of what fate would befall her?

She was lost. She had been taken from the arms of a 10 year old who no doubt loved her dearly. TOO affectionate her family complained. TOO much underfoot, craving attention all the time, this poor little kitty needed lots of hugs and kittie kisses which her human family did not want to give her.

So we settled her into the bathroom. We had food, water and treats waiting for her. Found a comfy little bed that none of the cats warmed to but which she climbed right into. Put her favorite scratching post nearby so she could paw all over that. Put her favorite mousey in her bed along with the special toy we brought her. Abby all 5 pounds of her was scared beyond any understanding. Where am I, she had to ask? Where are my humans? Why did they abandon me to these humans whose smell I don’t know and don’t like? What’s a poor kitty who has no one in the world to do?

What she did was make as much ruckus as she knew how; trying to make us take her back. She hissed and she growled, and she snapped & she swatted and she was totally untouchable. What have we gotten ourselves into? She hates being here; she hates me; she wants to go home! The home she knows.

Alone for the night, she must weep for her former human child, it all must seem like it’s a life time ago.


Those were the fateful words I wrote nearly one year ago. A lot has changed since that eventful day. Abby and I have had lots of ups and downs. But what we forged was a bond that is as strong as steel. She never need worry about being abandoned again. She is home. FUREVER and EVER.