Eleven

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Happy Gotchas!!!

Today is the day we celebrate the 11th Gotcha for 

Boo, Ping and Jinx.

It was 11 summers ago that someone dumped, abandoned

and threw away 3 awesome cats nearby my home. That
was the summer/fall we had 5 hurricanes and tropical
depressions impact our area.
Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne,
all between 8/12 and 9/26.
It was not a good time to be an outdoor cat in Florida.

After being dropped off,
Jinx led them to the closest house, which was mine.

The three of them stayed together with Jinx being the head cat.

A few days later we found Jinx and Boo

on the front porch sleeping in a chair.

Boo ran and hid because she was afraid,
(given what she'd seen of humans, who
could blame her?)
 but Jinx calmly stayed put.

He wanted to eat!

So food is what he got and immediately Boo came back
to get some of the groceries

and then guess who jumped out of the bushes?

Ping!

It took a few months but one by one each of them

convinced me to bring them inside.

Which is where they wanted to be from the beginning.

Ping did have wander lust for awhile, and we did allow

him outside time only during the daytime.

Until Christmas Eve of 2004 that is, when he didn't come 

home for 3 days.
Talk about being worried!

He got sick from being out in the cold,

and he was never allowed outside again.

They've been fantastic cats.

So each year as I always do I thank the person who

was didn't care enough for these three young cats,
you did unknowingly saved their lives.

You brought them to me.

I adore them and will always take care of them.

Perhaps you hoped that was what would happen.
I'd like to think that.
I'd like to think you didn't abandon them
to let them be harmed.

They weren't throw aways.

They are loved and well cared for.

Happy 11th Gotcha my sweet babies!

***
We're joining Rascal & Rocco
for this week's
Pet Parade.

An InLinkz Link-up