Kitten "Gone" Wild!

My family discovered the Great Pacific Northwest two years ago in a move that has brought great healing and peace to us.

     Another source of Maranville happiness comes from two very spoiled kitties named Snow and Savannah. The emphasis is on very and spoiled and the truth is that they allow us to live with them. They let us feed, pet, and love on them as they deem necessary.

     I know everybody thinks their pets are the cutest and the smartest, but these two girls really do push the envelope. Believe it or not, they actually shake paws in exchange for treats (the very paws that, until recently, had never been allowed to set pad outside and they hadn’t known the difference). 

     All that changed on July 22^nd.

     I went to our pool with a friend who was in labor with her first baby. While I was busy counting contractions, Savannah counted a door accidentally left open as her opportunity to explore where no Maranville kitty had dared go before.

     I panicked when I realized she was missing. I called my husband, Doc, who works in Seattle.

     “Forget waiting on the boat!” I wanted to yell like my hair was on fire. “Walk on water! Get home! Savannah’s gone!”

     My mind was in overdrive. I’ve got a vivid imagination and like Savannah, it was running wild. We live close to the ferry, this kitty never meets a stranger and there’s raccoons and cars and…yeah, I straight-up needed Xanax or Rescue Remedy or something powerful to calm my racing mind.

    When Doc got home, the search for this curious girl began in earnest. We combed the area, alerted our neighbors and came just short of asking for a search of the cars loading on to the ferry!

     We put flyers up all over downtown. All could see her glamorous, gallivanting and gleefully gone self. Where was she? Was she hurt, scared, kittynapped, dare we even think it, dead?

     “Savannah, come eer,” (she wasn’t taught the proverbial “kitty, kitty”). We shook her treat bag, put out her favorite food, left a door open. We posted an alert on Craigslist, PAWS, Petlink.net, Kitsap Humane Society’s webpage.    

     And her sister? Snow chirps rather than meows. She sounded like a bird loose in our house as she stood at the door and begged her sibling to come home.

      Days passed and people called offering help. One suggested (sincerely) that we put our urine around our front door as Savannah would smell us. We were desperate but we like our neighbors. A lot. I’m sincerely sure they thank us for not following that advice!

      On Day Eight of Savannah’s grand adventure, my husband phoned me, out of breath.
     “I have her!” he told me. “She’s matted and scared and she’s scratched me but I’ve got her so bring her food and let’s get to the vet!” I could hardly believe my ears!

      She was a mess. Even the long hairs that grow out of the bottom of her feet were scraggly, short pieces of fur. And she wouldn’t eat a bite. Our poor, traumatized little kitty was back though so we headed out with plans to turn her over to Snow for a massive clean-up when we got home.

     As we drove off, one of our patient neighbors saw our big smiles. We shared the news that Savannah had found her way back home (or rather her way back home had been found for her!). He could probably hardly wait to send out a neighborhood communiqué: “ALERT! We’ll now have peace and quiet again! The missing cat drama is finally over! No more calls at all hours of the day and night! Celebration soon to follow!”

     For clarity, Savannah is a solid black, gold-eyed, talkative, affectionate, friendly, almost-10-pound, four-year-old, spayed, medium-hair, bushy-tailed, computer-chipped female. With literally one little white hair that sticks out of her chin.

     The well-traveled, giving-us-nervous breakdowns Savannah was solid black, gold-eyed, talkative-ish, freaked out, matted medium haired, matted bushy tailed, almost-10-pound kitty. We put her on the examining table, making over her like parents with a new baby.

     Our vet began to check her vital signs, her body for injuries and her fur for fleas. And then…

     “This cat is an intact male,” he announced.

     WHAT? WAIT! No way! Savannah is a not-intact female!!! Doc and I looked at who-we-thought-was-our-kitty in disbelief! A lot can happen in eight days away from home but really!

     We stared at this little impostor in shock. It wasn’t HIS fault he wasn’t our girl but this news brought me to tears. Again.

     Doc and I got home and informed our neighbors of the news. Alas, an “Extra Edition” email was sent out to halt the celebration. We headed back to the humane society again.

     Then my cell phone rang. It was our daughter.

     “I’ve found Savannah! I know it’s her, Mom! COME HOME NOW!”

     We called our Coast Guard friend to go help our daughter catch this new Savannah (he wasn’t on duty just to be clear) and we headed home.

     She was in the ferry shipyard hiding in one of the tents. One “Savannah, come eer!” was all it took. She heard the shaking of the treat bag and came running and talking at the same time. I don’t know who was happiest, her or us.

     At the vet again, this furry kid really got a once-over from us but we were confident…hairy paws, big bushy tail, and yes, one white hair coming out of her chin. They checked her microchip JUST IN CASE. It really was her!

     Other than a few burs in her fur and a voracious appetite, she was in great condition. Her sister complained for a while that Savannah smelled of French cigarettes, cheap perfume and drunken sailors but then Snow might have been a little bit jealous!

     Both girls are settling back down to the domesticated, tranquil life of sleep, stretch, eat, get petted, and then repeat.

     In the meantime, thanks to everyone, known and unknown, who cared enough to help bring our girl home. It was no small thing to us. 

     To our vet and his wonderful staff who didn’t make fun that we had mistakenly brought in a male cat thinking we had a miracle! We laugh now so I know it had to be hard for them to hold it in.

     Thanks to Ian (we didn’t officially call in the Coast Guard but it makes for a great story). He also has a new baby girl, as it was his wife in labor the afternoon Savannah took leave.

    Thank you to our wonderful friends and neighbors who held vigil with us, put up with our calls day and night for eight-plus days, and celebrated her return with flowers, big smiles and a final email with the very great news.

     And thank you to our daughter, Anna, for finding her fur “sister”.

     I know there are much worse things happening in this old world than our “catastrophe” but I have to say, it was a wonderful gift to know that people care. I know Savannah agrees; it’s a very good thing to have a place to call home.