Toulouse, From Feral to Fabulous Part Three

The girl in the blue shirt who took us home put us in a little room with a porcelain chair. She and the man built us a little city out of big cardboard boxes that they taped together for us to hide in. They didn’t want us to be afraid without somewhere to run. It reminded me of hiding under the old man’s house, waiting for the dachshund to forget about us and go back inside.

Sometimes, they put their hands in the box and touched us. When they touched my brother they called him Tsunami and smiled. He was so wild and strong. He bit their hands and scratched their arms and still they touched him and cooed his new name. He stopped biting them, but he didn’t stop hollering when he saw them. Mother’s nature was too strong in him. She had taught him never to trust, but slowly the humans were convincing me. Their touch and their voices were soft, gentle, almost soothing. I found myself butting my head against their outstretched hands instead of biting them like my brother.  

They called me Toulouse because it seemed dignified. They remarked on how quiet and calm I am compared to my brother and my sister Meika. We lived in the little room within our cardboard city for a few days. We could smell other animals under the door, and sometimes cat eyes would peep under it at us and calico cat paws would swipe through from the other side. We watched them, tucked safely inside our box.  

 

After a few days, they moved us and out cardboard enclosure to a different room. As they carried us through the house, we saw the mysterious calico from afar that had tried to greet us under the door. She groomed herself as we passed.

The girl who had taken me from the shelter said to another girl who lived with us that someone had dropped off more kittens on their doorstep, seven of them and their cranky mother. I could see all of their little heads and paws peeking over the edge of a large box. The girl was very distraught when she looked at the box of kittens because they were too small to be at the shelter like us, so she knew she had to keep them until they were bigger. There were just so many! She didn’t know what to do with all of them and us too. So, they decided to put us all in one big room so that we could grow up together, even though it wasn’t ideal. She said she hoped that they would teach us some manners, at least. I looked at Tsunami when she said that, but he pretended like he hadn’t heard her.

The meet and greet went well with the other kittens, but their mother Magdalena did not like us being around her children. She was a magnificent black cat with a swishing tail and a lashing tongue. She said we were a bad influence and told her children not to talk to us. She kept a careful, grumpy vigil over them until she dozed off, exhausted. So, we sat in our city, and her kittens snuck in to play with us while she was sleeping. Tsunami was wary of them, but I was glad to have a less stoic playmate. I learned all of their names while we played tag and wrestled the days away.

Merlin is my best friend now. We rested and played together when his mother would let him. He is a little white kitten with grey markings on his face, and he has the silliest blue eyes that get crossed sometimes when he’s excited. His sister Tea Leaf is a finicky tortoiseshell kitten who always followed him around and pounced on him from way up high. He didn’t like it when she did that, so he squealed and ran into the city to hide from her. 

  

Ratchet, Ingrid, and Aimsley spent their days whining at the door for more food (even when there was plenty in the bowl) and grooming each other. I think they cried because they wanted the humans to pick them up and kiss them on their heads. They seemed to like that, though I had no idea why. I was still getting used to them petting me, which I must say feels pretty nice. 

 Draper slept all the time. I think that is why he got so big so fast. He would eat until his belly was round like a tick and then sleep all day. He just snored in his brother Dubya’s arms on the bed, his tongue lolling out of his mouth while he dozed. Draper kept to himself unless Dubya was around, but Dubya on the other hand was very charismatic. He liked to tell us tall tales about all of the amazing things and places he’d seen. Even though we knew he was fibbing, it was fun to listen to him talk, and he talked all the time.

It was only a few days later that Magdalena left. They said she went back to the shelter, and a nice family adopted her to be their barn cat. She wasn’t very friendly with people, so they knew it would be hard for her to be an inside cat. She hated being locked in the room with us, so I think being outside is the perfect place for her. I can still remember the sweet dew on the morning leaves and taking naps in the sun-warmed earth. I envy her a little bit the fresh air, but I like being inside because my long coat gets tangled and can make me very hot.  

It makes me sad for Merlin though because he misses her. I know how it feels to lose a mother, and sometimes I cry with him so he doesn’t feel so alone. Maybe I’m still crying for my mother a little bit, too.  What keeps me from being so sad is seeing how much Tsunami has changed. He no longer runs and screams when people touch him. He doesn’t press against them and purr like the rest of us, but sometimes he licks their skin with his rough tongue. I guess they did teach us some manners.

 One morning, the lady came into our room and put me and all of my brothers in a small cage that she carried to her car. I was scared she was taking us back to the loud, barking place, but she took us somewhere new. It was quieter there, and pretty soon people came and poked us with cold metal. It made us fall asleep.

When we woke up all the way, the day was mostly gone and we felt different somehow. My body ached, and I was so drowsy. I napped all night and into the next morning. I could hear Merlin crying for his mother in the next cage and Tsunami hissing at empty air as he dozed off. 

 

The next morning, we were loaded up again into little cages and taken back to the place where the people with the blue shirts bustled around busily. They took us to a room full of kittens, too many kittens to try and learn all of their names. Big kittens, small kittens, loud kittens, fat kittens, friendly kittens…all kinds of kittens. It was overwhelming at first, but then I realized that it just meant more friends to play with. Merlin and I kept close to each other, but we made lots of new friends, too.

Sometimes our girl comes to visit us and kiss our heads. Sometimes other blue shirts come in and pick up a kitten or two and take them away. Zulu, a big kitten who’s been here a long time, told me that the kittens who don't come back are going home with new families. She said whenever people come in the room that we should try to look cute and rub all over them so they will take us home where we won’t have to share one room with so many other kittens. She said sometimes they even give you string and things to play with. It sounds heavenly. I would miss my brothers and sisters, Merlin especially, but I would love to finally find a place where I can belong forever. 

***Toulouse, Tsunami, Merlin, Draper, and Dubya are available for adoption at Southern Pines Animal Shelter at the time of this posting. They did great in foster and get along with all other cats, dogs, and people. They are all neutered and ready to go home today!!***