Lady MacDuff

I had just about given up hope of last fall's bottle baby, Lady MacDuff (aka Cleavage Kitten) ever getting adopted when she was chosen by a young man who had been doing some volunteer work for us (I'll call him Carpet Dude.) He took Duffy and another kitten, Auburn. I made him stand there and promise me that if he EVER had to rehome her, he'd bring her back to me. All was well. Then one day our vet clinic called and said there was a stray kitten at the clinic for us to pick up, was found at Goodwill. Lo and behold, it was Auburn. Complete with the same blue carrier Carpet Dude took her home in. A little research reveals Carpet Dude is now working at Goodwill. Checking on CraigsList and whatnot that day we find him advertising her because she keeps trying to get out of his apartment.

Ok, fine. I understand that she was not compatible with his living preferences. I personally would just keep the damn door shut rather than get rid of her, but whatever. But he'd had the cat less than a month, why not simply call us and arrange a return? Are we really that scary? Of course, he did not return my phone call, and I've been left wondering for another month if Cleavage Kitten is still allright. We never really figure out why he did what he did, but in our talks with him he knows what vet clinic we use. So really, he did exactly what needed to be done to ensure Auburn ended up back in our care. But so backhanded.

Wednesday, the boss is doing the daily check of online ads (we like to see what will be likely abandoned on our doorstep in coming days) and there's Cleavage Kitten. Carpet Dude is being recalled by the military and has mere days to set his affairs in order and rehome the now 9 month old kitten.

So this time I call from my cell phone, and amazingly he answers. He claims he called the shelter, but I wasn't there, and he didn't know what else to do besides post her online. But the caller ID went all the way through my last two days off, and didn't show his number. Besides, if he'd said who he'd adopted, the others would have gotten it straightened out or called me. So I have serious doubts about his story. Regardless, he agreed to let me go to his apartment and retrieve my kitten. Got her and her stuff, wished him luck, and left with no unpleasantness from either party. (Pretty proud of that!)

 

I get her back to the shelter, and she's just not the same cat.  She huddles in the corner of her cage, shaking and growling, won't eat.  So I've got another cat now, wasn't planning on another cat, was pretty pleased to be down to a reasonable number for the first time in years. She's not at all like she used to be, hardly comes out from under the bed, growled when I tried to snuggle her last night. I hope as she gets more comfortable, her personality comes back.

Edit: Duffy finally came around.  Took her a couple weeks, but she's perfectly well adjusted now.