My friend/ex (L) never went long without a cat. CDS always made sure he had at least one.
Sadly, my friend did a thing and went to prison and was in for 7 years. I’m his ex, and his POA, and mostly his only PERSON, and I continued living in the house while he was gone.
I had various CDS deliveries, and we joked it was CDS “just sending kittens to [his] last known address.” Made as much sense as anything but ffs I had ten cats for a second there, and some of those were CDS deliveries to ME…
Anyway. He got out on Wednesday. And a cat we had before he went in was approaching the bridge…. I brought the aging sad ready-to-find-peace cat to L’s temporary housing for just a little bit for him to have a chance to say goodbye before her vet appointment. Many many tears, I cannot even express the sadness and “thank you for holding on one more day for me” of it all.
Today is Friday. I ran an errand. I got home in time to thank FedEx for a delivery. And I stood in the yard in the kind of peaceful breeze… and heard a distinct MEW!!!
I followed the sound… and followed… and followed … I know the neighborhood ferals(°) often have their kittens under the neighbor’s old pool deck. (The pool is fully drained and it’s in terrible repair and has its own biome developing)
From a break in the privacy fence, I spied the situation. A tiny orange fluffball in the (dry!) shallow end of the pool… and just having a scream about it all.
I let myself into my neighbor’s yard and dropped down into the pool, scooped up the fluff, and saw myself carefully back out.
I texted my friend, at his temporary housing. (See pics)
Behold, the power of the CDS as an inmate returns to the loud chaos that is Outside Life, feeling a million miles more human now that he has a tiny demanding floof. I am watching a large 50-ish-year-old man weep as this handful of fuzz purrs itself to sleep on his chest.
Thank you, CDS!
(°) a friend of mine has kitty traps and know how to reach the right TNR people. We’re gonna limit the flow of kittens in the coming weeks.
Thank you. Not only for rescuing this cute little ball of fluff but for being there for your friend and ex. You are obviously loaded with compassion and empathy and you have a tremendously huge heart. Punkin is just about the cutest little one brain celled orange bundle of fluff I have ever seen.
Poor little dude! He knew you were right there though. It was carefully plotted because they let him have some extra brain cells. He really really is adorable and I'm very excited for your friend too. What a welcome home gift! Well done. 😎😸👍🍷♥️
It took me a second because we also have red-shoulder hawks in the area … they have a call that can sound a little like a kitten! But this didn’t have the same resonance… this was clearly a MEWww from a small furry creature, not an adult raptor cry…. And it had that…. Urgency. That HELP I AM IN PLAIN SIGHT BUT I AM LOST sound that kittens make.
My friend and I are both kind of suffering because of all the crying and snot of Wednesday’s goodbye and then weather changes… so we’d agreed no errands today…
We do try to keep small animals inside ‘til they’re big enough to not look too easy. Red-shoulder hawks are smaller as raptors go, but bantam chickens might look like a good size. Adult cats are fine outside, but little K10 nuggets probably not so much.
They've had tremendous success giving cats to (nonviolent offense) inmates for their psychological health, with a wee dependent they're far less likely to reoffend and they have something to look forward to at the end of the day, someone to work for because getting a job out of prison is a whole other ball game to what the rest of us face, trying to claw any kind of living out of this terrible economy. I'm glad the CDS found your guy, like, instantly.
This is so true! It was not a situation that my friend could work with while InSide but …. I’d planned to give him two of the four kittens we welcomed a year ago… but uh…. Well….. they’re mine…. I couldn’t bear to give them up yet…. Well, we’ll wait! ‘Til he has permanent housing! Because two adult cats would be a lot to manage in temporary housing! But this tiny floof presented himself, and I was like “yo, I got your delivery”. I knew EXACTLY who Punkin was addressed to.
I looked at this goofball of a kitten and was like oh, yeah Punkin. Totally. Some K-10 units come with their names pre-assigned! One of my 1yo’s is named PipSqueak. He informed me of this. All the others had that line blank but PipSqueak was like I HAVE A NAME U KNOW.
We'll see what happens, then. Our hope is that Parkers living her best life with her new family, and we did our best to give Charlie everything we could. That little (bleep)er was truly my best friend, pancreatic issues and all. I miss him.
I am a HUGE proponent of pets being often the difference between life-in and life-out. He’s been released with a prepaid card that has maybe $1000 on it.. and the first thing he’s doing is spending most of it on a kitten.
Oh Bless him, I wonder how much he knows about Ginger kitties being the craziest out there lol, he's in for a lifetime of love and naughtiness disguised in orange floof and purrs 🧡
Oh he knows. He’s had them. He’s always had SOME CAT.
I actually brought a Trojan Kitty with me when I moved in (also expecting.) we kept two of the kittens (vetted and fixed them all before they went to new homes…) Mushroom (seal point) and Marshmallow (flame/seal point calico) Mushroom passed some months ago. Marshmallow, his devoted twin sister, grieved and began her decline. I begged her, 2 weeks ago, just hold on for 2 weeks, he gets out in 2 weeks…. And I think she really did.
Oh don't make me tear up we lost two of ours last year and 2 of my dogs too I really should have thought about their ages being similar but I don't think any of us do x
I know. My eldest daughter was born a couple months after “the M cats”.
Today is healing my heart a little too. I passed Marshmallow’s dish along to Punkin. And called the same vet and said “you know how the distribution system works out…..?” Got Punkin an appt under my account…. the card on file is one that L can access to pay for (a shared card from the Before time)…
I’ve been the hands that have moved an animal from the situation to the correct location more than a few times. And my boyfriend? Dude freakin WORKS for CDS. Literally we received two kittens in a box to his warehouse. They were in a box of car parts!! His employees kept hearing a noise - they tore through the truck til they found the box…. We named them Caliper and Rotor. Closed-eyes milk babies. Rotor faded, but Caliper thrived.
My boyfriend M has cats that bring him cats. He works in a warehouse so there’s always ferals around. He feeds them, and there is always one Office Manager (a cat who decides to come into the office and stay).
A few weeks ago, M’s sister was out walking her big dog and a kitten started following them. The dog saw the kitten and barkbarkbarkbarkbark and the kitten was like …. Listen I have my assignment and you can’t scare me. Literally followed them right into the house. Sister: “uh, we have a new cat?”
A couple years ago, M’s old tripod cat Captain brought a kitten to him. There was trauma, the kitten wasn’t gonna make it… but Captain wanted M to try. Another one of those fuckin tear-jerking nights, but at least that little agent passed in love and warmth and care.
Didn’t expect to tear up on a Friday night, but here we are. What a delightful story. Bless you for being such a compassionate human being, and nothing but love and good things all three of you 🐈
She was 14. Her littermate brother had passed a couple (8?) months ago. They had been inseparable, so when we saw he’d crossed the bridge (in his favorite spot on the roof), we knew she’d grieve. She spent weeks looking for him. She’d groom the kittens in the house and snuggle with them but they weren’t Mushroom. We knew she was fading. I begged her to hold on ‘til L got out… and the last two weeks were just … heartbreaking as she lost weight and barely held on. But she did. And I swear, I realized L needed to tell her she could go…. He got her last purrs. 😭😭😭😭
She used to do “the THING” as we call it… if you stopped petting her she’d poke you with her paw to remind you that there is still a cat who needs petting. She was too weak to stand. L stopped petting her for a moment. She struggled and got one paw out. He immediately started again because we just couldn’t stand her trying so hard. 😭
The love they give us is unconditional. We don’t deserve animals. It’s beautiful that she and L got to say goodbye. You’re wonderful - I hope you know that <3
Me too. I truly believe that there is less recidivism among past inmates who can reach out to an animal for help. I do what I can to support pets in poverty and pets of unhoused people, because I know firsthand a pet can be a reason to stay alive.
Thank you so very much for helping your ex & Punkin 🐱 I used to be an educator at a low level men's prison. It struck me as so sad that a released person would reoffend because (their words) they "have no thing & no one to stay free for. Prison feels like home." You are an amazing person 💯 wishing you, your ex & Punkin many happy years of freedom 😸
I have heard this. And ultimately L cannot return to the home he left, so he’s going to be a little adrift. And I could see the risk factors for the situation…. Not that he’d be there on purpose, but that the probation system is so difficult to navigate properly - hidden rules, political agendas, new hard-ass PO’s with something to prove… you hear of someone oversleeping and getting to their check-in late and being thrown right back in… like welp, at least I know the rules inside, right??
But a tiny kitten, one sent by the great Beyond directly to his hands, the moment he had a free day to just lie down and snooze all day.… he always maintained that any post-release living situation must allow pets because he would need a cat. (We ASSUMED it would be two of mine from a litter born last October…) His drive to be zero trouble for CO’s was that he could have a cat when he got out.
Wednesday: check in with the probation office.
Thursday: check in with state police.
Friday: check in with CDS. Obviously.
This is the second time today that I'm tearing up (and related to cats too), it's a really great Friday!
Thank you for helping your friend and the little cutie, you're a blessed soul. All the best to the three of you (and to all the cats that will come to your way). 😺
Nothing heals a soul like a cat! My significant other (SO) had been through rough times with family members as well as other personal tragedies - enter 3 kittens from a feral mom we had been feeding. She had disappeared never to return (always showed up for twice a day feedings for years but was wise to all traps) and we heard mewing from a thicket near her feeding shed. That was two years ago. They have completely melted my SO's hard exterior and ease any emotional/physical pains. They have also been my therapy cats getting me through 16 months of cancer treatments.
May your friend have many years with his new fluff!
I, too, have a CDS rescue, who was about the same size(3 years ago), named Punkin. I shall provide pictures upon request. Beware though, attitude will come with the name. Congratulations, and good luck!
YES YES YES!!! Just wonderful! The universe can truly deliver with perfect timing. You are a gift with your kindness and compassion, thank goodness for you and your friend and great luck and love to you all! 💚💚💚
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