How I did it: My husband and I were picking up some rolls from the Beef House Restaurant in Covington, Indiana when a small tortie cat came walking up to us. Her tail was held high, and she seemed friendly. My husband held out his hand, and she leaned in for some petting. It was a cold night in late November, just before Thanksgiving, and it was starting to drizzle. I couldn't just leave this poor, scrawny, friendly kitty alone in a busy parking lot, so I picked her up, brought her into the car, and took her home. She hugged me the entire way there, one paw on either side of my neck. We named her Grace, because we were very grateful that she found us.

When we got home, I contacted a friend of mine who runs a cat rescue to see what our next steps were. It turned out that our Gracie-girl wasn't spayed or microchipped, so we assumed she was a stray and decided to keep her in our home. She was very hungry and scrawny, and had a nasty case of ear mites, but now she's a frisky little sweetheart who loves cat food, running around the house at top speed, and snuggling with her humans. Take a look at the photo of Tim with Grace on his lap!

Lessons & tips: Introducing a new cat to an established duo can be tough. Our oldest cat, Pepper, was not very excited about having a third cat in the household--especially a wild, frisky little lady like Grace. We took the introduction slowly, but in retrospect, we probably should have done it MORE slowly.

Resources: Catsnap, our local cat rescue, was very helpful.

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Nov 07, 2008, 01:18PM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer