A curious journey

Depending on when and where and with whom he was, his name was Yellow, or Blaze, or Luke. Life began for him this spring with a mom and a sister, under my front deck at home.

It was fun, feeding and playing with mom and her two kittens, but Jan and I knew that it wouldn't and shouldn’t last. Living outdoors, even under shelter, can be rough, and predators abound in our neighborhood. We’d already lost some baby birds to a raccoon who attacked a birdhouse at the back of the house. The raccoon reached down from our second floor back deck, tore off part of the roof of the birdhouse, and snatched the babies. As Jan and I reconstructed the way the story likely unfolded, we swore it wouldn’t happen again to the cats.

And so we fed Mom each morning and evening, and her kittens began to eat a bit as well. It was obvious that they were still nursing. We put a pet carrier on the deck, and the plan was to wait for the two kittens to go inside the carrier, close the door, and pick mom up and place her in the carrier with her kittens.

That was the theory, but it took a few weeks for this to happen. One kitten might wander into the carrier, but the other would stay out. But one morning, Jan breathlessly whispered to me that both kittens were in the carrier, and she had just closed the door.

I told her to keep the door shut. I picked up the mom, whose name is Minnie (for “Skinny Minnie”) and placed her in the carrier as well.

As Jan went to work, I drove to the Friends of Michigan Animal Rescue in Sumpter Township, the three cats in the carrier next to me on the passenger seat. FMAR co-owner Marcy LaFramboise was kind enough to take the cats, gave all of them their vaccinations, and spayed or neutered each cat.

I’m pleased to say that the two kittens already have been adopted, although mom is still at the shelter. For my money, she’d make a darn good housecat. She’s affectionate, she’s calm, and although she can’t bear any more litters, she was a wonderful mom to those two kittens, despite trying circumstances.

The small tabby we had named Yellow, re-named Blaze at the shelter, traveled one day with other animals to Main Street for the Strawberry Festival, to display them to festival visitors for adoption. Jane Vesche at Main Street Flowers was working in her store at the festival across the street, and Alec, her young grandson, was there. Getting a little bored, Alec asked to go across the street to see the animals. After being escorted across the street and walking around a bit, he returned to the store, and a little later, asked his grandfather Ron Vesche to go see his cat.

His cat? Ron asked Jane what was going on, but Jane confessed that she was puzzled as well by what Alec had said. One thing led to another, and Jane and Ron adopted the cat for their grandson Alec.

Jan and I learned all this is a roundabout way, as we talked with Jane, who had not known until we spoke that it was one of the cats at our house.

I have to say I like happy endings, especially when it comes to down-on-their-luck animals. Many thanks to Marcy and to Jane and to Ron for their kindness, and to the hand of Providence, which introduced Alec to a young tabby whose name is now Luke, who have become fast friends.

Now, if only some equally kind soul would adopt Minnie…that would be superb.

Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media. Follow his blogs “Pa’s Blog” and “The eye of the storm” at http://jlavaute.blogspot.com. He can be reached at glavaute@gmail.com or call 734-740-0062.