Princess

I'm coming clean here. 8 weeks ago I adopted yet another cat.

I am not a "collector." My absolute upper limit is 5 cats. I can provide for 5 cats and make sure they receive excellent care. I am pretty sure that I could not add a sixth and provide excellent care so 5 is my limit.

Princess had a very sad story. She is 3 years old. A no-kill rescue organization saved her from a county shelter 2 1/2 years ago just before she was to have been euthanized. This organization brings cats in to my local PetSmart every Saturday from noon - 6 pm for adoption and I first saw Princess there just after she was rescued 2 1/2 years ago. I fell in love with her immediately and I wanted to bring her home with me but my job-buzz told me I would be going to South America "any day now" and I could not justify bringing a new cat in only to leave for months on end. So I didn't bring her home and I also stopped going to PetSmart on Saturdays. My bleeding heart could not take it.

A few times since then I have, out of scheduling and necessity, ended up at PetSmart on a Saturday and Princess was still there. I tried to ignore it and tried to not feel guilty. In January I ended up there again on a Saturday and Princess was NOT THERE!!! I got so excited and I approached the woman in charge of the adoptions and mentioned that I was so HAPPY that Princess had found a home! She told me Princess had not found a home but had developed a bad enough case of cage-rage that she was now considered "unadoptable" and was living in this woman's garage with virtually no human contact. They were thinking about having her put to sleep to end her misery.

I told her to BRING ME THE CAT!!!! As long as I have space for another there is no such thing as an "unadoptable" cat.

Princess came home with me in mid January. For the first 2 weeks she pretty much stayed under the bed and anyone who made the mistake of walking in the bedroom got an earful of growls and hisses. It was like there was a 200 pound satanic troll living under my bed and we were all slightly scared. I began to think I had made a very bad decision.

Then one night I woke up in the middle of the night and Princess was on the bed pressed up against me. I stroked her and talked to her and she let me and I heard her purr for the first time. And ever since she has made huge progress.

She now actually lets me pick her up from time to time for a minute or so. She is learning to trust me and every day I work with her on trust issues. She has made fast friends with her brothers and sisters. She is very protective of me and if she hears something outside she will run to the window and growl. She is learning so fast and has made the most remarkable progress.

Princess had her first visit to Dr. Aponte Friday for her rabies shot and annual exam and I warned them that I could not be certain about how she would behave. She ended up behaving like a true Princess and I was so proud of her! I told them her story and Dr. A came around the exam table and hugged me. It seems she has been very disheartened lately with clueless pet "owners" and the staggering increase in abandoned pets due to the economy and she told me Princess's story made her week.

No cat should ever be tagged as "unadoptable." Given a bit of love, space and patience nothing is impossible.