Some years ago my neighbors, a retired couple, adopted a young shelter rescue cat, Tessa. They’d ask me to look after her when they travelled, and Tessa and I developed a special bond – she was a sweet affectionate kitty. When they passed on their adult son came to clear and sell the condo; we became friends. The situation arose of what to do about Tessa – neither of us could take her in, and I made great efforts to find her a new home.
I wrote this story to find some resolution to my emotional involvement in the situation.
This is her story, in her voice… Warning :: this is not for everyone, not a happy ending. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
My name is Tessa. I’m 12 years old — I’m no kitten anymore. But ever since I was little, I’m scared of loud noises and scared about being alone.
I have 3 brothers and one sister and when we were kittens, one day our Mama didn’t come back, never ever. We cried and cried, we were hungry and cold and scared. Then someone put us all in a box and took us to a scary place we didn’t like at all. There were big dogs barking real loud and howling–we were so scared we were trembling. There were a bunch of other cats too, all ages and sizes and colors, all of them yelling and screaming and crying. It was horrible. We never were around other cats before, and we didn’t like it !
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And right away the 5 of us were separated. I heard 2 of my brothers calling for the rest of us, and we all were crying for Mama. But we never saw Mama again, and I never saw my sister or brothers again. It was a bad place, allright, and I was alone now.
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“Crybaby. . you’re such a crybaby.” It was a calico in the next cage making fun of me, just to be mean. A black and white cat on my other side said to the calico “Oh you shut up over there, leave the baby be . . she just lost her mama.”
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To me she said “You go ahead and cry. I know how you feel, kid—they took my babies away from me. But it’ s done. Things will be ok, you’ll see.” That made me feel not so alone and scared, someone being nice to me. I was getting used to the constant noise and was suddenly sleepy. I laid down on the soft towel in the back of my cage.
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The people in this place came around to give us food and water twice a day. They were nice, saying nice things and petting us — but I still missed my family real bad. Sometimes some of the cats would be taken out of their cages to be taken somewhere else, but we didn’t know where. Some of them were brought back and they looked so sad, but they didn’t talk about it. Sometimes people would walk around looking at all of us, maybe pointing to one and smiling, and that cat would be taken out and didn’t come back.
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The day came pretty quickly for my turn to come out. . and I got adopted !! A lady picked ME to be her cat ! She was a real nice lady with a man, and they took me to their home. I got put in a cage again and rode in a car, that was scary. But then I didn’t have to be in a cage anymore and I wouldn’t be lonely any more — I had a home, and people !
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The lady was sweet and nice, so happy to have a companion. The man wasn’t so sure about me, but he tolerated me because I made the lady happy. Sometimes the lady and man would leave on trips and another Lady who lived upstairs would take care of me, feeding me and playing with me. I was sad when she went home but she came back later every time. She gave me my favorite toy, my little pink mouse.
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But after a time I was sad again, my nice lady was gone away, she died. The man was so sad, he didn’t know what to do. But he had a good heart and came to love me, because I reminded him of the lady. He got me toys and talked to me, I was happy again.
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Then he was gone too. I was scared and sad again.. When the man died, I couldn’t live there anymore, I didn’t have my own people anymore. I was very sad. The man’s son came there for a while and the nice Lady upstairs tried real hard to find me a new home and people, but it never happened.
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The time came for all of us to leave. The Lady & Man caged me . WHY are you doing this ? Please, no – I’ll be a good cat, don’t take me there. I’ll be good , I promise ! Please, no.
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The Lady is crying, I’m crying too.. Why are they doing this ? Everything was fine before, they liked me. The Lady brought me special treats all the time and petted me and played red laser dots with me a lot. She put my favorite toy, the pink mouse, in this cage with me today. She’s talking to me but I don’t want to listen anymore.
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I’m back at that place where I was taken as a kitten, where that nice lady came and got me out. I do not like it here, at all ! The people that work at this place come by once a day and take some of the cats out of their cages. They’re scared and we never see them again. But I think they’re getting adopted like I did before ! It will be my turn soon, just like before. I’ll have a new home with nice people again !
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Soon it was my turn to go. I’m going to be adopted ! A nice girl held me as she walked, she even brought my little pink mouse too.
I heard someone say words I didn’t understand :“This is her second time here, she’s too old now.”
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We went into a bright room with tables and cabinets and strange metal things. It smelled funny and it frightened me. The girl handed me over to a nice man. He held me close, the way I like, and said nice things to me as he stroked me, and said my name.
I liked that.
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“This won’t hurt a bit, Tessa . . go to sleep, sweetheart” as he gently slipped the syringe into my leg.
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He laid her down into a cardboard box and tucked the little pink mouse between her paws.
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