Right before Spring Break we realized that no one had seen Mama Shai for a few days. We began texting neighbors, posting online, calling shelters, and looking all over but after several days and then weeks we still no sign of her. These are some of the very last photos taken of her. She was such a great kitty.
Emily was taking her loss really hard and was still spending time looking outside when she could. One Saturday evening after finishing baby sitting she called me to say she had found a stray cat and she wanted to bring it home to get it fed and cleaned up. She promised she would take it to the Castilles shelter on Monday. I asked if she was sure it wasn't someone's cat - no collar, absolutely filthy, matted, and very skinny - she was sure. So I let her bring him home on the condition he stay in the garage.
The little guy, soon dubbed Rusty, was such a lovie thing, but about as dirty of a a cat as I had ever seen. Emmy didn't wan't to leave it alone so she set up a mat and slept in the garage; Rusty slept on her face, and apparently smelled like barf - that is love.
After church Emily gave him a bath. I kid not, a bath, and the kitty let her.
Brushed and blow dried he smelled a bit better but still had a ways to go before clean would be a descriptor.
She wanted to let him wander but was afraid to let him out so she walked him on a leash. Seriously, this was the calmest cat ever. Emily didn't complain when the Castilles didn't respond to her texts and a day or two turned into several. She got him to another level of clean in the shower and took him on more walks. Soon there was talk about how to keep him, I shut that down, but she was still dreaming when Thursday dad sent a picture of a local email about a missing cat. A family was missing a very old cat, one that looks like a stray because it is so old it doesn't groom itself anymore, a cat thats home was on the very street where Emily found Rusty. The picture was identical to Rusty.
Emily took him home as soon as she got back from school. The family was relieved to be reunited to "Marsh". Emily felt so bad, but I figured that cat looked better than it had in ages so she'd done them a favor, but she understood how they must have worried and she felt so bad that she had created the situation, but he did look like a stray. She has such a big heart for kitties.
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