A Short History of Heinz

Two weeks ago, on a beautiful, late summer afternoon, the girls were in the backyard when a little bundle of fur arrived from out of nowhere.  It came leaping and bounding and squirming and purring.  It wrapped itself around the girls' legs and attached itself to their hearts.  I must have heard, "OH, MOMMY!" a thousand times.  And, although I must have agreed a thousand times that the kitten was adorable and lovable and precious and everything that a kitten is supposed to be, I said that we could not keep the kitten.  First, a kitten this cute had to have come from somewhere.  We would have to find its owner.  Then, we already had two cats of our own.  I wasn't willing to take on the expense and work of a third.  Maybe if we left the kitten alone, it would wander back home.  Cassie contacted the animal shelter.  It was closed on Sundays.

Evening arrived and the kitten was purring outside our backdoor.   I concurred that it couldn't stay outside all night.  So, the girls made a bed in an old shoebox and fixed a spot for the kitten in the garage.  Come Monday, the kitten was still in the garage and Cassie promised to call the shelter in the afternoon.  Guess what?  The shelter is closed on Mondays too.  I fired off an email to the shelter with a description of the cat.

By Tuesday, the kitten was getting quite comfortable in the garage and I'm sure it was already gaining weight.  On Wednesday, I heard back from the animal shelter.  They needed a more detailed description.  Were the tips of its ears pointed or curved?  How long was the tail? I sent a photo and tried to answer the questions.  By Thursday, the kitten knew that even though it was spending time outdoors every day, it was welcome back in the garage.  On Friday, the kids and I drove for miles in the surrounding communities, sure that by now someone would have put up posters with pictures of the lost kitten.  We found nothing.

On Saturday, I went to New York City with Mirela to celebrate my birthday.  Before I left, I reminded Les that we needed to either find the kitten's owner or find a good home for it.  Then, thoughts of the kitten were out of my head for a day.  Sunday, while riding home on the bus, I exchanged a series of text messages with Cassie that went like this:

Cassie:    She has flea medicine, litter box and food.  Daddy says now what?
Me:  I guess a name.  You should check Craig's list, though.
Cassie:  I checked Craig's list.  Daddy named her Nancy and we call her Fancy Nancy.  Daddy wants to know if we are going 2 keep kitten
Me to Myself:  (THEN WHY DOESN'T DADDY ASK ME HIMSELF?!!)
Me to Cassie:  Do I really have a choice?

Cassie:  (With the following photo)  I love u thank u for letting me stay

Me:  This is a trial.  I love u too.  But if u don't learn how to use the litter box we will have a problem.  Also, if u want to live in my house, Cassie needs to clean her bedroom.  If u go up there, we might lose u for good.  Or, u might sharpen your claws on one of her good scarves.
Cassie:  Ok.
Me:  That can't be all you have to say.
Cassie:  I will start cleaning now.

"Nancy" continued living in our garage for the next few days.  On Thursday, while the girls and I were at ballet, the same person who had decided the girls could keep the cat, let it outside.  When the girls and I got home, the kitten had wandered off.  The kids were hysterical.  Les' reasoning was that if the cat was going to wander away, it was better to find out now.  The girls and I searched the neighborhood until dark, knocking on doors and wandering through the woods calling for Nancy.  Cassie and I made "Lost Kitten" posters and hung them up and down the block.  Suddenly, a neighbor appeared with Nancy in a cat carrier, apologizing profusely for having "put Cassie through this."  It seems that his child had locked the kitten up earlier in the evening.  So, we could have called all night and Nancy wouldn't have been able to return. 

I then had a short talk with the kitten. "All right, cat, you win.  You have clearly earned the family's love and devotion.  I will allow you in the house.  But, you still have to learn how to use the litter box!"

The next day we took Nancy to the vet.  "Good news," the vet said.  "Your kitten is very healthy.  But, it is a boy!"  So, Nancy became "Heinz," and Heinz has progressed from taking over everyone's hearts to taking over the house.