Hijabi Mommy: The second reason I prefer animals to people: Puck

I decided since my last post was dedicated to the awesomeness that is Molly, it would be unfair to leave Puck out of this.

He too, had quite humble beginnings.

One chilly november evening in 2010, as I was walking Molly in our after-work evening constitutional, in the premature-night of fall in Virginia, I heard a very high pitched cry -- which as I rounded the corner in my townhouse development, I realized was a kitten meowing. Our neighborhood had somewhat of a problem with a colony of feral cats in the woods nearby, so cat-sounds were not so unusual, but this one made me worry. It was coming from a window well from a nearby townhouse, so loud I hear it around the block, and I couldn't understand why no one else was curious (particularly the people who lived in the house he was crowing beneath).

As I got closer to the source of the sound, I remember a man on sidewalk, seeing what I was doing, saying, "You'll never find it." But I persisted, Molly leading me with her determined sniffing. We paused over the window well, unable to see below it, and the meowing stopped.

After jogging back to my apartment to seek assistance from my roommate, a great woman who was as dedicated (some might say obsessed) with animals as I, and the mommy to two great cats, we retrieved a handful of grey fur. As I held a flash light over her head and she reached into the well, Puck even tried his hand at four-week old hissing. We LOL-ed at him, and brought him into the apartment.

puck's first time indoors

We discussed what we should do, having two cats already in the apartment as well as Molly. The most viable option seemed giving him over to a friend of my roommate's, who ran a cat rescue. But as we sat drinking white wine with some friends, waiting for her to come over and take a look at him, well…I fell in reluctant love. I didn't want a cat, but what is it the Japanese say? When you save a life, you are responsible for it. And I've never looked back.