I received the call regarding Truman on August 21, 2007 and after speaking with the gal, I headed out immediately for the location with my cat carrier and gloves. Truman had been owned by a man who had been evicted from his house. Instead of taking his cat with him, the man left in the middle of the night. Leaving his cat behind! The landlord had put the cat into a large cage outside. There was very little shelter provided and food was sporadic. He was fed by the other tenants,. He had lived like this for about a year, and now this new tenant had seen enough. She wanted this cat to have a chance at a loving life.
When I arrived at the residence, a group of run-down tenant houses, the sympathic tenant met me at the front and led me around the side of the house. In the distance, I could see a very large cage sitting under a tree and in it, a white cat crouched in the corner.
As I neared the cage, the cat inside suddenly went ballistic. He ran up the sides of the cage, banging his head against the wire in an attempt to escape. He couldn’t find a way out. The cage had been unlocked when the woman explained to the landlord a “cat rescuer” was coming to take the cat.
Despite her objections that I was going to be clawed up and scratched, I crawled into the cage with my carrier and sat there watching this guy bang himself in terror against the wire! He was dirty, grungy, matted and terrified and my heart broke apart for him.
When he finally ran out of steam, he crouched against the side of the cage, his sides heaving. He was open-mouth panting and the human outside the cage was screaming and freaking out. I told her to please be quiet or go away because I had work to do.
Very slowly, in a crouched position, I advanced on this white kitty. I got my gloved hand on his side, and I gently pressed down so he wouldn’t flee in terror. Then, I scruffed him up (he was so light!) and swung him into the carrier. I dropped a dark cloth over the carrier and crawled back out.
When I got him home, I made an appointment with my vet and took him in. He was a bit malnourished, dehydrated, wormy and flea-ridden and I was told he was “about” four years old. He was tested and came up negative and came back to the house that day. I was to give him fluids and groceries and TLC and he was having none of it. He immediately dove under the futon. This would become his place of refuge.
He lived under the futon except to visit the litterpans. I was over time able to stick my hand under the futon and he would crab crawl over to me and allow me the privilege of scratching his chin. But he didn’t want to leave his security hole, and I didn’t push him. I fed and watered him under the couch.
In 2009 right after New Year’s, Truman came completely out of hiding! I adopted him out to a woman in Eugene, but she turned out not to be the best home and two weeks later after I did a surprise home-check- Truman came back home with me- and yes, you guessed it- he dove under the futon again and lived there for months.
I wasn’t worried about him. like before, I fed him under there and gave him water and the litter pan showed action so he was functioning and not unhealthy. He was just scared of what might be coming next. In April of 2010, he finally emerged from hiding and started lying on the couch. All he wanted me to do- both when he was living under the futon and now- was pet him all day. I once petted him for four hours straight (to see if he was pet aggressive) but he never once bit me and he just wanted an incredible amount of touching and love, more than I was able to give him.
Enter Kiley, a single mom to a teenage daughter and through a series of circumstances that were only led by God, she stepped forward to foster Truman in late 2012. She assured me that she “would not fall in love with him” but she would give him all the love he needed. She has done just that, but she also went back on her word and fell deeply in love with this now 9 year old white cat and they share a bond that only survivors would understand.
You see Kiley has had a very rough life. I will not expose the private confessions she has made to me over the months of my visiting with her and Truman, but suffice it to say that her life has been one miracle over the next when it comes to abuse of all sorts, hardships and overcoming personal tragedies. She was also recently diagnosed with MS and she says that Truman helps her when she gets the shakes and calms her down a lot. He doesn’t hide from her- he only hid for about a week before he was sharing her pillow and drying her tears by licking her cheeks.
Now, she has to move out of her home and go to an apartment. In order to keep Truman, she has to come up with a one-time $600.00 pet deposit! WHO DOES THIS STUFF? It makes me so angry, because if we can’t raise the money for her, then Truman will be returned back to me and will likely go back into shock and hide under the futon again for God knows how many months?
They both need each other- deeply and he loves her and she returns that love ten-fold. We have until August 31, 2013 to raise the monies- so please put this link to my blog on your FB pages or tweet about it to your cat-loving friends and let’s keep these two survivors together. For them to find each other was nothing short of a miracle. I am hoping another miracle takes place and he can move with her to her new place and live happily ever after. After being exposed to the outside elements with NO protection for over a year- he deserves to be somewhere with someone who loves him completely and fully-
Please ask your friends to reference either Kiley or Truman if they do contribute and I thank you for reading this
Truman Before:
Truman after:
No more Futon Hiding
