The Cat Named "Marina"

Yes... the little cat pictured below is at my house. There's a story behind this kitty as there is with ALL my cats that have been Humane Society or midwestern barn kitties (Sparky). I've been calling her Marina as she found me at the Tempe Town Lake boat marina. On Saturday I went to take my scull for a row. While I was getting my slings out of my gear box, I heard it... the meeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooow! Uh oh...

You see, there's quite a few strays and some feral cats hanging out by the marina. They like to lay in the drainage ditches to try and cool down. It's been easy to look the other way as they tend to run away from me. But this meow was getting closer... until she was smack dab in front of me. Looking up at me and meowing. I looked down into those big blue eyes and immediately felt a tug at my heart. She was hungry, dirty and her fur was all matted up. Then she "head-butted" my leg and I squatted down and pet her. Here was this small friendly cat out in what would be a torturous hot day. I gave her some water from my water bottle in a make shift bowl that I made out of the bottom of a soda bottle. She was thirsty...

I came to row and I told myself that she would be gone or somebody would take her. She was too friendly to be left out in the heat. So I rowed and the entire time I thought about her and started thinking about all the people I knew that could give her a good home. I finished up and carried my boat back... secretly hoping she would be gone. But she wasn't. She was laying under the sailboat next to my gear box. I had some granola bars in my bag so I got one out and she sniffed it and decided that she was hungry enough to eat this strange object. She snarfed down a good quarter of the Clif bar, purring and twitching her tail.

"NO... I cannot have another animal. I have too many." I kept telling myself this and mustered the strength to pet her and tell her someone would find her. Someone would give her a home.

All the way home, I felt terrible for leaving her. I went home grumpy and mad at the world. Mad at people who don't take care of their animals. They count on us. How can anyone be so cruel. I told Matt about it and he didn't say anything. I didn't blame him--we have 4 cats already.

On Sunday, I went to row again. Matt was helping me pack up the car and asked "Should I put the cat carrier in the car?"
I got to the marina and there she was—laying on top of my gear box. She chose me and I knew it. She even walked right into the carrier when I opened it!

After I got her home, I cut all the mats out of her fur. Her back looks a bit like a really, really bad haircut at the moment. My neighbor Jan came over and we bathed her. I thought she was all gray. But after her wash she had cream colored fur.

Today she went to the vet. That was really scary as her tummy was hard and they though she might be pregnant... I left her to get x-ray and blood tests done. They called a half hour later and I was SO relieved that she was not pregnant. She was instead a little bloated and there was a object in her stomach that looked like plastic or some other foreign material that she likely ate while scrounging for food. She had no ear mites, tested negative for feline leukemia or kitty AIDs and they couldn't tell if she had been spayed or not. So the vet said to wait and see if she goes into heat. If she does, then she can get spayed.

Tonight is Marina's integration into the household. We'll see how that goes. I think there will be some hissing but at the moment the other pets seem to be keeping their distance from this stranger. Kobi layed down on the floor in front of her and let out a sigh. He likes his kitties.... and now he has one more.

Here's some photos of her. Mind you, she had lots of shots today--so she's not too spunky. One more kitty with a good home. I wish they all could be so lucky.