I drive a bus for the public transit company in Pittsburgh. On January 2, 2017, I was driving through Mt. Oliver when I saw a small patch of white in the brown leaves that covered the sidewalk. As I got closer, I realized it was a small cat that was completely soaked after sitting out in the rain. When I opened the door, he screamed at me! (He didn't meow, he SCREAMED!)
I told him if he was still there when I came back, I would take him home and take care of him. When I was done with my route, I parked my bus, got in my car and drove over to the pet store across the street from my garage. I bought a small pet carrier and a couple packs of cat food and then headed back to Mt. Oliver. Amazingly, the cat hadn't moved. I set the food down in front of him and he gobbled it up quickly. A neighbor helped me to get the kitten into the carrier and we headed for home, not sure what I hoped to do with him.
I never expected Craig would say we would keep him. I should have known better! He has the biggest heart when it comes to animals. This cat was soaked to the skin, couldn't walk, he kept falling over on his left side and he was starving. We still have the coop that we used when our chickens were babies, so Craig put him in it in the garage (until we could get him to the vet and make sure he was healthy and had no fleas).
He set up a heat lamp nearby and prayed for healing. The poor little thing looked pathetic. Craig put bowls of food and water in the cage, and the cat fell over with its face on the food bowl and a foot in the water bowl. I checked on him a couple times after Craig left for work, but eight hours later, he was still in that same position. I had made an appointment with the vet for 10:15 Tuesday morning, but seriously, I didn't hold out a lot of hope that we would actually have to keep that appointment.
In the morning, I was afraid to go down to check on him. When Craig woke up, he went down to the garage and then he yelled for me. I was expecting the worst, but no! Craig said the cat was sitting up and it meowed at him in a normal voice! (The day before, when I put him in my car and when Craig put him in that cage, he just screamed over and over, so pitifully that we were afraid he must have some broken bones or something.) We took him to the vet and he got vaccinations, a flea treatment and he tested negative for leukemia and FIV. They said he was less than a year old.
He is our little miracle! (Thank you God for answering Craig's prayers!) We chose his name because I found him on St. Joseph Street in Mt. Oliver. He quickly became a part of our family. I'm so glad that Craig doesn't enforce his "No more pets" policy! (But seriously, this is the last one. For now.)
WEST MIFFLIN, PA
