Kerry and Josh were living a nightmare in their Dream home!
Kerry was getting ready to start working as a Substitute
Teacher and she and Josh agreed to hire a House Cleaning
service to make life a little easier. Enter
the House Cleaners and suddenly the oldest cat; the cat who is deaf and can’t smell
because she has a sinus condition; the cat who was rescued in Brooklyn two and
a half years ago; the old girl; the scared and anxious cat: Primrose is gone! This was in early October; the day before their 10th wedding anniversary.
Primrose was originally a rescue from Brooklyn. She survived some very bitter winters living in an alleyway next to a gym. Patrons would leave food for her and place towels inside of a steel pipe so that she could have shelter.
The weather was so cold that the towels were always frozen. By the time Kerry rescued Primrose and her companion, Katniss, they both had severe upper respiratory infections.
Have you ever looked for your cat in all the
familiar places and gotten the queasy feeling that the cat was just not home? How could that have happened?! You figure maybe the cat is playing invisible,
cats do that all the time and this is a big house, and the other cats sometimes
scare her and on and on you obsess because she just can’t be gone!!!
The house cleaning service said they had not
seen the cat. Kerry said: "we don’t really have the whole story. We were originally lied to we never saw the
cat. We never let her out. Finally, someone admits that they did let the
cat out." What!? Have you no heart? It’s been hours of looking and crying and they
could have been looking outside for her. It’s new territory and Primrose may never find
us again: How did this Happen?! The breath just goes out of my lungs, how do
you think Kerry and Josh felt?
Primrose's “Rescue Year” would have been her
last winter on the planet. No one was
prepared to help these cats: they were
old, feral and not even Exotic. The
usual reasons for not trapping them were given:
“They have food and shelter – someone is feeding them.” What a Life.
Primrose and her friend Katniss were very lucky – Kerry and Josh are not
your Average Joe. Can you appreciate that Kerry and Josh spent their anniversary posting flyers; sending out posts on FaceBook; going to
their neighbor’s homes to advise them to please call if they see her. Their voicemail now had a message repeating
what was on the flyers that were ALL OVER the community. Pardon my French but ain’t that a bitch?
There were so many sightings but no
Primrose. There were possum; raccoon and
other cats caught in the many traps peppering the countryside where Primrose
had been seen. There were neighbors who
staked out their own property and took pictures of cats who came to feed there. At night there was howling. Ask Kerry if this was wolves or coyote?
There were times when they arrived to see a
cat running off and looking exactly like Primrose. The contrast between the Hopeful Highs and
Depressing Depths of Defeat were enough to damage a healthy immune system. Kerry and Josh persevered; they refused to
give up even when their car broke down!
They refused to give up even when there was a death in the family. Kerry refused to stop looking and postponed
her return to work so that she could look for Primrose.
Every day traps were checked and refreshed at
5:30 a.m. and stakeouts went on until 7:30 or 11 p.m. One night they caught a cat! Primrose! Not Primrose.
They released her and when she kept coming back they just rescued this scrawny
cat exactly the way they rescued Primrose two and a half years ago. They took her to the vet (tics kept dropping
off her the size of pencil erasers) and they found a home for her!
What was Primrose going through all this
time? It was a grim realization that
Primrose was suddenly way out of her element.
Primrose was surrounded with wildlife that could hunt her as a meal while
she was at a total disadvantage because of her age and poor senses.
Kerry and Josh were riding a streak that
would have crushed many. First their car
broke down and still they continued searching on foot. A death in the family would have left any
other cat forgotten but not Primrose.
Now Kerry’s birthday was coming up and it
would be the first time that Kerry would not celebrate her birthday. All she wanted was Primrose safe at
home. The offers of traps kept coming in
and none were refused. By November they
had 20 traps spread out in areas of sightings.
I took a trip to Kerry’s home to see what my
nose would tell me. The houses are far
apart so people get a lot of privacy.
But for a cat the distance between homes is a Jungle and country roads
don’t look like fun to navigate. I saw
turkey and chickens; horses and cows.
What else was out there?
Kerry wrote:
“Surprisingly, Primrose seems to have learned how to get around
quickly. She eats late at night and hides
by day. Apparently at one location, Primrose
tried eating a dog’s food and since she’s deaf didn’t realize the dog was
nearby. The BIG dog chased Primrose up a
tree. It is confirmed that it was Primrose because the guy says that
he yelled at her to see if she was deaf and she didn’t react. Yup, that’s her!”
I saw the home with the porch where Primrose
came to eat for about a week. There were
so many places for a cat to hide in; under and to burrow into. I had no idea where to begin looking. On a note of irony this was the house where
once upon a time a Cat Man fed a colony of cats. He didn’t do TNR so there were always lots of
cats and kittens around. I wondered
whether Primrose had been drawn here by the smell of other cats but no,
Primrose has sinus issues and can’t smell – can she?
The current owners are also pet friendly,
they had a water bowl and food for their small dog and didn’t seem to mind when
the cats came to eat. Yes, there were
more than a few cats in this vicinity. On November 15 there was another sighting and
it was closer to home. Every trap, all 20 traps, were moved to this site
and finally on November 16 the waiting was over!
Recovery is slow. Primrose has Physical issues that include a
tic infestation; many bites from other animals as well as dehydration, anemia
and weakness. Primrose appears to have
PTSD. Kerry accommodates her by giving
her a room of her own where the two other cats can’t overwhelm her. Primrose is a trooper and is starting to
relax again with Kerry and Josh. See the Wear and tear on an old, lost cat
Every day is a day of Gratitude for Kerry and
Josh and I wonder if Primrose knows how very lucky she is to be loved by such
very loyal caretakers. I have to wonder
how many of the cats that were trapped and released were once lost housecats
whose family just gave up with searching and got another cat.
