Fred's next adventure........................................



Yesterday morning one of my neighbors came over and informed me that another neighbor had my Freddy Boy trapped in a live trap. Yes, for you long time readers, this is the same neighbor that has had issue with our dogs.

I had a total meltdown. Upon calling animal control I was told that he did indeed have the right to trap a cat that went onto his property. I broke into uncontrollable sobs over a cat. Not so much that he was trapped, I am sure that Fred just made an adventure out of that, but the idea that he was outside in the sun without water tore me apart. Maybe I have watched too much Animal Planet?

Of course, I couldn't leave to go spring Fred from Jail, but my neighbor went and talked to the guy and he told her he wouldn't give Fred back and that he had to trap him because, 'He just couldn't talk to me." I find this funny because you might recall the letter I wrote to him about the dogs (not a harsh letter at all), that he didn't respond to. The one and only conversation I have had with this man was the time the trash people left trash in the road after dumping mine. He called me threatening to call the city if I didn't get it cleaned up. My reply was to encourage him to call the city on my behalf as I had been calling for two weeks about the sloppy job without success, and that maybe if more of us called the issue would get resolved. He hung up on me.

I had always known that Fred showed up in my life for a reason, and now I am thinking that the reason was to give me a chance to choose not to be angry and bitter at this man for trapping my cat. Reading Tolle's book about pain bodies would leave me to believe that this man behaves like he does to draw other people into his drama with their anger so that his ego can feed off of it. As soon as I was able to push out the horror thoughts about my Freddy being in anything less than stellar conditions I made a conscious choice to pray for this mans happiness. After all, if his life is so miserable that he has nothing better to do with his time than trap neighborhood animals that is totally and completely sad.

Of course I called (my) Mister and sobbed my troubles to him, and then shared the news with our youngest. Above all else, we agreed that we did not want Fred to get trapped again and again by this man. Being a, "Don't fence me in kind of cat" it would also be mean to try and make him a strictly indoor cat, and with all the coming and going around here it would be hard to be successful at that.

Not all relationships are meant to be forever relationships, so to hold onto Fred would be selfish, and not in his best interest. We decided we would surrender Fred to animal control. In tears, I dug out his little life book and wrote the following letter to send with him to increase his chances at adoption:

Hello,
My name is Fred and I am the best ever cat in the world.

Why am I here then? Because I like to roam, and we have a neighbor that does not appreciate that reality. My mommy takes care of senior citizens and can’t leave the house to come find me when I get out so she sent me here to find a new, really great family to take care of me.

I like to go for walks with the family dogs if you have them. I don’t need a leash, but will follow behind and stay right with the group. I have a fabulous personality and promise to make you smile and laugh all day long.

My mommy rescued me from the snow and cold this past March when I jogged the block with her. Unable to find my previous parents, she took me into her home and heart.

My family had been saving up to get me de-clawed and fixed, but you will have to take care of that for me now. Trust me, I will be well worth the effort in entertainment value.

Mommy says I am the most charismatic cat that she has ever met, and that she is thankful for the time that I was in her life. She also says that she will be eternally grateful for whoever gives me a home next.

Will that be you?

I was so proud of our youngest. She called me up and shared with me that she was about half-way through her anger and working towards forgiveness for this man. Like me, the part that bothered her was that he trapped Fred without water and didn't come to us with his concerns.

I had to go do some home care in the afternoon (red eyes and all) so the youngest was here when animal control brought back Fred. She went out to his truck, held out Fred's life book and said, "You have to keep him," and promptly burst into tears. The officer calmed her down, and told her the guy is known for doing this kind of thing but there is nothing that they can do to stop it. He also told her he could tell that Fred was a special cat and he didn't want to see him put down. The officer told her that she needed to keep Fred over night and talk to her mother about what we wanted to do long term.

So Fred came home, plopped down in his favorite chair and took a nap, unfazed by it all. Told you he was a cool cat.

When I walked in the door from seeing clients the first thing I noticed was (my) Mister's red eyes. Since my ego was totally convinced he was jealous of Fred I found this interesting. As we talked about the situation what came out was, "I'm pissed! He made my wife cry." Isn't that the sweetest, most romantic thing you ever heard? A little behind us, he eventually made peace with the fact that the honorable thing to do was find Fred a new home, and send love and blessings to the neighbor. I hope to compose a letter to him today, and will share it when I do.

In the meantime please send good thoughts to Fred that he enjoy his next adventure and that the universe assists in leading him to the perfect new home where he can teach his next life lesson to a deserving family.