It’s close to a year since Skittles joined my household and I no longer wonder whether I made the right choice in adopting her. There are those who would say that I should have left her to live her life outside, a feral kitten I once failed to rescue. That the most I could hope to accomplish for her was providing her with food, water and shelter.
I couldn't do it though. Perhaps it was the guilt, that I had rescued her mom and sister, adopting them into my home, but had failed to capture her. That eight months had passed before I managed to trap her and by then she was fully wild, a teen mom with three kittens to protect. That I had separated her from her babies, giving them over to The Animal Rescue Alliance. That T.A.R.A. had found homes for the kittens while Skittles was deemed unadoptable due to her feral nature. The sweet spot of rescue before eight weeks had long since passed.
Despite all of this, Skittles was not unadoptable to me. I had fallen in love with her long before I managed to trap her.
And every day, as she acclimates more to my household, as she finds her courage to allow me to pet her, as she purrs for me and scoots closer to me on the bed each night, I know that I have made the right decision. Here in this household, she has shelter and food and water, but beyond those basics, she has the peace and safety of a home where she doesn't have to fight each day simply to survive.
Sure, she's still a ball of skittish behavior, but who knows what another year will do for her or for her relationships with me and the rest of the Culey Crew. I can't wait to find out.
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