REMEMBERING WHEN: The cat who found us

By Keith Schell

With the changing of the seasons came the first snow of the winter in 1972. For us kids, the first snowfall always brought thoughts of the winter fun we looked forward to having as the season progressed.

By then, I was in grade seven, but my two younger brothers were not yet of full-day school age. Because of that, our mom stayed home to care for her youngest sons while they grew. Being a very involved parent, she took an active role in their development—encouraging creative play at the kitchen table while she baked cookies, taking them for walks in the rain so they could stomp in puddles with their slickers and rubber boots, and taking them tobogganing at a nearby hill when the first snow settled on the ground.

One day, while they were all having fun tobogganing on the hill and playing in the fresh snow, a small animal meekly approached them. It was a pretty little black-and-white tuxedo cat, padding toward them and softly meowing.

Being soft-hearted little kids, my brothers immediately welcomed the new arrival. They walked over and began to pat the cat, talking to her and scratching her behind the ears.

The cat stayed with them for as long as they played on the hill and began meowing and following them home once the fun was over.

She followed them into our yard. Being animal lovers, nobody did anything to discourage our little visitor.

When I got home from school and Dad returned from work, the cat was still there. We welcomed her with a pat and a scratch and asked everybody if they knew who she belonged to. Nobody did.

We began to wonder if she was lost or abandoned. We had taken in a couple of stray cats in the past, but they were rough-and-tumble tomcats who looked like they'd been on their own for a while before they ever came to us. This one was a dainty little female—much more delicate than the others we'd known.

Not knowing how long she'd been on her own, we wondered if she might be hungry. Mom told me to check the kitchen cupboards for any leftover cat food from our last pet. I rummaged around, found an old tin of cat food, opened it up and made sure it was still good, and emptied most of it into a saucer before bringing it outside and setting it down for the cat.

She must have been starving—she wolfed it down immediately! We also gave her some water, and with her immediate needs met, we began to discuss her future.

Of course, we kids wanted to keep her. Our parents hesitated, unsure if she belonged to a neighbour. Not wanting us to get too attached to her, Mom and Dad reached a compromise with us kids: we’d look after the cat but leave her outside for now, free to stay in the yard, and if no one came to claim her within a week, we’d consider keeping her.

That night, we left her outside. Dad had built a cathouse for one of our previous pets, complete with insulation, and we hoped the new cat would have the sense to huddle in there for warmth. The next morning, there she was—curled up inside the cathouse, watching the back door, waiting for us to come out and greet her.

By the end of the week, no one had come to claim the cat. Discussions about her future resumed, and we begged our parents to let us keep her. They finally agreed on the condition that if someone came forward to claim her, we’d have to give her up. We accepted those terms and hoped that day would never come.

We began letting her into the house on a trial basis. Since we didn’t know how clean she was, Mom kept the bedroom doors closed until we were sure she wouldn’t make a mess. We let her explore the rest of the house freely. With a cat’s curiosity, she poked her head into every nook and cranny available! Mom even wondered if she was looking for a spot to have kittens—but she wasn’t expecting.

It turned out she was very clean—much cleaner than any cat we’d ever had before. With that reassurance, we finally opened the entire house to her.

Not long after her adjustment period, our new pet settled right into family life, becoming a typical cat. She sat in our laps in the evenings while we watched TV, slept on our beds when we retired for the night, constantly turned up her nose at whatever we tried to feed her, and happily greeted everyone when we got home from school or work. It didn’t take long before she truly became “our” cat.

When a pet chooses you, the bond becomes even more special. They see something in you that you may not even see in yourself. We think that cat was about a year old when she found us and became a devoted member of our family. Nobody ever came to claim her, and she stayed with us for nearly twenty years. Loving and beloved, she enriched our lives in every way a pet possibly could. She couldn’t have had a happier and better life. She was the best cat we ever had. And she was dearly missed by our entire family when she was finally gone.

Sometimes, the ones who need you the most are the ones who turn up out of nowhere. If you ever come across a lost or abandoned cat or dog, don’t just turn away. Extend a helping hand if you can.

A simple act of kindness—offering food, shelter, or even just contacting the authorities for help—can often change an animal’s life and yours forever.

And your reward for kindness could be a lifetime of a pet’s love!