I was doomed the moment I caught Mirasol as part of our Trap-Neuter-Return program. This cat was terrified of people, but otherwise as healthy as can be. Returning her to her outdoor home was out of the question, though. Her right front leg was broken in a previous accident and managed to heal on its own, but the elbow was now fused and unable to bend. Her home was in the middle of a shopping center at a busy intersection, with very little cover.

My first plan was to foster her. I needed to see if her temperament got friendlier once she was off the street and spayed. I needed to know if she could keep her leg or if we needed to amputate it. My hope was that she would quickly warm up to humans and we could adopt her out to a family that would love her and not mind her minor limp.

Instead, she fell in love with my bully of a cat, Hubble. Hubble HATED every single foster that entered his territory, because he was extremely possessive of his human (me). Mirasol was terrified of me, but she wanted to be with Hubble all the time.

He accepted it. Mirasol didn’t want my attention, only his, and Hubble relished the arrangement.

As I said, I was doomed. My cat-hating cat actually allowed her into his Hubble-bubble.

So, after a month of fostering, my plan changed. I adopted a cat that was terrified of me and wouldn’t let me touch her. Within the first couple months in my care, she discovered the magic of the red-dot-of-chasing and would wait by the bookcase, pawing at the books, for me to retrieve the laser from it and play with her.

Four months in, she joined Hubble on the bed with me and discovered that head scratches feel nice and the human won’t move while sleeping.

After seven months, she started joining Hubble on the couch with me, and allowed me to reach over him to scratch her head and brush her fur.

Now, at the nine month mark, she will greet me at the door, with Hubble, and even talks to me in high-pitched kittenish meows, while letting me stroke her fur. She’s stopped running away and hiding every time I walk through a room, and has learned I’m not some form of land shark that will devour her.

And Hubble? Hubble can’t stop her. His futile attempts to bully her come across as a wonderful game to her.

This was possible because of the many services we offer here at HSC. These include the Trap-Neuter-Return program that discovered her, out low-cost spay/neuter clinic services, our amazing fostering program, and of course the all important adoptions.

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