COZYWOOD, A Katrina Story
by The
Barbi Twins,
founders, The Kitty
Liberation Front |
This story is not a story for the faint
of heart, though it does have a fairy tale ending. It
is about my life. I am a Katrina rescue cat and my
current name is Cozy.
I was born from a litter of 4, outside the city of New
Orleans. New Orleans mostly consisted of single moms
like my mom, because of few spay and neuter programs.
Though I thought I was a cute kitten, humans in the
state of LA still viewed me and my litter-mates as
"varmints" and treated all cats as such. Gosh, my
relatives were the reason the rat population was down!
Nothing like a "thank you" to be born behind the junk
yard and thrown in the streets with the other ferals.
I quess that is why I am anti-social with other cats,
(and dogs), because I had to fend for myself.
The nights were rough, and scary dogs ran in packs
stalking us. One cold rainy day I was picked up and
put into, what was called, a shelter. At first I liked
this because it was warm and had food and water. But I
remained in this tiny cage for days, then months,
actually what seemed forever, which made me very
depressed. They called me "Stinky". I thought that was
very rude since my bowel problem was due to my
nationality of being a manx cat.
The most unforgettable day was a day last summer when
humans were quickly stacking our cages in temporary
places next to our hospital in New Orleans. Then came
a time I thought was the end of the world. Trees and
all kinds of things ripped the walls out, that had
once protected us, so rain and wind pounded us.
Complete silence came, followed by days of moaning
from all of us starving. Post traumatic syndrome has
affected my memory at this moment in time. All I can
say is, all my roommates were found dead. Lucky me had
some sweet military man throw food in my cage, which
saved my life.
Out of no where came an angel who was part of the AGH
team. She picked up my weak body and gave me fluids.
Then she brought me to another place where another
human took me in a car to what they called
"California". There I went to a "foster home". This
human was like a mom and called me "Cozy" because I
would love to hug her for hours on her shoulder.
Somehow I knew this would not last, because I heard
this human foster mom call the prayer circle for me.
Yikes.
On a special day, where I remembered smelling big
birds cooking, (humans referred to it as
"Thanksgiving"), my human foster mom yelled out "Wow!
Cozy won the kitty lotto... he was accepted to go to
BEST FRIENDS!" I had heard of this BEST FRIENDS in New
Orleans, because many of my fellow mates had been
rescued or had gone off to this so called "Disneyland"
for cats and dogs. Personally, I thought it was
folklore and never believed that this so- called
palace existed.
Going to BEST FRIENDS was the best day of my life.
M-E-O-W, (still with my slow southern accent). There
was no kitty bigotry or pet racism. This was kitty and
doggy heaven with servants giving us massages, etc.
Unlike the cruel world, who only wanted young full
breeds, BEST FRIENDS liked us for who we were, not how
we looked, what breed we were or how old we were.
There were houses made just for us, atriums with
tunnels, trees, toys and ramps. Even the dogs had gym
like facilities making them happy and well mannered.
Moreover, the stories here were heart warming. My
ex-roommate Nellie had her knuckles amputated, ("declawed"),
in order to save the furniture in her last home.
Because Nellie's paws were too sore to ever go in the
kitty box, her human guardian gave her up, just like
that. Nellie's heart was broken so she stopped eating.
BEST FRIENDS helped her find a better home with a
human who treated Nellie as part of the family. Since
Nellie was handicapped, she was given soft kitty
litter. Nellie's new home also understood if she still
missed the kitty box, it was because of the pain.
Personally, I never want to leave BEST FRIENDS,
because they have sweet volunteers and doctors that
express my bladder twice a day. How do you spell
relief.....B-E-S-T F-R-I-E-N-D-S. They feed me a
healthy moist high fiber diet so my stools are finally
normal. I have never felt this good. I live in a place
called the "Incontinental Suite". Did I die and go to
catnip heaven? If not, you can come and visit and see
for yourself that this folklore is true...Finally
there is hope for unwanted homeless cats, dogs and so
many other animals like us that have no chance outside
of BEST FRIENDS. Since they call me "adorable" at BEST
FRIENDS, I'd like to refer to this great home as
COZYWOOD! Thank you, God, for making me feel special.
bestfriends.org -
Kitty
Liberation
highly recommends this rescue and adoption organization.
|
Friday,
January 6, 2006 02:00 CDT
|
