I lived uptown and worked in a Restaurant in lower Manhattan. One of my jobs was to open up the Restaurant and accept the deliveries, cook potatoes and basically get it ready for the breakfast customers. I loved that time of day, even so it was very early and a lot of work, but it was my time alone before it got crazy.
One morning, I heard some very faint meowing. First I thought, that this can not be, how would a cat get into the basement, but then i heard it again and again.
Going down to the basement I looked around, could not see anything remotely looking like a cat, but there was that meowing again. I tried following the sound and it came from the elevator shaft.
We had this open elevator called dumb elevator, it seemed like the noise came from somewhere in there. I looked underneath and there it was a little black and white kitten, actually more black and dirty white. Hanging on to her live in between the elevator.
Somehow I got it out, with only a few scratch marks, my white shirt did not look white anymore.
It was so tiny, cute, helpless and skinny.
I called my friend who came in a cab with a clean shirt and took the kitten home with her.
In the afternoon I picked up the kitten. The last thing I needed or wanted was a cat or any other animal for that matter.
I had a lot of depressions in those days and did not feel like taking on another living thing. It was hard enough for me to put one foot in front of the other.
Now having a cat I did not ask for was a little bit of a challenge. I may have rescued her, but she did not want to have anything to do with me and just ignored me. She was hiding when I got home. When I tried to get her out behind the sofa, her responds was to hiss and spit at me. So I tried some other technique, I ignored her and said to myself, let her come to me. Had some simple toys, cotton balls, wool.
When she came out I threw those things into the room and she seemed interested. Slowly, slowly she got closer and closer and finally jumped up on to the couch. She did not like strangers and she made that very clear when a friend visited and I had told him, do not touch her, she will scratch you, but we humans think we have to be in charge. Sure enough she did scratch him.
After a while when she knew I was coming home, she started running towards the door. I could hear her little paws on the linoleum, I will never forget that sound, every time it made my heart jump. In fact just writing about it, puts a smile on my face.
I believe that you have to earn the trust of your animals. Sometimes it takes a few weeks and sometimes a few month, but it is well worth it, because when you pass the test, they will love you for a lifetime.
As I said, I was dealing with a lot of depressions and I do not know what I would have done without that little black and white kitten. The moral of my story is, even so I rescued the kitten a cat saved my life in the end.
Woof, woof
Sabine
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