Tuxedo Destiny

When I was in college, I had the good fortune to bring two stray cats into their forever homes.  Both of those cats just so happened to be tuxedo kitties.  The summer before my last year in college, I found a friendly stray cat outside of a friend's house.  I told my friend that if the cat didn't leave his yard within 48 hours to call me and I would come pick him up.  I got the call two days later and had a cat carrier ready to take him to the apartment that I shared with 2 roommates.  I instantly bonded with "Messy" and he slept on my bed every night and followed me wherever I went.  Within a few weeks, however, our landlord found out about the cat and said that we had to give him up.

As it turns out, my cousin's best friend had two elderly cats that had recently passed away.  She was devastated about her loss and didn't want to take in a new cat, so we asked her to take the cat for a few days until we found him a new home.  Two days later, she had already fallen in love with him and decided she would keep him and name him Fritz.  Fritz was lucky enough to live out the last 6 years of his life with someone that truly loved him and he waited until she got home from work and died of old age in her arms not long ago.

   The following summer, another friendly tuxedo cat showed up at Chris's door while we were sitting on his front porch.  At this time, Zoey was a kitten and Chris's roommate already had a grown male cat, so we fed the scrawny cat but thought that it was best for us not to take in a third cat at the time.  However, after about 3 days on our porch meowing and sitting on our laps, we decided to let the grateful cat into our lives, and Seph has moved from home to home with us ever since.

Unfortunately, many cats in the college town I lived in aren't able to find forever homes.  Every year, when school ends, college students return to their original homes and leave their pets without a second thought.  At the beginning of each summer, stray cats show up all over town and many of them are ran over or taken to the overcrowded shelter where they are often euthanised.  This  is a sad reality that I can't wrap my head around, but I am happy that I was able to find forever homes for two of the town's abandoned cats. If you find a stray cat, think if anyone you know would be willing to give the cat a temporary or forever home.  I believe that cats find us for a reason, and the some of the best cats choose their forever homes by simply walking up to a door in hopes of some food and love. 

Tips from the Humane Society on how to help a stray pet

Want to learn more about Seph?  Click here to visit his page!