A Cat Comes Out of the Woods

The Story of Simba

 

2024

The story of Simba is different from the other stories where the cats have all suddenly appeared in the backyard having come out of the woods. It was August 7th when Debbie got a call from her friend who lives in the same condo complex saying there was a kitten by her place and it didn't look good. With this information we went down to see it and brought along a dish and some cat food. As we got there the kitten was briefly seen, but moved off the deck and into the dirt, presumably to hide. But though now off the deck, it was just lying in the dirt and what we saw was heartbreaking. The kitten was listless with its head lying on the ground. It was incredibly skinny, and, frankly, it looked like it was just giving up and ready to die.

Because we had brought the food along with a dish, we felt we should try to see if the little kitten might eat something. I put the dish in front of him and tilted the bowl toward it so it can smell it. We were amazed that it lifted its head, stood up a bit, and slowly ate some of the kibble.

Now that the kitten was actually eating Debbie decided we needed to take it to our backyard, just outside the screen porch, the usual welcome area for lost and stray cats. She gently picked him up and held him as we walked back and the kitten seemed confortable in her arms. I put down the kibble we already had and got a water dish. It then drank some water and ate some more kibble which made us very happy. From inside the screen porch our cat Portia looked on, enamored by the sight of another cat. Soon, while Debbie was sitting on the screen porch stairs, the kitten came up and looked like it wanted to be closer to her. Debbie carefully picked it up and it seemed happy to be on her lap.

Debbie would soon be calling the kitten Simba which is a name you'd recognize if you ever saw The Lion King. We weren't totally certain, but we thought Simba was a male.

But our euphoria vanished when we got a look at a giant sore on Simba's head, just under the ear on his left side. Debbie cleaned it as best she could, but that only made it even more apparent. Our fear was that there was more to Simba's health problem then just malnutrition. What else might be wrong? It was now too late in the day to take him to our vet so we would have to let it stay outside for the night. We would make two spots for Simba. One was next to the steps with a blanket, and another underneath a big container with a blanket that would give cover should it start to rain. But already at this point it was seeming inevitable that we be taking Simba to the Humane Society.

As darkness fell I could see Simba on the security camera in the backyard and the last time I checked he was still there. I checked again in the middle of the night and Simba could not be seen. I thought that hopefully he had moved to the shelter out of sight of the camera.

In the morning when I went into the screen porch to look for Simba, he was no where to be found and I feared that maybe he was gone for good. But when I then went out the door to check further then suddenly Simba's coming out of the woods and quickly coming directly toward me! It was obvious that Simba was happy to see me and now as I sat on the stairs Simba could get on my lap on his own. Somehow so quickly he was bonding to us.

Once again Simba ate and drank a lot and throughout the day when we came out he wanted to be on our laps. It looked like he was getting stronger and by the end of the day we were amazed to see him go after a chipmunk! He stood very little chance, but he was moving very well and it was a joy to see, especially when less than 24 hours earlier he looked near death.

Also as the day wore on it was increasingly clear to us that Simba was a special cat. This cat deserved to live and make someone a very happy cat owner. We were not sure it could be us because we then would once again have 3 cats. Maybe someone else would really think this cat is special and would gladly adopt him. So by the end of the day we made our decision that the following day at 1:00PM I would drive Simba to the Humane Society (which is when it opened) to drop him off. We would have dreaded this because as cute as the cat was he'd be competing with a bunch of other kittens and someone would have to think this one was more special than all the others. But we had a backup plan: if Simba would get a clean (or relatively clean) bill of health we would adopt him. Though we would then have 3 cats, it already clear that Mystic was not doing well and appeared to be suffering from cat dementia which was getting increasinly worse.

That night Simba stayed by the porch for at least a couple of hours, but eventually decided to head into the woods, presumably for protection. So the following morning played out the same: no sign of Simba until he came out of the woods. When the time was nearing when I would be taking Simba to the Humane Society, suddenly I hear the sounds of lawn mowers! This was the day they mow the grounds at our condo. And, worse, Simba is no where to be found! It took almost 10 minutes for him to appear again and I picked him up and into the cat carrier.

Debbie had a golf event to attend, so I would take Simba. But before that I stopped at Bill's house to show him the kitten and see how his cat Stonks did with him. Click/tap here to read the story about his cat, Stonks, who was the first cat to come out of the woods. Stonks was fascinated by the sight of Simba, but didn't want to get close. And as I suspected, Bill loved the little kitten as you can see in the pictures above. I was hoping at that point that maybe Bill would want the cat in order to give Stonks a companion.

From Bill's it was straight to the Jefferson County Humane Society and Simba did fine with the car ride. I took Simba in the carrier and placed it on the counter. As I opened the carrier he looked sad to me and he had to be wondering what was going on. The check in went quickly because we had previously dropped off a stray cat so we were already in the system. I didn't have to sign anything.

I pointed out the big sore and they said something that meant nothing to me at the time: "It looks like a Botfly." They would go on to indicate it's a worm that they remove with a teasers and mentioned that the last one they had was in a cat's nose!

Before I left I went to window looking into the cat room where there seemed to be nothing but kittens. So many kittens! I would have been very depressed thinking of what chance Simba would have to stand out among all these other cute kittens, but I had my warm thought that we would take him if needed. Fortunately I didn't think of one very depressing thought: maybe this was the last time I would see Simba because his health might make him unadoptable.

 

Website Vigil

With Simba in their hands, I would start my daily vigil of checking their website. I already knew that Simba would not automatically show up on the Cats Available For Adoption list, so I'd be checking the Found Cats listing. And I would check and check and check and check. Day after day there was nothing and when it got to 10 days I now feared the worst: Simba must have a serious health issue. Finally, on day 12 I was thrilled to see the name of Simba show up on the Found Cats list.

So the vigil will continue but now waiting for Simba to disappear and if so, hopefully see him on the Cats Available For Adoption list. But it would only last for a few days when suddenly on Saturday late in the day Simba was now available!

And clicking on the image brought up the detail:

It was amazing how good Simba looked! But even better his appearance on the available list meant he must had received a clean bill of health! I was now determined to get to the Humane Society and proceed with adoption. But it was too late on Saturday and it would be closed on Sunday and not open until 1:00PM on Monday. We were determined to get there when it opened on Monday.

Debbie and I arrived just after 1:00PM and at the left just past the door is a window with 6-8 cats. We tried to see if Simba was in there but he was not. Soon one of the staff approached us and told them we were there to see Simba. We then got incredible news. Simba had already been adopted! What? How was that possible? No one would have had the time!

The explanation was simple and heartening: Simba was adopted by the lady who was fostering him! I was both glad and sad at the same time. Glad that Simba would be getting a great home and sad that it wasn't ours. And it also meant we were right about Simba being special. Here's someone who has interaction with many cats who thought this cat was special.

That would have been the end of the story right then and there, but the staff said the lady was away for a few days and Simba was still there! We would have one last opportunity to see him. We were directed to the large room of cats and told we could go in, simply being careful not to let any cats out. The room was a little overwhelming as there were at least fifteen cats and the more we looked the more cats we spotted. But we could not spot Simba. Most of the kittens were not interested in us, but suddenly one of them approached and it was Simba!

Debbie didn't hesitate to pick him up and Simba looked like he was right at home. It was just more confirmation that this is really a great cat. It was amazing that the sore was almost entirely gone and only the hair needed to grow back. And then I got my opportunity to hold Simba while Debbie started scouting the kittens. She spotted one that she thought was adoptable, but this was not the day. The timing wasn't good with us going on a short vacation, but we were making an acception for Simba and I had already knew that Bill could take care of him while we were gone.

After we left the room I looked back through the window and there was Simba just looking at me so I snapped this picture. To me it's a sad picture because he looks confused and maybe wondering why I'm leaving. But it's impossible to know exactly what a cat might be thinking. But it's only temporary as soon Simba will be back to someone who must love him as much as we do.