Marmalade_foster_cat.jpg

A Journey Home

The reunion that never was, turned into a union that was meant to be.

We will never know the beginning of Marmalade’s story. But we were blessed to be a part of her journey. All indications point to a past where she was loved and well cared for. Surely there was a family somewhere missing her! She was too friendly and unafraid of people to have been out on her own for very long. She craved attention and human contact, head butting her way into your hands for a head scratch or crawling into your lap for a leisurely afternoon snooze.

Marmalade and WAAG crossed paths on a sunny March day. The WAAG TNR team was in Cathlamet, WA setting traps for a colony of feral cats set to be neutered the next day. It was a successful trapping, numerous cats were caught and were transported to the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon for a health assessment, vaccinations and sterilization. As it turned out, one particular cat, our sweet Marmalade, was very different from the rest. Upon her initial health assessment, they discovered she’d already been spayed and her front paws had been declawed . . . she was definitely not a feral. She was someone’s pet! Estimated to be about 2 years old, Marmalade, in good health, was vaccinated and showed no signs of obvious neglect.

The newly neutered cats returned to Cathlamet later that afternoon to rest up before being released back into their colony to live out their lives, happy and healthy. Marmalade, on the other hand, went into WAAG’s Foster Program. WAAG immediately set to work placing ads in the local paper, and a feature ad on their Facebook page, eager to reunite her with her family. We thought a reunion was going to be a slam dunk, there was no way someone was NOT looking for her.

After seeing our Facebook ad, a family came forward expressing an interest in Marmalade should she become available for adoption. The family consisted of a husband and wife and the wife’s elderly mom. Their cat had passed away a couple years prior and were looking to add to the family. Ready to open their hearts once again, missing the extra heartbeat, Marmalade seemed like a good candidate and reached out to WAAG. We had 30 days to search before we could move forward with Plan B - Adoption. We held out hope for a reunion but were relieved to have a prospective adoption option. In the meantime, Marmalade was adjusting well to her foster home, soaking up all the attention she craved. She was a great cat and deserved a loving home.

A couple of weeks went by, for all our efforts a reunion was not looking likely. A “Meet ‘N Greet” was arranged with the wife. The connection was immediate - from both directions. It was an amazing to witness the instant connection! Marmalade crawled up in her lap the minute she sat down, erasing any doubt that Marmalade found her home! Counting the days until Marmalade could go to her fur-ever home was a mixed bag of emotions. On one hand they were hoping Marmalade’s family would never turn up to claim her and on the other hand they knew someone had to be heartbroken without her. After 30 days in foster care, our failure to find her family turned out to be Marmalade’s golden ticket home . . . not the one she came from, but to the home where she was always meant to be.

Marmalade is back Cathlamet, content to spend her days napping in the laps of those who will treasure her forever.

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