My Halloween Cat

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted a black cat.  Since we're a dog family, and NOT a cat family, I thought that dream was never going to come true.  When I was 17, a stray cat DID show up at our house, who quickly became part of the family...but he was a tabby.  Years later when we were on the search for a pet cat for my son, Luke, I told him that people didn't pick cats; cats picked their OWN owners and that when the time was right, God would make sure he got the kitty that was meant for him.  The kitty that came into our lives was a white and orange flame-tail we named Snowball.

Snowball

Aaron and Ichabod

I resigned the fact that even though I always wanted a black cat, I had to listen to my own advice...that cats pick their own owners and it must not have been in God's plan for me to have my little black kitty.  I owe an apology to someone up there because a few weeks ago, a little black kitty came into our lives!  When a friend and fellow HPIR member, Kelly, put a message up asking if anyone to take the emaciated little ball of feisty black fluff she had found at a client's home, I knew that I had to give this kitty a good home.  Mom, Luke, and I (after calling a very reluctant Aaron) got in the car and went to go pick up our new baby.

The little kitty was so thin that you could see and feel every one of her bones.  We took her directly to our vet, and luckily my mom drove because even though we had the cat carrier, I held the tiny cat all the way back to Hurricane.  She was literally so thin that I was afraid she wasn't going to make it, and if she DID'NT make it, I wanted her last moments to be ones filled with love and comfort.  She laid against my chest and slept the entire way.  I decided early on that the little cat would be named Ichabod, after Ichabod Crane.  I know that new television show just recently came out, but OUR Ichabod is actually named after the Disney character.  Each year at the start of the Halloween season, Luke, Aaron and I watch the animated movie, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which contains a loooong description of how thin Ichabod Crane was.  Unfortunately, we found out from the vet that Ichabod was a female.  Still, the name was so fitting that we kept it, and call her Icky for short.

Aside from finding out from the vet that Ichabod was a girl, we found out that she was severely emaciated and basically had no muscle mass.  She was so weak that they wouldn't even give her the required vaccinations.  We made an appointment to come back in 10 days with orders to provide plenty of kitten chow and even more TLC.  Ten days came and went, and Icky gained over 2lbs.  She was now healthy enough to start the vaccination process.  She had also grown quite comfortable in her new home and even with her new cat brother, Snow.

With doctors' appointments and everything else, she's kept me even busier, but I can't imagine our home would be complete without her.  She's my little Halloween gift--I finally got my black cat, and right before Halloween!