Keep your feline babies indoors!

It hurt my heart.

Today, totally by surprise, we were contacted by a neighbor who was trying to find a home for an apparently abandoned cat. He reminded us of our first baby, Kafka, who was black and white like this sweet guy. We decided to give it a try, even though we were concerned that he might never be accepted by our current baby.

First stop - the vet. We have a feline daughter, and it wouldn't do for her to be exposed to any harmful viruses. On the way, my special person drove, and I sat in the back seat with the carrier that contained the new arrival in our lives. We discussed names. None seemed to click. Because he was black and white, my special person said, "We could call him 'Barack.'" Wow! That seemed so great, considering his symbolic coloring, the timing of our finding him - or him finding us - and his warm and friendly but noble bearing.

Bad news. Little Barack had feline AIDS. We couldn't take him back home; he could infect our baby girl or other cats. Our vet was angry that someone would let this beautiful cat run free . . . and this is what happens. The vet offered to board him without charge for two weeks, during which time he would try to connect Barack with someone who didn't have a cat who might adopt him. It's doubtful that will happen. I had bonded with Barack and so had my special person. We stood in the vet's examining room and cried.

I'm furious, and it's a good thing I don't know who the guilty party is. To ignorant people, letting a cat run free may seem like the right thing to do. But they're very susceptible to a lot of potentially fatal injuries and diseases.

Keep your cat(s) indoors. And give her, him or them all the love you can possibly give. Spoil them as much as you possibly can. It's your job.