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We currently have three cats living with us. "Hone", a male,
arrived at our door unannounced in December 2004. "Hina", a female, we
got as a kitten from the Hawaiian Humane Society in June 2007. And
finally we have "Laki", another female. This story is of "Laki", one of
a few strays roaming our townhouse complex in July 2008. Some of the
kids in the complex told us about her one evening. She appears to be mix
of Tabby and Siamese - I think our vet called her a Point Tabby. Her
raccoon tail is very cute. She was probably around five months old and
clearly skinny. I had caught a couple of stray kittens recently and
taken them to the Hawaiian Humane Society. That process left me with a
bite or two and some scratches so decided to take a different approach
to this kitten.
For about five days I would take a bowl of cat food out to her each
evening and sit nearby. She would approach warily and grab a bit of food
then retreat to eat it. After a couple of days she would sit next to me
and eat without running away. She would not let me touch her, but she
was clearly less skittish. One day I brought out one of the cat toys;
the one with the feather on string attached to a plastic stick. She
really enjoyed chasing and catching it. When I would leave and go back
inside I would look out the window see her bounding around in the grass
and running up the trees trying to catch geckos. She was beginning feel
better with some food and attention. One day I took one of the little
branches with leaves that had fallen down and dragged it back and forth
on the ground. She chased it and but was a bit hesitant to get to close
to me. But her desire to play got the better of her and the next thing I
knew she was actually running around next to me and over my legs chasing
that little branch. I continued to feed her and play with her. Finally
one day was able to pick her up. She would squirm but did settle down
after a bit. Finally one night she was actually walking between my legs
rubbing up against me and trying to meow. She could not really meow
since she was probably still a bit sick.
The day arrived when I had decided to take her to the Hawaiian Humane
Society. I knew it was for the best but this little female had grown on
me. I was a bit sad as I drove her there. She was young, cute and had
started to come out of her shell so to speak. I thought she would be
adopted. The next day something came over me and I wrote an email to the
Hawaiian Humane Society and told them that if nobody chose to adopt her
to please contact me. To my surprise they called me the next day and
told me to come get her. I reminded them that I would adopt her if she
nobody else would and they told me they would not put her up for
adoption. She had not passed their temperament test. I was unable to get
her immediately but picked her two days later. When I got her home she
was actually skinnier; I could see her ribs. Her time at the Hawaiian
Humane Society had not agreed with her.
The evening I brought her home I kept her in the house. The other two
cats were not at all happy about our new addition. They hissed and
batted at her and she would hide. My fiancé took our other two cats into
the bedroom for the night and closed the door. I stayed out in the
living room to sleep on the couch and keep an eye on our new feline. She
explored our home for awhile then came over to the couch and looked up
at me. After looking at me and mewing almost silently she jumped up and
over my chest to explore couch and the table behind it. Her exploration
of the table and the couch complete - the cat we named "Laki", the cat I
had only known for one week, the cat that had not passed the Hawaiian
Humane Society's temperament test jumped down from the couch back and
curled up on my chest and went to sleep.
"Laki" is almost two years old now. She is still skittish in that she
does not take to people right away. If we have someone to the house she
hides. She also has a bad habit of peeing on towels or clothing left on
the ground occasionally. She does not do it often but we have to scold
her when we can catch her. She does not really enjoy being picked up and
carried but will tolerate it. She is very playful and she is
affectionate. When I pet her she purrs - the purr is so loud that
someone can hear it from across the room. Last night my fiancé and I
were talking and watching TV in the bedroom. She got up, went to the
bedroom door and looked down the stairs. She laughed and told me to sit
up and look at "Laki". I sat up and "Laki" was just coming in the
bedroom. She was carrying the little disposable plastic bowl we use to
feed her with in her mouth. She put it down on the rug and began to lick
it for a minute then sat down and at my fiancé. Well it doesn't take a
rocket scientist to figure out what she wanted so we gave her some more
food.
For those of you wondering "Laki" is a Hawaiian word for lucky. I feel
we are lucky for having such a wonderful cat in our family and she is
lucky that we had something that seemed to direct us to send that email.
I look forward to many years with our "Laki Girl".
David Kluempers, Kapolei, Hawaii |
