The End

Not the end of this blog, fear not. I mean the end of the cat situation. One of the reasons I've been a bit quiet on the blog front the last few days is because of rapid escalation of events a propos des chats.

(The other reason is that I semi-volunteered to write a memorial article about Vince in the Darden alumni magazine - print deadline, tomorrow - a task which I didn't think too much about at the time of volunteering but which has proven to be just as difficult as one might think if one had thought about it).

Anyway, in a coordinating marketing and PR campaign (strategic goal: reunite NewKitty with rightful owner) last week I placed FoundCat ads in The Daily Regress and C-ville, then went to get some posters printed and laminated at Kinkos. I tied the posters to Stop signs at strategically selected junctions around the neighborhood. Not too many junctions, as Kinko's charges about $3 per poster. Then I rushed home to watch the telephone.

After about three days of the telephone ringing silently, I have to say I had given up. When the phone rang at 6.15 on Friday evening, at first I thought it was TurkeyGuy. But it turned out to be another guy with an ultra thick West Virginia accent, claiming to be Newkitty's owner!!!

Here, according to this guy (who said his name was Dan Brown but who is definitely not the author of The DaVinci Code) is NewKitty's rather Dickensian life story.

2000 Newkitty born. First owner abandons him at SPCA. (UK note: SPCA= like Battersea Dog's Home but does cats too)
2000 Newkitty adopted from SPCA by Dan Brown and wife. NewKitty (according to DB) is happy.
October 2004 DB and wife move to an apartment. Newkitty does not like being confined to an apartment.
Christmas 2004 (Christmas!!!) DB takes Newkitty back to SPCA!!!
In the queue at the SPCA to turn Newkitty in, DB meets unknown woman who offers to take Newkitty "off his hands". DB hands Newkitty over to UnknownWoman, without bothering to take name or address.
Jan/Feb 2005 Newkitty runs away (escapes?) from UnknownWoman.
mid Feb 2005 Newkitty shows up under LandladyLynn's porch.
March 2005 DB sees his former cat on poster.

Most of this sad tale was related when Dan Brown showed up to ID Newkitty on Saturday morning. I must say that Newkitty did not look overly enthusiastic about the reunion. We were almost relieved when Dan Brown said he didn't much want Newkitty back.

So although lots of mysteries have been cleared up (such as the real gender of Newkitty: the hotpink collar I had bought him has been quietly removed) , the question remains: what to do with him? Sapphirethecat is still not enamoured with NewKitty, and I have looked into shipping cats home to the UK and it's the most frightful hooha.

Then there is a Darden FY called Dan Dammerman (or is it Dam Dannerman?) who says he wants a cat, but he lives in a bedsit whose front door is few feet away from one of the busiest roads in town. Then there is BostonKate and Lloyd, whose Zephyr apparently likes other cats, but they have a landlord who is less keen.

One thing that NewKitty's story has decided though: the SPCA, which had seemed like an undesirable but possible option, now appears unthinkable.