Blake and Deb in Fiji: Kitty's New Home

Deborah got it into her head that it was time to find kitty a new home. We had been making steady progress in socializing her. She allowed us to pet her when she wasn’t being fed, and sometimes seemed to even enjoy it. Also, Deborah was able to pick her up a few times without becoming a human scratching post. Kitty was definitely becoming more interested in hanging out with us, especially after discovering the comfortable confines of the bean bag chairs, and she couldn’t get enough of playing string. If we lived here, she would be our cat. But in three and a half months we’ll be gone and it’s easier to find a home for a younger cat than an older one. So it was time.

Deborah doubled her efforts of asking everyone she met whether they wanted a cat and hit pay dirt yesterday. She drove past a couple of kids who said they might be interested. The kids pointed toward their house up the hill and Deborah promised to stop by on her way back from town. When she did come back she couldn’t locate the kids’ house and asked a man walking by if he knew them. He didn’t, being just a visitor to the neighborhood, but it turns out he and his wife were also looking to get a cat, particularly an orange one. Bingo. Deborah brought the gentleman, a retired military officer named Manassa, back to our house to see kitty. After talking with him it was clear he could provide a good home for our furry step child.

Today after breakfast we bundled up kitty in the laundry hamper and drove her out to Manassa’s place, a beautiful 79 acre spread with neat rows of coconut trees. Manassa lives there with his wife and two teenage grandchildren – all extremely nice people. Kitty had a less than civil initial encounter with their friendly dog and then hid behind a large wooden chest for the remainder of our time there, so we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye. I’m sure it will take a few days to get used to her new surroundings and new people, but they are genuinely excited about having her and the property would make a fine playground for any cat. We left them with a big bag of cat food and her favorite play string. I’m confident we’ve done what’s best for her.

So now our house is strangely quiet and sad. It’s ridiculous how attached you can get to a member of an alien species in just a three week period. Good thing we didn’t wait until the end of our time here before letting her go – it would have been even harder. But I’m sure we will see her again as Manassa has invited us to come visit anytime. We will definitely take him up on that offer.