Taming Feral Cats and Hearing from God

There are so many times that life seems to hit me a hard knock or two, and I'm left reeling and wondering where God is through it all. I am fully aware that God speaks in mysterious ways, and have heard His voice in circumstances that left me in awe. Our latest encounter with some wild cats at a rental house is my latest of these "mysterious conversations." Two feral cats were left behind by some former neighbors. Gaunt and emaciated, they hardly appeared to be anything God would choose to use to bring me closer to Him. Through the years, however, I've discovered that God loves to speak through His creation. He is in the habit of taking the lowly, disregarded and misunderstood to make a point. God chose to use these two unwanted strays to prove to me how God answers prayer, the truth behind spiritual rebellion, and how trusting God and His word will always make me victorious.

After our neighbors moved away from a rental house I was enlisted to be the one to do any repairs on it before the next tenant moved in. The first day I began work, I decided to bring my daughter, Abby, with me so that I could homeschool her while I worked. While I set up inside, she came running in from the front yard announcing that there were some cats at the house. There were two cats; a mother cat and her baby. The mother cat appeared to just have a couple of days left before she would die of starvation. The baby looked slightly healthier, but not much. Both of them were terrified of people, but would sit at a distance and meow at us pitifully.

Our menagerie of pets at home consists of two dogs, two cats, and a tank full of fish. I love animals, but I did not want to be responsible for any more. So, when my daughter asked if we could bring them home with us, my answer was a flat, "No." But, what do we do with them? I had so much going on already, and didn't want to deal with these cats. Just as I was losing patience with the thought of it, I was reminded of the scripture, "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." (Proverbs 12:10) Until I could figure out something, I decided that feeding them a bit wouldn't cause much harm. Feeding a stray animal is a bad idea unless you intend on keeping the animal around, but in this case we wanted to find them homes or take them to a shelter, so there would be no harm done. We found a small bag of puppy food in the closet, and when we poured some out, the mother cat lost all inhibitions and came running. We discovered that she was actually a very sweet cat, rubbing against our legs and allowing us to pet her. The baby, however, still wouldn't allow us to get anywhere near her.

The next day began much the same way, except that mama cat greeted us as we came in. On my first break we discovered how playful the cats were. We watched them dancing around each other, attack the tall blades of grass, doing flips trying to catch a butterfly. I cut off the branch of a rose bush nearby with a large round rose hip at the end. After carefully removing any thorns, I gave the branch to my daughter to try to entice the baby into playing with her. About an hour later Abby came in with grand reports of how she had been playing with the cats, and even reached out and pet the kitten briefly, to which she responded with a loud hiss. I told Abby to keep playing with it, but not to touch it anymore.

Later that day I watched as Abby seemed to have the kitten mesmerized with the rose hip. The kitten was so focused on playing that she didn't notice how close she would get to us. It began to dawn on me that maybe this little cat wasn't the mean, wild thing I once thought, but, instead, was a sweet cat just too afraid of humans to allow its guard down. The mother cat, at this point, had lost all fear of us, and treated us as if she had known us her whole life. We could pet her and pick her up. She followed us around the yard. Something interesting was taking place.

Something almost magical happens when you give something a name. When we give an animal a name its almost as if we are unwittingly claiming ownership of it. This happens with animals, diseases, personality traits, a pair of shoes in the window of a boutique ("my new dancing shoes"). I knew this. I did. I knew that once we gave these two animals a name that it was all over. We would be connected to these cats permanently. I did not want any more animals!!

We named the mother cat Reese (like Reese Cup, the candy), and the baby cat, Sassafras (Sassy for short). Suffice it to say we had become attached.

On the third day, while we fed the cats I decided to be brave. I reached out and pet Sassy. She did nothing. Wow. I was impressed. I continued petting her until Reese stepped away. Once Reese was no longer in sight, Sassy became very fearful and began spitting and hissing and ran. Interesting. As long as mama was around, Sassy could be brave. This was good to know.

On the fourth day I decided to try something different. I borrowed my brother's pet carrier and convinced Sassy into it with a tasty morsel of tuna. Abby carried Reese, and we took both cats inside, into a back bedroom that I was working in. We let Sassy out of the carrier, fed them, then sat back and watched as both cats went almost hysterical trying to get out. Reese clawed under the door. Sassy threw herself at the window. Reece literally climbed the window to the ceiling. This went on for about two hours until they both tired themselves out and settled down for a nap. At my suggestion, Abby crept up to them and began petting Reese while I pet Sassy. They both began to purr! Abby and I felt victorious.

It began to get hot in the little bedroom, so I opened the door to let the cats roam the whole house. Accidentally, I cornered Sassy. This caused her to rush at me spitting and hissing and growling. I was taken aback, and for the first time, truly fearful of what this little kitten may do. Standing there, feeling like I had really goofed up, another scripture came to mind. "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. " (Genesis 1:26) It was my duty to take control of the situation, for my sake, and for the cat's. If I allowed this type of behavior, then it would mean certain death for the cat, and a broken heart for Abby and me.

A few years ago I had my first encounter with a wild kitten. Thinking that all kittens were the sweet, playful little things I was accustomed to, I picked a wild kitten up by the nape of the neck (like a mother cat would do) and received a very painful bite. Not all kittens are sweet little things. Even though I knew this, I prayed that God would be with me, and reached down and grabbed Sassy by the nape of the neck. She went completely limp. I carried her back into the bedroom, shut the door, and placed her back on the floor. She scurried over to the corner and sat there, looking at me.

Everything completely turned around from there. For the rest of the day, I would walk over periodically and just pick the kitten up. It was never easy, though. I would have to chase the little hissing rascal around for a bit before I could swiftly scoop her up. I would hold her near me and just talk gently to her. Several times she would reach her head around like she was going to bite me, but I would move my hand so that she wouldn't have the chance. The whole time Reese just sat and watched. She didn't seem to be the least bit perturbed. I was falling in love with this little Sassy-mouthed cat and her patient mother.

My family and I share a house with my brother and my mother. They live upstairs, while my husband, children and I live downstairs. The same night we brought the cats inside, I told my brother about everything that had happened. He thought that Reese would make a good friend to his cat, so he offered to give Reese a home. My daughter had always wanted a kitten of her own, and since she had spent so much time with Sassy, we thought we should consider giving Sassy to Abby. It was decided that the next day we would take the cats to the vet to make sure they were healthy. When the fateful day arrived, we easily got Reese into the pet carrier, but Sassy proved to be a bit of a hassle. I had to chase her around for a while until I finally caught her. When I did catch her, she attacked. I was shocked. This cute little cat in my hand pitching a hissy fit just attacked me. It was like being hit head on by a falling cotton ball. She didn't break the skin. She didn't put any pressure into her bite. Her claws weren't even unsheathed.

On the way to the vet, a valid thought occurred to me.

I had been having trouble doing something I knew that God was telling me to do. My husband was called to leave home for three months for his job, and I was fully against it. In no way did I want to be left home for three months without the aid of my husband. The thought of it became a dark cloud over my head that I carried with me daily. I tried desperately to convince my husband to find another job. I pitched fit after fit, and I knew that my attitude was making my husband miserable. In that quiet car ride to the vet, it dawned on me that my attitude was much like Sassy's. We wanted to offer Sassy love and safety. We wanted to give her a home where she would never go hungry again. A place where she wouldn't be left behind or abused. Because of her attitude, she could have had these things so much sooner. If she had chosen to trust Abby and me on that first day, and we had seen how very sweet natured she really was, I have no doubt that we would have taken her home the next day.

And, yet, despite the trying times with this cat, God made a way. He worked everything together for our good. (Romans 8:28)

After receiving a clean bill of health from the vet, we brought the cats home. They have become very cherished members of our family. Our entire family have been blessed by these animals.

Watching both cats sleeping peacefully on a chair with full, fat bellies it occurred to me that Abby had asked God for her own kitten. It was a prayer I did not expect God to answer. I was wrong. My brother had been wanting a new playmate for his cat. Reese has become that friend. They filled holes in our lives that only God knew how to fill.

God expects us to trust Him. Even when situations look hopeless. I realize that giving a home to two abandoned cats does not reach the brevity of some more serious issues in life, but it still applies in the same way. God knows what we need in every situation. If we can be a Reece and trust God from the beginning, we may find that life's situations don't have to be the fearful, miserable things we so often make them to be.