"Salem"

Nobody can say that I don't live an exciting life. I had the honour of taking a VERY hard to adopt (or foster) senior cat to meet his new family today! "Salem" is a 12 year old cantankerous black siamese guy that was an unhappy camper in his original foster home. He's been living at our vet's office for the past 2 months and we truly thought he'd NEVER leave the place. Even our vet was growing very attached to the old grump. Salem sat out on his front desk and grumpily greeted the already terrorized patients. Seriously, that cat didn't take any shit crap from anybody!

I arrived at our vet clinic this morning to pick up Salem. I think Dr. S was a little sad to see him go. As usual, Salem was hanging out on the front counter. He really panicked when I put him in the carrier. I felt so badly and tried to reassure him in my usual high pitched "happy voice" that he was going to his new home.

We headed down the highway with Salem making those LOUD siamese yeoooowls. I turned on my CD of Michael Buble` which calms ANY anxious cat. (I wonder if I should e-mail Michael and tell him I use his music to calm anxious cats?) Sure enough, within a few minutes Salem was quiet. Then....

Yes....sure enough...Salem had pooped in his crate. No problemo! Experienced cat rescuers are prepared...unless the "experienced cat rescuer" is in a rental car that day and didn't have her usual "de-pooping" equipment with her. *UGH* Fortunately, we were meeting at a Tim Horton's so I knew I'd have a few extra moments to clean out the crate before they arrived.

I'm about 2 blocks from our meeting spot when a car pulls out in front of me. I slam on the brakes so hard that Salem's crate goes tumbling over in the backseat. (No, he wasn't seat belted!!! *grimace*) I looked around the backseat and saw my beautiful black boy COVERED in poop. It was in his eyes...it was in his whiskers...it was squishing out the air vents of his crate. Seriously - if this was nuclear, we would be Chernobyl.

I always try so hard to make a good impression on people. The lovely couple who commited to Salem are in their 70's and SO excited to get their new cat. I dash into Tim Hortons and grab 100 napkins and wet them down in the bathroom. I held my breath, opened the crate and proceed to clean him and the crate. Honestly - I didn't know what to clean first - the cat or the crate! I had to go into the restaurant 5 more times before he was even remotely clean. I washed my hands just in time to meet the very happy couple. They weren't even remotely phased by the poop or the stench. They were completely thrilled with their new boy! They both made "baby talk" and sweet words about a warm bath when they got home.

It wasn't until after they left that I realized I had poop all down the front of my leather jacket and stuck to my watch and bracelet. It doesn't matter really. When Jim called me tonight they told me Salem was asleep in his wife's lap. They love him and this grumpy feline gets another chance at a wonderful life. I love days like this.