Delikatny was a most unusual kitten. He was born to a litter in the desert of Las Vegas. Luckily, for himself and his siblings, the part of this desert was situated directly behind a small casino. Situated directly behind this small casino was a dumpster. For a hungry mother cat, heavy with kittens, this dumpster looked to be the perfect spot for a nest.
Delikatny’s mama hid her kits under a bush next to the casino. One of the cocktail waitresses saw her run to the dumpster one evening. She followed the beautiful white cat and found her nest. After this discovery, the waitress would give mama cat and the three kits a little extra snack. Lobster, steak, ham, and caviar were flowing. The little family benefitted extraordinarily from Vegas’ “free buffet” policy. Ordinarily, the manager would have a litter ousted by the local animal control. But, he was sweet on the kind-hearted waitress. She convinced him to leave them alone. In the meantime, she phoned her feline-savvy friend and prepared to find homes for the entire bunch.
It would be hard to trap this group. The mama had never known people. She was a true feral and wary. The waitress’ friend knew if she didn’t catch mama the first time, there would be no second try.
The girl, the waitress, and the manager set up one trap after withholding the scraps for two days. Mama could eat from the dumpster, so they hoped a delectable sardine and lobster bisque would entice this wild thing into their well concealed cage.
Since Las Vegas is a 24 hour town, the waitress easily set up a series of sentries to keep an eye on the cage. Coyotes were rampant in Vegas, especially around the dumpsters. She didn’t want Ivory (as she named Mama) to meet a bad end.
It worked. That morning, the mama was hissing, throwing herself against the wire cage and spitting like a snake. They quickly gathered the kittens up, who were barely two weeks old and hustled the crew off to the feral-friendly vet who had the scars to prove it.
The trapping group found a ranch to take the mama and the kittens. Mama had the run of the barn. She quickly hid each of her kits in a fine nest. She was a good mom indeed. She never ran out of milk, and in a month the three kittens were scampering all over. Two were female and one was male. The waitress decided to take the male. He was slower that the two females. But, as she whispered while talking to her manager, “He has a cream color coat that’s to die for.”
After a few months, the waitress realized Sunny, as she named him, was different than most cats. First of all, he purred ALL the time. When she would hold him, he purred louder. He would walk in circles at times. Actually, he seemed quite confused.
The vet thought he may have some neurological problems, but felt this would not hold him down. He deemed the little Sunny happy and healthy. The waitress just thought of him as special. Then one day, the waitress never woke up. Sunny lay on her legs looking up at her ashen face. He meowed and decided to sleep by her hair. She was so still, so he lay over her chest. When the paramedics came in, they pulled him gently off the girl. It was an overdose. Not understanding what overdose meant, Sunny tried to keep these strangers away from his friend. He bit one hard. The attendant just threw him on the floor and kept working on the girl. She was not moving.
Something in Sunny clicked. She had left. She went somewhere else. He could barely smell her anymore. She had left.
So Sunny decided to look for her. He crept out the half-opened door, unnoticed. In the desert heat, he began his quest. He looked for her everywhere in the strange city. He had never seen so many people and buildings. But, he kept looking.
One day, a little girl started pointing at him. “Daddy, daddy, kitty, kitty”. Well, the daddy could see that this cat had seen better days. Sunny had been walking the Las Vegas Strip for weeks, eating out of dumpsters and drinking from fountains. The man was a good-hearted man. He picked the cat up and noticed his blue collar. He would call the owner and help to reunite this poor cat with his companion.
The family put Sunny in the back of the SUV. It had a fence, so with the litter box and a little food, Sunny was not in the way. But, he was mad. He knew he had to find the waitress, his only real friend. He had no time for this Good Samaritan stuff.
The first gas station that the family stopped at he escaped. The little girl had opened his door, and he was gone. The family felt bad, searched for hours, and gave up. They had tried.
Now, Sunny was in the real desert. The family was staying at a hotel outside of the city. It was barren and hot. He ran under the gas station, and then set out to return to the glittering city east of him.
It was blistering the next day. He had had no water. Dehydration was catching up and he decided to stop for a moment. He slept. But, it was no ordinary sleep. It was the sleep of death.
Then he saw her. She was beautiful. His friend! She waved gently and told him to turn back… it wasn’t his time. She told him, when he laid on her, he helped save her. She was alive, but, barely. She would be going far away where he couldn’t go… to help her get better.
She told him, he was a healer. She had always known he was special. He healed her. Then she disappeared.
The family found him half dead on the highway. They also found out the fate of the young waitress. She knew she was in for the fight of her life, as she got clean. She was ready to face what she had to to do it. So the family adopted the quiet Sunny and flew him home to BeauFleur. He was fine with this. After that dream, he knew his calling.
Little did he know, though, this family had one very persnickity Chihuahua, Bambi. And most importantly, that he was soon to become one of the Abbottsford Cats and fulfill his dream’s destiny.
to be continued..."Delikatny" The Healer @ PhotoArt by Kim Yvonne Cady
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