if that's even a thing...
I'm picking up the Soul Candy series again and to kick off the new year, I thought I'd tell you about a very special story that touched my life personally. I volunteer at the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City and often find myself in the cattery cleaning cat cages and making friends with all of them as I go. Nothing makes me happier than helping at the shelter. Throughout the past few months, I took special notice to one cat in particular named Pepper who thanks to her age, spots of missing hair and cone around her neck, seemed what some would say, "unadoptable."
Pepper was a lover. When you took her out of her cage to clean it, she wanted to do nothing but cuddle. The last time I saw her (around Thanksgiving), I was devastated. She was in the shelter since July and even though the vets were treating her and giving her extra TLC, she just didn't look good. As I looked around at all of the other healthy cats and kittens waiting for their forever homes, I my heart sunk and I began making a plan for how I was going to convince Joe that we needed to at least foster her. Having two cats already in a small apartment, I knew I was destined to fail at the request, but was going to try anyway.
She wasn't actually sick, but had a skin condition and from being so nervous in the shelter. She would scratching herself so violently that she ripped her hair off. That's what I was told.
L: Pepper in the shelter. R: Pepper in her new home.
As I was cleaning a cage next to hers, a woman named Terry was about to clean Pepper's cage. We began speaking about how badly we felt for the cat and I knew in that moment that one of us was going to take her home. Terry and I exchanged numbers and that night she texted me saying her husband agreed to adopt her and they were going to get her the very next day. I nearly cried.
There are special people in this world and Terry is one of them. We keep in touch and she tells me that Pepper is loving and happy, but has visited several doctors including a pet dermatologist to try to get to the bottom of her skin issue. Taking care of Pepper has been time consuming and expensive, but Terry has the heart of gold and this cat now has a second chance at a happy, healthy life. I couldn't be more grateful.
