Newsletter – November 28, 2025
“We had eight cats,” my wife said, “now we’re down to two! Can you believe it?”
A few days after the four kittens (huddled in the bathroom sink last week) went to The Humane Society, their fifth littermate walked into our cage and spent a night in the same bathroom before Animal Control transported him or her to join the rest. We’re thankful they’ll all find safe, warm forever homes.
During that same stretch of time, a neighbor across the ravine told me that his mother-in-law wanted a cat to replace her beloved pet of many years. I told him and his wife about GG (or Gigi) who is pictured above. He has been so responsive to affection over the last few months that I knew he would make an ideal companion.
I have to admit I lost several hours of sleep picturing how GG would or would not go willingly. What if I tried to put him in the carrier and he squirmed away? Would he run scared? Would he even come back?
We left the carrier on the front porch for a couple of days and I tossed in a couple of cat treats to make it an appealing spot. I saw his sister and his mother both enter the carrier to get treats, but never saw him do it.
On the scheduled day, I let GG and his sister get a good bellyful of food on the porch and then I went outside with a generous helping of affection for GG. At some point I could see he was facing the right direction and I directed him into the carrier, zipping it up before he knew what had happened.
My heart was pounding out a drum roll while I texted our neighbor that GG was in the carrier. “I’ll be right over,” was the reply.
All those months of getting him used to human touch, and all those hours of lost sleep wondering how I would accomplish the capture, and it was all over in a few seconds.
A few days later I got this photo:
(I cropped out our neighbor’s face, not having gotten permission to show her for this newsletter.)
The report on GG was that he was timid, and not eating yet, but willing to crawl into her lap, which he never did with me. I recently got a follow up message that he’s eating now and using the litter box. The granddaughters are coming to visit soon and will decide on his new name.
I’m writing this several days before Thanksgiving, but we should be in an arctic freeze by the time you read this. We’re thankful that the cat formerly known as GG will be in a cozy home nestled in someone’s lap, soaking up the love the way you see him doing above.
Tabitha and her daughter, Rocket, still need to be caught and spayed before they deliver more litters of kittens. But that’s a story for another day.
I also wrote a check to The Humane Society for their valuable work. I’m grateful that we have a couple of no-kill shelters in our town.
TTFN
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Eric Margerum 