At last - we've found a use for KFC
Anyone who knows me will know I’m a sucker for cats and kittens. But who isn’t?
Often on holiday I’ve encountered unfortunate stray cats or kittens but have been completely at a loss as to how to help them improve their lot.
Lunching at the Fisherman’s Market & Grill in La Quinta earlier this week, Alan & I were disturbed to see a small grey kitten with a broken front leg begging around the tables. Even worse when the staff there told us it had been hanging around for a couple of months & had been hit by a car a week or so earlier. They said they’d been unable to catch it (how hard can it be to catch a kitten with a broken leg I asked myself – little did I know how resourceful & resilient feral cats can be) & that they’d then been waiting for its leg to get a bit better before they had another go. I did what I could at the time – which was to hand over a large portion of my crab salad to the kitten...well he was crying rather pathetically and staring up at me with his big yellow eyes. I knew this would be the start of sleepless nights for Alan if we couldn’t make this right.
Luckily we know desert-dwelling legendary cat rescuers, Leigh and David Kirk. Tuesday we set off for La Quinta armed with a cat trap, sturdy cat catching gloves and a towel that Leigh had somehow managed to get a person in the cashier queue in Walmart to donate to her. Kitty was a no show but we set the trap and hoped for the best. No luck on Tuesday. Afterwards we realised the cat was too smart to enter a cat trap containing standard cat food when he was used to feasting on fresh salmon and half & half several times a day – that’s what the good people of the restaurant were fuelling him with. Back Wednesday at noon – again no cat but a decent lunch. Back again Wednesday night where we were delighted to find a family holidaying from Santa Fe in New Mexico had been out & bought a cat trap & were also trying to catch our elusive moggy. This time around, however, Leigh was armed with a secret weapon. Original recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken. Cats cannot resist it. (Good to know it has some use I guess.) And she was right. A mere hour and a half and numerous near misses later the kitten was in the trap & heading home with his new family, eventually (after a long overdue visit to the vet) to join their 9 dogs, 5 other cats and a herd of goats on their 6 acre smallholding in Santa Fe. Small salmon-eating grey, you are one lucky kitten.
Well done Leigh and all the other good people who tirelessly try and make a difference both practically and by lobbying for changes in legislation. Belated thanks also to the Colonel for his secret recipe! Please post up your rescue cat stories – you know we all love to hear them.
PS Leigh's not for profit is called Forever Meow if you want to help out or make a donation.
