Studio Assistant Extraordinaire: A Sage Story
Everyone needs a best pal. We all get by with a little help from our friends.
On August 1st 2017, my partner and I were visiting various cat rescues and adoption parades in our area. We didn’t think we would be bringing anyone new home – in fact, the only reason I’d agreed to go was because we had decided we would be “just looking.” Just seeing who was out there. I’d recently lost my best friend to lymphoma. Her name was “7”, due to having seven toes on each of her front paws. She was spunky polydactyl calico who had been doing her best to help me be a great hooman for 16 years. I was not interested in bringing “a replacement,” but I’d agreed to go along and meet some cats and kittens – and boy did I ever!
That day we met LOADS of cats and kittens. They were from various walks of life, and each had their own unique way of interacting – from aggressively affectionate to walking over and hunkering down behind their litter box so they remained out of sight.
One cat, though, simply let us know that we seemed pretty okay, and she could pawsibly be convinced to help us become closer to her idea of purrfect. She was a quiet little gal in a Torbie coat. (Torbies are a mixture of Tabby and Tortoiseshell: striping AND interesting colour splotches: MotherNature’s very own walking abstract artwork. Kinda like when I wanted to wear flowers AND plaid as a kid, but my mother vetoed it.)
We’d made eye contact through the glass, before I’d ever entered the room. I knelt down to say “hullo” to a pair of kittens in the cage below hers, and she softly tapped me on the head to get my attention. The attendant took her out so we could have a moment to get to know each other. As we sat on the floor, she simply sat on my lap and put a paw on my arm. “I’m here. With you. You know, in case you need anything.” Her purr was soft and her eyes were large. We sat like that for a few more moments before the attendant informed us it was time to put Sage back in her cage. I gave her one last scritch before handing her over.
We left the parade. No, that’s not right. We tried to leave the parade, but as I got ready to step down off of the painted curb into the crosswalk, something held firm to my heart and tugged it back towards the building. I stopped, balancing on the curb, looked at my partner and said “I can’t do it.”
Probably thinking I was having vertigo or a joint issue, my partner held out a hand. “Sure you can. Just step down a little and we can head to the car.”
“No, I mean I can’t leave her here. We have to go back and get Sage.”
And so, an hour later, Sage was loaded into a metal carrier and buckled into the backseat of the car along with new food, a new litter pan, and all of the accessories needed when you step up to the plate and agree to let a cat run your life.
We’re celebrating our 5 Year Adoptiversary on Monday, August 1st from 7-9pm Central. We would love for you to join us. We’ll have new porcelain earrings and necklaces from the WyldeCats and Kittens Jewelry Collection available, and you’ll be able to adopt one of your very own.
Stay tuned right here and we will make sure you have all of the important details. Wanna learn about important details and events before everyone else AND be one of our fav Very Important Purrsons? Slide on over here and sign up to join the Insiders Community to stay in the know and get treats before anyone else. They’ll be delivered right to your inbox! Maybe not fuzzy mice or catnip bananas, but better, more hooman-friendly things like free shipping each month and event invites and goofy stories. All the fun without the catnip jittery feeling that makes you run through the house like a fuzzy little maniac. They’ll be safer, and probably won’t scare your neighbours.
Sign up here.
See you soon!