One idea that would decrease my responsibilities was to spay our female cat, Lucy. That way I wouldn't have to deal with birth and kittens. She had delivered her first litter in May and it was a time of great joy for us to welcome her three big healthy kittens. But we didn't want to go through that again.
However, with increased medical expenses and other unusual expenses, there never seemed to be money for Lucy's trip to the vet for her procedure. Giving Lucy away seemed an impossibility. Lucy is, well, unattractive. We call her our Halloween cat because she is a black cat with flecks of orange and is so ugly it is scary. (Wondering how such an ugly cat ended up living with us - I had promised my daughter she could have a cat from our neighbor's litter and Lucy had the best personality.)
We finally decided to call the pound and have her picked up. That would solve the problem for us and pass it on to someone else. Our pound used to not kill animals because a local business provided enough food for them to keep the animals indefinitely. And the pound worker is famous for carrying sweet kitties home with her. We thought Lucy would have a good chance of having a nice life.
So we made the phone call, and a young man came to pick her up. "Where's the nice lady?" I wondered. I asked if they still kept animals indefinitely. "No," he answered, "only seven days and then they are killed." This was noon Friday.
I was miserable all weekend. It was hot and I wondered if Lucy had shade and water. I wondered if she had pleasant "neighbors" at the pound and how big her cage was. I wondered if she was behaving herself or making a nuisance of herself and decreasing her chances of living. More than once, I considered going down to free her.
The miserable weekend ended at 4:00 a.m. Monday morning. My daughter woke me shouting, "Lucy's home!" I jumped from bed and flipped light switches. My daughter threw open her window and in popped our dear sweet meowing loudly Lucy. We took turns hugging her and I got out some fresh food and water for her.
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