The other day, when my family and I were headed to PACC (Pima Animal Care Center), the song “Animals” by Maroon 5 came on the radio. We all commented that the song was so fitting. We left PACC that morning after adopting a kitten, and the song was playing again. I promised my kids I would use it as a song of the day the day that Candy, our 9-month-old kitten came home to us to join our family.
So here we are. Last night was the night. Candy came home.
We had been preparing for her, and knew that she would be spending her first few days in our home in my daughter’s room. This would separate her from the other pets in our house as she was adjusting and recovering from her surgery of getting spayed.
We opened her box, and she was scared. Four sets of human eyes staring down on her as she trembled in the box.
My husband gently lifted her out, and with coaxing words we welcomed her to our family.
And then….the worst case scenario happened. She made a run for it. Unfortunately, there was really nowhere for her to go, and so she went to the one place we never thought of as a possibility. She jumped into the opening of my daughter’s toy box, and in true Winnie-the-Pooh fashion, she got stuck.
She was howling. I can only imagine how painful it was after her surgery. No one could touch her. She was hissing and trying to squirm out. Finally, my husband brilliantly took one of my daughter’s dolls and pushed her back through with it. She was safe, but absolutely terrified. There are no more pictures of her from the rest of the night, because dear little Candy needed peace and quiet. She has been hiding ever since, and hopefully, our rocky start will only be a brief moment in history when we look back on her homecoming.
For now, here’s “Animals” as the song of the day as promised. Stay tuned, I’ll let you know how this plays out in a few days.
