Christmas Miracle

Mom's cat, Daisy, ran off on December 6th. The cat slipped out when the door when Mom was having a conversation with neighbors, and Daisy got spooked when everyone started lunging at her. She ran into the woods, triggering a long search by friends and neighbors. But she was nowhere to be found.

That night, it was bitter cold in Maine, something like 15 degrees Farenheit. Mom didn't think Daisy would survive, but kept looking out the back window to see if the cat was there. She wasn't. Two weeks passed, and we'd started to think about going to the local humane society to find another cat for Mom for Christmas. We even looked at pictures of cats up for adoption on the humane society's web site.

Sixteen days after Daisy disappeared, Mom got a phone call from one of her neighbors. He thought he'd seen the cat by his back deck, and the cat fit the description of Daisy - a tortoiseshell cat that may have some Devon Rex in her. She chirps and trills like a Devon Rex.

When Mom and I went to look, there was no sign of Daisy. My feeling was she had hunkered down under the deck, and if she was there, it would take a lot of coaxing to get her to come out. When we looked under the deck, it was so low to the ground, it was difficult to see anything underneath, even with a flashlight.

We went back later in the day and left a trail of cat treats going from the deck to our back yard. About an hour later, Mom got another call. The cat was there again, and appeared to be eating something. We looked out the back window, and saw the cat. It looked like Daisy, but by the time we got over there, she'd gone under the deck again.

So we got a can of cat food. Mom scooped some out on to the ground near where the cat had gone under the deck, and moments later, she came out and started eating. It was indeed our Daisy. She gobbled up the food, and Mom scooped more on to the ground, a little farther out. That's when Mom got behind the cat and grabbed her.

Poor Daisy didn't want to be caught, and put up quite a fuss. The neighbor grabbed a pillowcase, and we bagged the cat, but she was in a panic the whole time. It was quite a scene. This cat has got to be three feet long, not including her tail, and weighs 18 lbs. As we got her in the house, she was fine. Better than fine. This cat, who had always been the only cat I'd ever met that didn't seem to like me, was suddenly rubbing up against my leg and letting me pet her.

Later, I was on the bed surfing the internet, and she got up and was practically on top of me. Purring! She fell asleep, right up against my leg, and had a very long nap. So, for whatever reason, Daisy loves me now. Talk about a Christmas Miracle.