SPECIAL CAT ALYSSA

Once there was a girl who lived alone in a big city. She had parents who lived in the same city, only in their house.

This girl was very busy, she worked in one school as a teacher.

One night, she heard crying. It was like a baby crying, yet different. It came from the street. The girl went outside and found a little kitten in a box.  It had just been born, very small, with its eyes still closed. Somebody had left it there, separated it from its mother, some naughty person who did not want to keep it.

The girl took the kitten home. It could fit in the palm of her hand. She did not know what to do, because it would not drink milk from the bowl – the baby cat was too small. It needed its mother to breastfeed it.

So, in the morning, she went to the vet. The vet was very nice. He told her that she did a good deed. He presumed the kitten was one or two days old. He explained to her what to do – to take a little glass bottle used for eye drops, put half milk and half water in it, and feed the kitten with it. The little glass bottle had a rubber nipple, so the baby cat could suck as if it was its mother’s cat breast. And it needed to be done every half an hour for the first week. The girl started – and it was a success! The kitten was drinking. The vet also told her to take a basket, to put inside all the soft toys she had in her house together with a piece of fur – so that the little kitten would feel as if its mum was there with it. She needed to keep the kitten warm – so under all these stuffed toys, she put a hot water bottle.

All was going very well – the kitten opened its eyes, and it was so cute! It was a tabby cat with blue eyes and white stripes; it had a white “necklace” and white “socks” too. And it was a small girl.

Since the big girl had to work, her Mum and Dad were coming to feed the little one, but because they did not live so close to her, the nice neighbours that lived in her building came to feed her kitten too… However, after a week of doing so, because they were also very busy, they could not do it any longer.

So, she decided to take her cat with her, everywhere she went. She would take a small bag, like a basket, put the kitten inside, and go to work. Inside the bag, she had also put a small soft toy, and she had a tiny bottle of milk with her. She would feed her kitten every two hours.

One day, while Vanessa (that was the girl’s name) was walking in the street, an unknown lady stopped her and asked:

 “What is that in your bag?”

“My kitten” - Vanessa replied.

“She is in danger. Open the bag” – the lady said.

The girl was surprised, but she did it; she opened the bag and saw the little cat chocking. A ribbon that was tied around the neck of a mouse toy she had inside the bag was long, and it got entangled around the cat’s neck! That was the last second the kitten could be saved, thanks to the lady. They removed the ribbon from its neck, and the cat started breathing normally again.

“Oh, THANK YOU GOD”, they both said. It was a miracle. The lady smiled at the girl and said:

“Don’t worry. Everything is ok now. Your cat will be fine.”

To this day, Vanessa did not find out how that lady knew that her cat was in danger. Sometimes she thinks that it was some kind of a fairy godmother, sent to her to save her cat’s life.

Vanessa had a best friend, Anna, and this girl was having a birthday party. She told her that she had to come. Three weeks had passed since she found the kitten, and none of her friends had seen her; she was only spending time with her cat. So, this time she brought the kitten with her to Anna’s party. The party was in the house and there were a lot of people. The kitten got a bowl of water because she could drink from it now, and another bowl of milk. People were dancing, Vanessa was talking to one of her friends, and then she noticed – the kitten was gone!

“Oh my God!” She started looking everywhere for it. She panicked! At that moment, she realized how important that small being was to her – she loved it so much, and could not stand losing it. She ran outside to the garden and saw two girls playing with it. Vanessa was relieved. She grabbed her cat and asked the girls what had happened?! They said they just wanted the kitten to play in the grass a little because the music inside was too loud for it.

She took her cat and said goodbye to Anna. The next day, the two of them went to the vet, and Vanessa told him what had happened. The vet was angry. He said that she could not take such a small cat to the party.

”You are a bad mother!” he said. The girl started crying.

”But, I’m doing my best for her to be healthy and happy!” - she replied.

“You cannot take a kitten to a party!”. He told her that she had two choices: to give the cat to someone who could provide a good home to it or to change her lifestyle. She did not think for one second – the cat was there to stay in her life!

“I’m going to be the best mother ever!“.

This girl had no children. She wanted to have them, but with her busy life she thought she wouldn’t have time to be a mother yet. And now this little cat came into her life and changed everything. Vanessa was used to taking care of herself, but now she needed to take care of her cat too. Her life became different. Because, when you have a pet, especially when it's small, it needs a lot of your attention. You need to feed it, spend time with it, play with it – you cannot just let it sit in the house and not pay attention to it. And the most important thing – you need to give it a lot of love. Pets are just like children. You need to make sure that they are safe because especially when they are small, they don’t know what's dangerous for them. So, Vanessa was determined to change things in her life and become more responsible.

And so, the little cat was growing up. She was so playful and interesting. She would look around the house in amazement; everything was like a wonder to her. Vanessa named her Alyssa, after Alice in Wonderland. The cat followed her through the house all the time, getting inside the closet, playing with all the things in the house. Everything was a game for her. Once Vanessa almost washed her in the washing machine; she did not see that Alyssa went inside while it was still open, with the laundry inside. But thank God, the cat went out before the machine was switched on; and gave a big scare to the girl. Ever since, Vanessa was very careful about what she was doing - not to close Alyssa in the closet or cause her to get in any danger.

One day the vet said it was time for the kitten to start eating meat – minced meat from the butcher’s. Vanessa took a small amount of meat and put it on her index finger, and Alyssa started biting it! She could not wait to taste the meat. That cat was a real survivor; one of Vanessa’s friends nicknamed her Hercula – meaning that she was so strong and brave, a real fighter.

In the evenings, they had a nice ritual. The girl would lie down to read a book or watch some TV and Alyssa would come to her, lie on her chest and suck her finger. Maybe she thought Vanessa was her mum. The cat would purr and put her paws on the girl’s face as if she was caressing her. It was the sweetest thing. She was getting so much love from this little creature. Sometimes she had a feeling that her cat understood when she was tired or worried and wanted to make her feel better. Animals can do that. Pets make people feel unconditionally accepted, they do not judge or criticize. They show a great understanding towards us. They just love us the way that we are.

Vanessa didn’t care anymore about going out in the evening. She wanted to stay at home and enjoy the time with her cat.

This girl loved to sleep long in the morning. But that changed too since Alyssa came to her life. The cat would wake her up at 6 in the morning. Now she was three months old already, and she could eat dry cat food. Then she would go to the bathroom, where her litterbox was kept, and wait for Vanessa to clean it, so she could use it. This cat was so neat. And then she would come to her water bowl, waiting for “her mum” to pour fresh water in it. Every morning the same thing. If this one tried to resist, and stay in bed longer, Alyssa wouldn’t give up. She would come close to the girl’s face, and softly touch it – meaning it was time for breakfast.

After that, it was her time for exercise. Vanessa had to throw a small ball and the cat would run after it through the whole house. Then the ritual would go on – a necessary time for cuddling. In the end, she would go to the balcony, sit on a chair, and soak up the morning sun.

Her “mum”, of course, would be wide awake by that time, so there was no going back to bed. She would also start her day, exercising, preparing slowly for work, not rushing like before, all nervous, to do everything at the last minute. She finally understood why her Dad used to say “The early bird catches the worm”. She was learning so much from her cat.

When she was doing something on the computer, after one hour and thirty minutes precisely, Alyssa would come, sit on her lap and give her a deep look. It meant it was the time for a break. And really, Vanessa would realize then that she was tired and that she needed to get up, stretch her legs, not look at the screen for a while.

One day the girl was doing something in the house; the windows and the balcony doors were wide open. All of a sudden, she heard the neighbour shouting. 

“Alyssa!” - she went to the balcony and saw Mrs Vera that lived under her, holding Alyssa in her arms. She quickly ran downstairs, and Mrs Vera told her that she had just seen Alyssa at one moment on her balcony! The curious kitten was walking on the rail of the balcony, and fell one floor down! Luckily, there was an awning on their balcony, so she hit it first, made a hole in it, and ended on the neighbour’s tiles without a scratch. And then, Mrs Vera said, the little one licked her fur and continued walking through her apartment as if nothing had happened! Vanessa took her home and immediately ordered one of those protection cat nets for the balcony.

And so life went on. Alyssa was growing up and everything was great. Another special thing about Alyssa was that she loved kissing. Vanessa kissed her so much when she was little, so from every person that came to the house this cat expected a kiss.

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was Alyssa’s first birthday! A few friends came over and brought presents of course. There was even a cake with one candle, for our birthday cat to blow. Everyone helped in blowing the candle, and the cat took some chocolate from the cake with her paw! One of the presents was a laser and she was chasing the little dot from it on the walls for hours. But her favourites were the boxes. She would get inside of them, and then jump out, a thousand times. She would even try to go inside the smallest box, with half of her body and her tail out.

She was making Vanessa laugh so much, all the time. Before she had Alyssa, her life was all about work, and when she was at home, she was lonely and bored. She was so much happier now, always laughing, because she had such a fun companion! She was not feeling lonely any more, and she was never bored.

One day, the girl got a business proposal to go to work in another country. They offered her a big salary. Of course, she wanted to take Alyssa with her. But, for the first month, she needed to stay with her friends that lived there, until she found a place of her own. Those friends could not allow her to bring Alyssa, because their son was allergic to cats. It was a very hard decision, but she knew she would be separated from her cat only for a month. Her best friend Anna offered to take care of Alyssa in the meantime.

But then, something strange happened. Alyssa started crying in her cat voice, and would not stop, for hours. Vanessa immediately called the vet, and he told her that the cat probably felt that she was about to leave her and that she was extremely distressed. The vet said that she should take the cat in her arms, and not put her down until she stops crying, to comfort her. She needed to keep the kitten close to her own heart with one hand so that Alyssa could hear her beats, and he told her that she should pat the cat with the other hand without stopping. And so Vanessa followed the advice. At that moment she completely realized that animals had strong feelings too, just like people.

It had lasted for hours. The girl got hungry. While she was taking a banana, with one hand, Alyssa fell on the floor. She started spinning around like those battery toys. Vanessa called the vet again. The vet said the two of them needed to come and have an x-ray of Alyssa taken. The girl was so scared. Thank God, it was nothing dangerous and serious, Alyssa just had a mild concussion. The vet said it would pass in a few days. And it did. The cat was completely fine after two days.

So the day of Vanessa’s departure came, and she left, in tears. She was constantly on the phone with Anna, who was telling her that her cat was fine. Finally, she found an apartment. Alyssa had an animal passport, but then Vanessa found out that there was a government’s rule that every animal should be kept in quarantine at the airport for a month, to make sure that it wasn’t sick.

That made her very sad. She didn’t want her cat to be locked in some cage for a month! She would not allow that. Her cat was perfectly healthy!

So, Vanessa decided to go back home. She didn’t care about the big salary. She just wanted to be with her cat, and share all the precious moments with her.

When she opened Anna’s door, Alyssa ran to her, and the two of them were cuddling for a long, long time. The girl cried out of happiness.

She got another job in her city as a teacher and started working in a cat shelter too, as a volunteer.

Today Alyssa and Vanessa are living together of course, and they are both very happy. Nothing can separate them again. Vanessa couldn’t imagine her life without Alyssa. She always says that her cat isn’t special, but unique.