The Emancipation of Reba

On Saturday The Husband and I got up early and  raced downstairs like kids on Christmas morning. This was the long awaited day to let our once feral kitty, Reba out of her garage home. We trapped little Reba and her two kittens in the garage about 9 or 10 weeks ago. The vet told us this was necessary. ( I’ve blogged about Reba before. You can find her little life story here.) Anyhoo, Reba’s not had an easy time being confined to our garage. She loves being outside and cried for the first ten days she was locked up. She and her kittens lived there for about 8 weeks. Then, a few weeks ago, we took her kittens to be adopted. (I can’t talk much about this)  Again, she (and I) cried for days as her milk caused her to get terrible mastitis.  A week later we caught her and took her to the vet to be spayed and get shots. She’s just recovered from the surgery and finished her antibiotics (for the “worst case of mastitis” the vet had ever seen).  I told you it’s been a hard “season” for Reba.

But now, with her new collar and name tag, just like a real house cat, she’s well enough now to leave her “hospital room” in our garage. I had butterflies in my tummy I was so excited for her.

It was one of the most glorious moments I’ve ever witnessed. I have mentioned before that God has used Reba to teach me some powerful lessons, I beginning to think she’s not a feral cat but an angel sent straight from the heart of The Father. We opened the door to the outside and she started towards it and then froze. She looked back at us for a moment and then slowly made her way just outside the garage. We stood back and watched as she looked around. Moving slowly she sniffed a plant here, a blade of grass there. She kept looking over at us as we talked  to her.  She rubbed up against the stone steps like she was scratching an itch. Finally looking up at the sky,  (or maybe it was a bird?!) she seemed to understand the situation. She was free. Can a cat look  giddy with excitement? Well, Reba did.

After a few minutes she put her tiny black nose to the ground made her way to the little opening that leads under our lower deck where she used to live.  In her “old” life she was able to hide and feel safe there under the deck.  It’s just red clay and gets muddy when it rains, but to her, for awhile it was home. Not a great home. But home.

She disappeared under there and I almost couldn’t stand it. “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. Come out here Reebs, you don’t have to live under there anymore. We’ve got something better for you now…”

She did eventually come out. And when she did, this is where she went…the gutter. Hummmmm.

We have a plan for Reba that I hope she’ll eventually come to love. Instead of the garage, we want her to be able to come in and out of a (daylight) room in our basement through a pet door. It’s air conditioned and heated.  We use it  for our ping-pong table and to store all my entertaining paraphernalia and paper back books. 

Here’s the set up…(In case your new to my little blog-home, The Husband has asthma and is allergic to cats or Reba would be in house with us!)

This chair was in the trash pile in the garage but Reba loves it as a scratching post…so I moved it into her new home.

All day and night on Saturday she was outside. She spent lots of time under the deck. But right now, Sunday afternoon, she’s coming in and out of her new home in the basement.

She’s not sure about the pet door…

I wonder if I’m like Reba. It’s been a few months of minor emotional upheaval around here. God’s been doing some things that have been confusing and less than pleasant. But I sense the time in this “season” might be coming to an end. What will I do when I once again feel the sun on my face and see blue skys? Will I go back to the familiar? The safe place? The things I did before? Or will I trust God and settle into the new things He has for me?

I pray I’ll do what He wants. I’m beginning to trust His plan. Beginning again, to trust His heart. I continue to pray for each of you who have asked.  Please leave me a prayer need if you have one.

Love to you today Sweet Ones as we live the legacy we want to leave.

Tagged as: cats, God lessons, Reba