I Rescued a Cat

I live in Japan, the land of the rising sun, and Hello Kitty. The country overflows with kawaii culture, robots, and sadly cats; specifically, stray cats. They are everywhere you go whether you are in the big cosmopolitan cities like Tokyo or Osaka, or in small suburbs and countryside areas.

Living in open fields, under cars in parking lots, next to highways, alleyways, school grounds, abandoned factories, even at the temples and shrines across the country.

Here is the story of how I had to rescue a cat and how it was almost eaten by my dog.

Dog Lover

To all of those cat lovers, I am sorry to tell you but I am and have always been a dog lover. I always dreamed of having a dog when I was younger and the first thing I did once I got my own place was to get a dog.

That being said, I don’t hate cats. In fact, I think they are quite cute. But they don’t compare to dogs. Dogs are loyal, friendly, willing to please, always by your side, and come when they are called. They are also easier to train and follow instructions.

I learned after finally getting a cat, that she rarely comes when called, doesn’t really like hanging out with me, and most probably hates me.

Raining Cats

I was headed to my work one day and I came across a little ball of fur. At the time, I was a kindergarten teacher so I was walking to my school with a bag full of toys. It was raining and I was holding an umbrella.

As I walked along the sidewalk, the ball of fur which I thought was a dead hamster started to move. I came close and poked it. Suddenly a tiny head of a kitten popped up and let out a little cry.

It wasn’t moving much or running away so I figured it was sick. I looked around but there were no other kittens or cats around so obviously she was abandoned by her family because she was too sick to keep up.

I didn’t want to leave the kitten on the sidewalk but I also didn’t have too much time to call anyone. So I did the only thing I could do. I opened up my Minnie Mouse bag filled with stuffed animals and put her in the bag.

At school, luckily I had a short day. I taught my two lessons as the kitten sat in my bag. There were no sounds or movement coming from the bag and as I would peek in, I noticed she was having trouble breathing. There was mucus all around her nose and mouth and it was causing small asthma-like breathing sounds.

After work, I walked to something called a Koban, which is a small police booth where people go to report stolen items or ask for guidance. I walked in with my kitten and handed it over to the officer.

He waved me away saying that they don’t take animals here and I would need to take it to a shelter to most likely be put down. The officer wouldn’t take the cat so I walked across the street to a hair salon.

I don’t know why I did that. There were a lot of cute women stylists and customers so I figured one of them would want a cat.

They all refused to take the cat but were kind enough to print out a map that would lead me to a veterinarian. The closest one was about 20 minutes away but I would have to take a taxi because it would close in the next half hour and public transportation would take longer than that.

So I grabbed a taxi with my dying kitten and headed to the vet.

The doctor looked at the kitten and said it would probably be dead in a couple of hours if they didn’t give it some antibiotics and hydrate and incubate it.

I said that was fine and I would be heading home so good luck with that when the vet stopped me. She explained that she couldn’t just accept a cat. She said she could treat the cat if I was willing to adopt it.

I said I wasn’t and she could keep it or give it to her friends.

She refused.

I also refused.

She then asked me to take it outside and leave it on the street if I wasn’t going to adopt it.

So my choices were to leave it back outside to die or decide to adopt a kitten

She sweetened the pot by saying if I was willing to adopt the kitten, she wouldn’t charge me for any of the medicine or treatment. She just wanted the promise that I would be back in a week to pick it up and take it home.

I considered saying okay and just leaving the office and never returning but I couldn’t do it.

So a week later I had a kitten.

Dog Gone Crazy

My dog is awesome. He is an amazing dog with a funny personality and lots of love via licking, jumping, and wagging his tail. But one thing he doesn’t stand for is cats.

He has never been around cats but on our daily walks, as we pass all the stray cats in the neighborhood, he is not pleased. He always growls, barks, and tries to jump at them. If I didn’t have him leashed, I am sure there would be a lot fewer cats in the neighborhood.

How was I going to convince a dog that has a deep seething hate for cats that he was getting a new cat roommate?

After a week, I went back to the vet and picked up my kitten. She was running around energetically, her eyes and nose were clean and mucus-free. She was meowing and slapping her little paws against a chew toy that was placed in her box. I couldn’t believe this was the same dying furball I had found on the street.

I brought her home and placed her in a small pet crate I had bought to slowly introduce her into my home.

As soon as I walked in the door with the kitten, who I named Kaede, my dog went nuts. He instantly saw and smelled the new addition to our family and was not happy. He was growling, barking, running, and jumping towards the small crate, scaring the hell out of poor little Kaede.

So I had to leave her in the crate in a separate room from my dog until I figured out how to make them get along.

That night I decided to put Kaede my cat’s crate face to face with my dog Maple’s crate. I only use a crate for him when we travel but I thought if they were forced to spend the night looking at each other, they might get along.

My cat was surprisingly calm and just watching Maple as he growled and attempted to escape his crate. I guess she was a stray so had seen a lot more crazy things than a dog barking at her.

The next day I went to the local pet shop and got a muzzle-type contraption and brought it home. Strapping it to my dog, he didn’t like it of course. He tried to pull it off with his paws but it was surprisingly sturdy.

My plan was to keep him muzzled as I brought Kaede out of the crate and hope that he would just be able to sniff her and get used to her. So I brought both crates into my side room which has no real furniture and is mostly open space. I opened Kaede’s crate first and then Maple, my dog’s crate.

At first, neither moved. It was like the calm before the storm. I could feel the air leaving the room.

Suddenly, with a burst, my dog ran for Kaede. He had the muzzle so he couldn’t bite her. Instead of running, Kaede just stood there watching him approach. He used his snout and started knocking her around. She was so tiny and small that she went flying around the room before realizing this was not fun. I quickly grabbed Maple and put him back in the crate.

I also picked up Kaede and started petting her and placed her in her crate as well.

That was a failure.

Now I was worried. How could I keep both pets separate forever? I didn’t want to crate either of them but if I let them free, I am sure it would end in disaster. So I decided to keep the small empty room for Kaede and give Maple the living room and keep the doors closed.

Prison Break

The first few days were fine. When I was at work, my kitten spent the day in the small room, sitting on the window ledge staring out at the trees, cars, and children playing. My dog stayed in my living room, probably sleeping. I am not quite sure what he does when I am at work.

Then one night I was watching television in my living room and had to take a bathroom break. I stood up and headed for the bathroom quickly closing the door behind me.

But, the door didn’t fully close and my dog escaped the living room area and headed for the small room. After I finished my business, I went back to the living room and noticed the door was open and Maple was gone.

Panic set in.

I called his name but he didn’t come.

I ran to the small room and noticed my dog had probably used his nose to slide open the door. I live in Japan and so the doors are sliding-type doors. He must have got his nose into the area between the wall and door and pushed it open enough to squeeze through. (I told you dogs are smart)

I opened it wider and in the far end of the room Maple was standing over Kaede and she wasn’t moving. I couldn’t see her because my dog was in the way but he was making slurping noises. Probably sucking on all the blood that was flowing out of her neck.

Images of Kaede running and Maple jumping on her, ripping at her neck, and killing her went through my head and I was close to tears. I slowly walked towards Maple and moved in closer to see what was left of Kaede.

Then I noticed there was no blood. Kaede was intact. And my dog wasn’t eating her, he was licking her. And she was enjoying it.

My dog kept licking her ear and face and she lay there, eyes closed purring. I guess this was the closest to her mother’s love she was going to get and was soaking it in. Literally.

After that, I have never worried about my dog or cat hurting each other. They sometimes chase each other around and my dog tries to hump her, only to get a jab to the face. But overall, they enjoy their time together. They curl up together in the winter for warmth and have decided that at night, my dog gets my right side on the bed and my cat gets the left.

Now my dog and cat are inseparable but when I take Maple for a walk he still growls and barks and tries to attack the stray cats. Either he has only love for Kaede and still hates other cats or he secretly has a crush on all the cats in the neighborhood. I think it’s the latter.

Such a horn-dog.

This article also appears here: https://medium.com/creatures/i-rescued-a-cat-8bd6ba78d4d9