As you are likely well aware of by this point if you are even just a semi-regular reader of ours, cats can be found literally anywhere. And in that spirit this story's cats decided to hang out in the ceiling above his to-be pawrents' bathroom. An interesting location to have gotten to and one that actually proved to be rather useful considering their ceiling had a vent installed in it, making it rather nice and easy to coax the kitten out to safety. Though you can only imagine what it must have been like going to the bathroom and hearing kitty noises above your head. Though I do have a little bone to pick with these pawrents and that is the fact that the kitten who was literally gifted to them was then sent to spend time in foster care only to then be adopted by them. People, if there is even a 0.1% chance you think you will adopt a cat you find, keep them in your home until you make that decision, please.

Now yes I know this is a really small detail to get hung up on, but honestly if this story was about a full grown cat rather than a kitten the end of this tail could have looked quite different. For you see going into the care of a complete stranger, or even worse a shelter, is a harrowing experience for any animal. The change of location, the new smells, sights and sounds, not to mention the vibe of uncertainty left over by other terrified felines who have been there before. These are really tough things for a cat to handle and if they had already been hurt by hoomans before, this kind of experience is going to do nothing for their belief in hoomanity. Often causing them to close up and recede into themselves even more than they had been while hiding.

I had one such incident when I was volunteering at a rescue and a cat was brought in after being found under a pile of trash, cowering at every sight and sound. Upon coming into the shelter the already scared feline felt completely backed into a corner and the small space we had to offer him simply did not make him feel comfortable in any way and when we approached his cage we were met with hissing and spitting. This cat was not comfortable at all. So we called his rescuers asking if they would be interested in adopting the cat as he seemed to be a little more comfortable in their presence. They were very much into the idea and quickly came down to give him a furever home. Problem being that he was now stuck in fear, and it is safe to say that if the hoomans who took him home had not been so loving and understanding this cat's already long acclimatization period would have dragged out far longer.