Phoenix - She found freedom today!!!

I find myself so busy sometimes doing rescue work at home that some of the most amazing things I dont see until after the initial moment happens.   You see when you work a full time day job and get home at night you have 2 hours of animal care to do before you even start your rescue work.  So on the weekends after fundraising events, board meetings, site visits, emails, and phone calls you just simply work it all away.

Today I am in my usual spot - STANDING at the kitchen island with my netbook working away while briefly interrupted by the occasional cat who walks across my keyboard and ever so rudely puts their hind end in my face to say "I'm here", all the while I do the normal sllliiiddddeeeeee them to the side so I can finish what I am doing before I get another call or another email that has to be addressed.   Then there is the occasional pack leader that has to come out and say 'knock it off' to the occasional dog spat on the floor by my feet (why do dogs have to be right where you are anyway;)

So only moments ago a cat walks across my keyboard and i do the usual sllliiiidddddeeee her away and I realize that its Phoenix and about had a heart attack!  I wanted to jump up and down and act like a 5 year old getting her Christmas presents a day early but knew that was a VERY bad idea.  Instead I grabbed my blackberry right beside my netbook and took this picture...

She stared right into the camera and didn't move.

Let me tell you her story and why this is a miracle.  The day Phoenix (she had a different name) was rescued she was living in a home we identify as a hoarder.   Most people think that the definition of a hoarder is someone who has allot of animals.  The key is not the number of animals but the medical attention they receive and the living environment they are surrounded by.   This woman had 30 cats in her home infested with fleas, overflowing litterboxes, poop and urine on every inch of the floor and the cats were in less than ideal shape physically.  Let me tell you that there are hoarders that have 5 animals so its not the number of animals but the conditions in which they are found.

So as we worked hard to find placements for them there were two left who needed safety.  As the founder of an animal rescue group you often times get the "last picks' because I wont let an animal be put down unless there is good medical cause.

Phoenix was FERAL.  She would bite, scratch, rip your eyes out if you let her.   We left her at the vet clinic so she could get spayed right away and my intention was to find her a farm home.  Well as things unraveled she came home with me the next day with her friend...They lived in my master bedroom - became bedroom kitties.   I didn't see or hear Phoenix unless it was 2 am and I opened my eyes to see in the mirror of my bathroom that she was sitting on the corner of the counter.

I couldn't find that cats hiding place for 4 months!   There were several weeks I NEVER saw her and tried 'smelling' for a dead corpse (sounds terrible but what else do you do to find a feral cat!)

On the 4th month something amazing happened - She started appearing out from one of the drawers in my vanity!   She had found that she could get in behind the drawers and have all the privacy she wanted.   SOOOO RELIEVED!   So I upped the ani a little and pulled out both bottom drawers (which now make great sleeping boxes).  within two months she would start sleeping on the foot of my bed!

3 weeks ago she decided to join me while using the bathroom and i touched her head for the first time.  2 weeks ago she started DEMANDING I pet her every time I was in the bathroom and now today she decided to COME OUT OF HER SAFETY ZONE ALL TOGETHER!  SHE came out of her den for the past 6 months and was sitting on my kitchen counter!  13 dogs and all!

What a PROUD moment and a reminder to pay attention to the small things even when the world is moving fast!  Welcome to the world Phoenix.  You have truly risen from the ashes!!!!