Meet the cat

A few weeks ago I came home to find a very scared kitten in front of my door.  I took her in and thanks to some food and kitty litter from a friend she seemed quite at home.

She loved nesting in a pot where I had repeated killed plants.

I put signs around my compound.  No leads.  She was in heat and switched from going, "Meow" to "Mee-row-wer."  The local vet charged me Dh 1300 ($350) to have her spayed and get her shots.  It seemed high and later found it was more than twice the price I should have been charged.

The next door neighbors thought they'd be able to take her... but after two weeks of trying their other cat just wouldn't accept her.

Exasperated, I posted on a local animal welfare page on FB.  Less than two hours later I got a call from the cat's real owners.  They came around to get her.  The son offered up, "Yeah, she got out when Dad was drunk and forgot to shut the door."

Mom chimed in, "She hadn't tried to run before but the day before this happened she went into heat.  That night was her chance to go on the hunt."

Then, most astonishingly, they insisted on reimbursing me.  I said, "Look, I did this out of the goodness of my heart. If you want to pay some or pay half that would be great, but not necessary."

They insisted on reimbursing me fully.

This is as close to a Hallmark story as my life gets.