Saving Sparky
On a late Saturday evening we were on horseback headed home after a long, yet enjoyable ride. It was just getting dark and Ranae and I were a little tired and getting hungry. It had been a very hot day in Bakersfield easily reaching 100 degrees. About a quarter mile from home we pass a makeshift stable where some low-income folks keep there horses. I don’t want to be mean, but the place is put together with several different types of makeshift building materials, plywood, chain link, corrugated metal, just about whatever one could find. It’s an eyesore, but the horses look well kept.
As we ride by we hear this loud MEOW! We have found abandoned cats on our rides before. We already had four cats. We didn’t need another. We kept riding. A few steps later and even louder MEOW! I looked around. It sounded like the meow was coming from above. I could not see anything. Another loud MEOW! “I’m sorry”, I told Ranae. I knew I had to find the source of the sound. It was a loud meow and I could not locate it!
Then, I looked down. There between the plywood side of the stall and an outer wall of chain link was this tiny kitten. He was a tabby. I walked over to him. He squealed pretty good. No mom-ma cat or brothers and sisters to be found. I rubbed him a little and he meowed. Now, I had to get him out of there. He was wedged in tight. I tried to push him along, but I couldn’t get my fingers between the openings of the chain link. Finally it was getting dark, his tail popped out, I grabbed it and pulled. He let out a squeal, but was free. We named him Sparky.
We took Sparky home and de-fleaed him. He was too young to eat solid food, but that was all we had. He gobbled it down. Sparky was the tiniest thing I had ever seen. He grew up slowly. We think he may have had some brain damage. We would see him out in the yard and then Sparky would just go into his little Sparky-frolic. It is hilarious to watch.
Leave a Reply