Nari's story

Kari's family reunion
became a family addition!

My very first morning in New York for our family reunion, my
sister and her husband and I were driving to my cousin's
house from our hotel. We had reached the one and only
intersection in the village of Dundee that has a stoplight,
when suddenly a woman came running out in front of our
rental car yelling "Stop! Stop! A cat has run under your car!"
My brother-in-law turned off the engine. I got out and looked
under the car to find a very small, golden tabby kitten
climbing up into the engine area. I called him and he finally
started to climb down, but ended up in the wheel well of
the driver's side, covered in grease. With me on one
side of the tire, and my sister on the other, we finally
were able to reach the little guy and pull him out to safety.

Now what?

My brother-in-law pulled the car out of the road as I walked into the corner mini-mart to ask about a nearby shelter or vet clinic. The town is too small for either, so I asked for a towel or something to use to clean up the little guy. Several onlookers made suggestions about driving a ways down the road and dumping him off so he would be away from the busy intersection. "No thank you," I thought. "I don't know how, but I'm not going to let this little kitty back into the wild to die of starvation or a car accident." So I wrapped him up in some paper towel and we headed off to my unsuspecting cousin's house.

Bathtime dampened the little kitty's spirit!

Clean and dry, Nari snuggles in Kari's arms.

...It turns out that they live on a 110-acre farm and have seven cats and three dogs! Although I was the joke of the weekend and took a lot of guff for rescuing the kitty, "Nari" (named for my sister Nancy and me) is now living in a posh log home with two sweet kids and a bunch of dog and cat brothers and sisters. He went to the vet first thing and was neutered, wormed and treated for ear mites. I left my cousin Trudy some money to help with the costs since I was the one who brought this cat literally to her door, but she wouldn't hear of that, and sent the money to the Yates County Humane Society.

While this was not in my plans for the family reunion, it sure felt good to make a small, kitten-sized dent in the homeless animal population in New York. And Nari is very happy to be out of the cold, wet weather and living the warm playful life inside!