How-I-Fed-My-Cats-Raw

CarmellaImoved to a nicer home in Sebastopol that summer with plentyof privacy and woods for exploring. After six months of grievingI felt ready to adopt again.I went to the Sonoma County Humane Society’s well-endowed animalshelter in Santa Rosa one day and checked out the dozen glass-walledrooms filled with cats of all ages, sizes and breeds. None seemed interestedin me and I felt no resonance with any of them. Almost ready togive up, I tried looking in the last room one more time. One little crittercaught my eye.I had spotted a cute tortie nestled behind some other cats. Was she thegenetic heir of Whisky? As I closed in on her, she sensed my attentionand began purring. Her motor became more vibrant as I stroked andheld her. That little bundle of love was coming home with me.The three-month old tortie with caramel-colored eyes had been giventhe name “Lisa.” I preferred another name, so I signed the adoption papers,renaming her “Carmella.” While she resembles Whisky from afar,her markings and personality are quite different.Carmella was a baby. She loved her new home, the rawfood offerings,cuddles and lots of head scratches. She went from cooked to raw withno reservations. She grew quickly, and her eyes became hazel. She delightedin chasing the squirrels who occupied the huge white pine treein the backyard, and in hunting and eating some of the gophers, pygmy mice and wood rats she caught. Since the house hada pet door, she brought some of her live catches into the bathtub at all hours of the night. I’ll skip the details of that!Carmella was always happy and playful. She stayed out of trouble, keeping a distance from the coyote and raccoon interloperswho came for midnight raids on her food bowl which was set on the deck.Tiring of the long, cold, rainy winter seasons in northernCalifornia, in early 2010 I decided to fulfill my fruitarian dreamof living in a tropical land and set my sights on Maui. My onlyreservation about my plan was that the rabies shot, flight andquarantine might kill Carmella, but I could not leave her behind.I was torn over my decision to get her a shot three months beforeour departure, but, happily, there were no apparent effects.I lined up a home to rent in Haiku, Maui, beginning in October,booked a flight and obtained a roomy pet carrier with a waterfeed bottle. Carmella was to be placed in the special cargohold for animals. I was assured that is was a safe, temperature-10