Sophie's Story

This is Sophie's story, told from her point of view.

She was happy. At 6 weeks of age, living in the only home she had ever known, mom and siblings to play with, a nice family to care for her, she was happy. Then one day, everything changed.

She was a long haired Persian mix with a beautiful, cafe-au-lait coat. She had a pretty, seal-colored face with a white muzzle; long seal-colored stockings with little white feet; and lovely, bright, azure blue eyes.

One hot summer day, she was put in a cage and placed inside a roaring machine that bounced, vibrated, and scared her to death. She cried to be set free but no one listened. Then suddenly, the sound stopped. Still in the cage, she found herself surrounded by several ladies, all oohing and awing over her. She was let out of the cage and was passed around from person to person.

This strange new place was noisy and smelled funny. But it wasn't too bad. The ladies seemed nice and everyone seemed to like her. She did wonder what happened to her mother and brothers and sisters. She was the only one of them there. Maybe she would see them once the ladies were done visiting with her. She hoped she got to go home soon.

Then, one of the ladies she had only just met suddenly plucked her up and stuck her inside some kind of bag. She began to cry because she was very scared. The lady talked to her but it did little to comfort her.

She again found her self inside a roaring, vibrating machine. Inside the bag, she began to panic. When the roaring and vibrating finally got to her, in the grip of panic, she jumped from the bag and ran. She didn't really think about it, she just did it.

She discovered she was in a small, unfamiliar place, with no where to run to. She frantically looked for a place to hide. Scratching and clawing at anything and everything in this small space. She found a tiny opening and squeezed into it - where she suddenly fell, into the dark.

This hiding place was worse than where she had been. It was even more noisy in here, the vibrating was worse, and it was hot, so very hot. The air was thick and uncomfortable to breathe. There was nothing soft, only hot, hard metal. And she soon discovered, there was no way out.

Suddenly, the noise stopped. She heard the lady's voice. She began calling out. Between this scary, hot, dark place and the lady, the lady was much preferred. But even though she was calling, and she could hear the lady, the lady wasn't getting her out.

She was hot, so very hot. And she was getting tired, soooo tired. She felt like she had been in this horrible little hole for hours. She was still so very,very scared but she didn't even have the energy to cry anymore.

She could hear the sounds of far away voices and scratching. She didn't know what the sounds met but she hoped it was someone coming to rescue her. She was too weak to move anymore. It was so hot, she could barely breathe. Finally, with her last ounce of energy, she cried one more time...then she went to sleep...

She felt something gripping her. Though she was really scared, she was too weak to struggle, cry out, or even open her eyes. She was so hot, so exhausted, so scared, but she just couldn't move. She felt herself falling back into sleep, unaware of what was happening.

She felt cooler. It wasn't so hot and the air was cool and easy to breathe. She felt something cool touch her lips every so often. She realized she was laying on something soft and cool. She felt safe. And she slept.

As she began to awaken, she gradually became aware that she was in some kind of box. But it was airy and cool, and she could see an opening big enough for her to easily escape from. But she didn't run. She didn't want to escape. It was cool and soft in here. She felt safe.

She could hear voices and knew people were close by but she didn't feel scared. She opened her eyes and looked around. Right in front of her was a little dish. She could reach it without moving. She took a tentative sniff...water! Cool, fresh water. She took a couple of licks. It tasted good. But she still felt so tired, so she went back to sleep.

When she awoke again, she felt much better. She decided to try to move. Tentatively, she stood and took a few wobbly steps. She still felt weak but at least she could walk. And she didn't feel hot anymore.

As she walked out of her 'safe zone', she felt carpet under her feet and realized she was in a house. But not her house. It smelled different. But it seemed OK so she decided to explore.

The first thing she found was a dish full of food. And it was tasty! After she had her fill, she continued looking around and found a fresh, clean litter box. Handy as she had just realized she needed to go.

Over the next few days, she met made friends with the nice lady that she later found out had rescued her, met a nice man who had also helped rescue her, and their two dogs named Kelly and Katie, and three cats named Missy, Kelsey, and Kirby.

The lady told her that her name was Sophie. She liked that name. Sophie. It was a good name. Sophie liked this house. She even liked the dogs. The cats were nice too. And she was feeling good, really good.

Her frightening ordeal was over. She had a wonderful new family. She was happy again. She hoped things would never change. Sophie was happy!

And, she liked this place. This place she now called home.

Our Version of Sophie's Story

Sophie was a present brought to us by a friend. She was taken to our friend's workplace before being brought to us. Our friend had placed her in a large, department store type, shopping bag for the short drive over. During the ride, little Sophie escaped the bag and somehow got herself trapped in the compartment between the outer body and inside of the car.

It was over 100 degrees that day and we knew this tiny kitten would surly die if we didn't get her out soon. We ended up dismantling our friend's car until we could finally reach her.

Suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration, we worried Sophie might not survive. Knowing that cooling her too quickly could send her into shock, we placed a dry, cool towel on top of a wet cool towel in a carrier, placed Sophie on it, and waited. Every once in a while, we rubbed some cool water on her lips.

About 2 hours later, Sophie emerged from the carrier to begin her exploration. She recovered quickly and suffered no long term ill effects from her ordeal. She grew into a graceful, loving, beautiful lady. Her favorite place to sleep is in the bed, under the covers, with her favorite people. And she never again rode in a car without being in a carrier!