Hello Kitty was being cranky. She’d been on the road for several days last January with her cat daddy Trey, a truck driver.
They were back home at the truck stop where he parks the truck between jobs. It was time for her to go into her carrier to be transferred to the car for the ride home to Cripple Creek.
She balked. It was late. Trey grabbed her and put her in the car while he loaded up.
Somehow she got out the other side.
When he got home, his wife Gennie realized Hello Kitty was missing. His son Leo was especially heartbroken. They went back down to Colorado Springs and combed the area.
For weeks, they put up flyers and asked everyone they saw, but it’s pretty industrial on North Nevada. The homeless folks hadn’t seen her and there were no homes where she could show up for food.
Their Truck Driving Mamacita was gone.
They had gotten her as a kitten for Christmas four years ago. Gennie started taking her with them when she took Leo to school, so Hello Kitty was acclimated very early to riding in vehicles.
Trey wanted some company when he was on the road, so he outfitted the passenger seat with a custom cat tree for her. She loved to sit on his lap and watch the world roll by.
Sometime in June, a big skinny tabby showed up at the colony on Mountview. Colonies survive because they protect their resources, so the cats who make their home there would not let her eat with them.
Fortunately, the colony’s feeders spotted her under a truck behind the tire. They left her food on top of a wall where she could come through the fence. She ate quickly to protect herself from being rushed for the food.
The feeders could tell this one was probably not feral. Still, she was afraid, too afraid to be lured back into a carrier. But she was hungry, so feeder Barb trapped her and brought her home.
She borrowed a scanner from Happy Cats and scanned her. Nothing came up.
She integrated well into Barb’s busy household, avoiding the dogs and being respectful of the cats. Barb named her Beryl. She slowly gained back her weight until she was back to her magnificent tabby self.
Beryl loved boxes. And cubbies. And small dark places. When Barb pulled out her vanity during a bathroom remodel, exposing the joists underneath, Beryl moved in.
Even though they knew to watch for her when they installed the new vanity, she managed to get underneath. They had to take out the drawers and saw a hole in the side, and out she popped.
Whenever Barb wanted her to come out, she’d pull out the vanity drawer and Beryl would come running.
Barb recently brought in Beryl to Happy Cats to find her next family. Just to be sure, we scanned her again and were surprised when a number came up with the name Hello Kitty. We input the number into the national database. Within minutes, we got the call.
Gennie was sobbing so hard we could barely understand her, but we understood the words “Hello Kitty†loud and clear. We knew it was her.
The family got down the pass as soon as they could. Gennie said she’d never given up hope.
They brought her favorite treat, organic bananas. Amid the tears and commotion, Hello Kitty decided it might be safer under the bed.
Barb said, “I know how to get her out.†She went down the hall to the bathroom and pulled out the drawer. Hello Kitty came running.
Thanks to her guardian angels at the colony, Hello Kitty is back home for Christmas with her family. Gennie says that “She will never go out of this house again without being in a carrier.â€
Merry Christmas, Hello Kitty!
