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| Name: |
Carly
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Age: |
Two years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Domestic Shorthair
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| Home: |
Virginia, USA
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This sweet little gray bundle of fur is my Carly. Carly has just come back from a cat vacation! She gave me and my entire family a big scare earlier this month because she had disappeared. But she came back safely and I am overjoyed!
Carly is mostly an outdoor cat. I originally got her as a barn cat but she has come so far over the past year and a half. My family adopted her and her sister Cameo (who looks exactly like Carly, except her face is a little narrower!) when they were just about a year old and they were terrified of humans and being touched by anyone. They would just huddle together in their bed and sometimes hide under their bed. I sat with them for hours and slowly they began to relax when they were in my presence. It took longer for them to get used to being touched, but it happened eventually.
So then it became time for us to let them out of their cat cage. First we just let them get used to being in the barn and living there. I would go up there every night and give them fresh food and water. I would also sit with them and let them get used to eating around me. I would talk to them about everything. It took a long time, but finally I was able to earn their trust completely.
Finally we decided that we could let them roam free and we would give them the choice of weather or not they wanted to stay with us or not. I was really worried about letting them outside to be on their own because I had grown very close to them and I didn't want them to not come back. But it was the right thing to do.
Once we let them out, we still saw them from time to time and learned to (kind-of) tell them apart by the shape of their faces. Carly had a rounder face than Cameo. But then to my dismay they were both gone for a couple of weeks and I saw no sign of them. I grew very worried and scared for both of them. But I still kept up my routine of giving them food every night.
One night when I was doing this, I heard a faint little squeak. At first I didn't know what it was, but after listening for a while I discovered that it was Carly! She was back! But Cameo was not with her.
Carly meowing became common every night and I would always make meowing noises back at her as if we were really communicating! She started to follow me down back to the house whenever I left and so I started to feed her on the porch. Eventually I even could pick her up. We were bonding and forming a relationship that is very special to me.
But still there was only one little gray cat. Not two.
I figure that when Carly and Cameo went outside and disappeared, something must have happened to Cameo. But Carly had been with her sister for her whole life. She had never been on her own. So she must have found her way back to us and because she was probably very lonely, she reached out to us. We happily took her in with open arms. My heart was bursting with happiness! But that little part of it that had grown close to Cameo as well still ached. Carly and I dealt with our sadness over Cameo together and now we are as close as ever! We both still miss Cameo but at least we have each other to love.
Carly just love to be scratched behind her ears. When someone does this. She will lean against your hand and lay down and sometimes roll over with delight!
Carly still has the habit of disappearing for a week or so now and then and making me very worried and anxious. But she will always be my Darling Carly that I love so very much!
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