The Calico Cat Who Didn't Get 9 Lives

This is a true story about Ginger the cat, whose ending is most unfortunate. It is a story about a cat who perhaps had multiple personalities, a woman whose memory of the cat will leave her conscience feeling guilty, and if not, will get what will surely come back around to her again in the same way she gave it to the family she deceived.

To avoid plagiarism, I am simply going to share the letter written to Ginger's former owner. It summarizes the entire story to the sad and unfortunate conclusion.
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Hello,

I wanted to give you an update on Ginger. A police officer just left my house after informing me that she either 1) has to be quarantined at a vet's office for a minimum of 10 days, which would cost about $500-$600, or 2) has to be euthanized by 4pm tomorrow afternoon, which is going to cost us about $250.

Oh, but let me back up and explain. We were extremely disappointed to find out a couple of days after you dropped her off that she was pregnant. Looking back, it explained your behavior throughout the whole transaction and the comment you made in my kitchen regarding her belly being "big" because she had supposedly just eaten.

Because we are not the type of people who would "deceive" others, we kept her and she gave birth to 7 healthy kittens on August 8. Not knowing much about cats and their babies, we just kept the kittens in a box in a carpeted room in our basement where Ginger would care for them.

About two weeks after giving birth, Ginger attacked my 3 year old son for reasons we do not know. Ginger was in the master bedroom when Matthew just walked in. She jumped on him, clawing him from his legs all the way up to his head and face.



We have now been in the process of finding new homes for the kittens. We decided it would be best to find a new home for Ginger, as we are fearful she might attack one of my other kids again.

Last Friday evening, Ginger ran outside and attacked a dog. My son immediately ran over and pulled Ginger off the dog, but got bit by Ginger in the process on his hand. By Saturday night, his hand was swollen, painful and he wasn't able to use it, so I had to bring him to Immediate Care (more money). It turned out he had an infection (because apparently 50% of cat bites end up in infection), and was put on an antibiotic (more money). By law, the staff there had to fill out an animal bite report, which they sent to Kane County .

So this afternoon, I received a visit from the animal control police officer explaining my options. Because we don't have proof of any vaccinations for Ginger (because we were waiting until she first had her kittens and they were weaned--then we were going to vaccinate her and have her spayed), the county must follow these strict procedures as a precaution for rabies. (We know she does not have rabies, but this process must still take place by law.)

That brings us to this point. It is now almost 5pm and I must now contact some vets to find out how much it will cost to euthanize Ginger. I am sick about this whole thing. (Oh, and did I mention that our carpet in our study room had to be professionally cleaned today because of the acrid smell of cat urine from when the kittens were learning to use the litter box. More money--$80 to be exact.)

I am sorry we took Ginger from you. And even more sorry we were so naive and trusting. And even MORE sorry we didn't know better. I guess some lessons just have to be learned the hard way. But I wanted you to be aware of what your actions have cost us, and that Ginger now has to be euthanized because we cannot afford the other options.

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Ginger bit the hand that fed her, and in doing so, met her most unfortunate fate. Goodbye, Ginger. May you find peace on the other side of Rainbow Bridge.