They Had Me At Meow

Somewhere in Northern California lies a small lake which provides a sort of haven for nature lovers seeking refuge from the close-by intrusions of housing developments and shopping malls. Many of the people who walk the paths around the lake may be unaware that it also is a haven for the cats of Buster Hollow, those cats Rosie Sorenson writes about in They Had Me At Meow.

Rosie and I exchanged a number of emails during the course of my writing this email, forming a budding friendship which we hope will continue "in real life." You see, we have much in common, including the fact that we are practically neighbors.

Rosie's mentor to TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) was Nick Manelli, whom she met over a decade ago while visiting the small lake near her home in the California eastbay. Nick was feeding the cats that roamed the area there; Rosie liked cats, so she started feeding them too. It didn't take long before Rosie discovered that neutering the feral cats went hand-in-hand in feeding them.

Rosie isn't fond of the term "feral." She says, "'Feral' implies a dangerous wildness, a concept which I'm afraid leads some humans to regard them as unworthy of love, impossible to socialize, even crazy and menacing." Certainly, neither Turtleman, Buster, Thelma and Louise, or the 20-some other cats Rosie befriended on her daily rounds fit this description. Rosie found that the more love and attention she gave her cats, the more they craved. She jokes that she's beyond the reach of any recovery program, and it appears the cats are too, at least where Rosie is concerned.

Buster

I asked Rosie how Buster Hollow was named. Her reply: "Steve went out to feed the kitties for me and came home to give me the 'report.' He said something like, 'Well, all the kitties in Buster Hollow came out today.' I thought that was hysterical: Buster Hollow,' so it stuck."

Rosie saw something special in this green-eyed panther of a cat the first time she laid eyes on him, nine years before the writing of this book. Although he displayed no outward characteristics of what we humans view of an "alpha cat," there was something about him - a "presence," said Rosie, that made the other cats want to emulate him.

Rosie was so taken with Turtleman that, after her longtime housemate, Himalayan cat Muffin passed on, she asked Turtleman for his paw, and he accepted graciously, in what would be, in Rosie's words, a "monogamous relationship." Turtleman evidently knew a sucker when he saw one and quite willingly moved in for "three hots and a cot," as Rosie described it. Rosie's dear friend, Steve moved in three years later, and they all practice a three-way monogamous relationship since then.

As many of us have done, Rosie was blind to the excess weight Turtleman had packed on, until Steve gently pointed out that perhaps a regular feeding schedule was indicated, instead of treats every time Turtleman meowed. You see, Rosie felt so guilty over robbing Turtleman of his outdoor freedom, that she compensates with food, loving attention, even bedtime stories. I'm sure many of us find a bit of ourselves in that story.

I'll save the rest of Turtleman's story for those of you who will want to read the book, as it continues in a chapter just before the book's finale.

Rosie first met Thelma and Louise when she saw them following a jogger on a path along the lake. They were but wee babies, but since they seemed people-oriented, and as far as Rosie knew, none of the Buster Hollow females had been pregnant, it appeared they had been dumped there. Since it was approaching dark, she simply couldn't leave them there as potential hawk-bait, or a raccoon snack. Since Rosie was already burdened with a large bag of food, and her camera equipment, she knew she'd need help in rescuing these two sweet kittens. Despite being home sick with a toothache, Steve came to the rescue, and soon the kittens were home with them, confined to a cage in the bedroom, door closed to Turtleman.

After overcoming a number of logistics, Rosie took Thelma, Louise, and an older kitten named Baby Bear to Clinic Day, a free S/N event sponsored by a local humane group. Rosie likens Clinic Day to a hospital nursery, with visitors ooohing and ahhing at the babies. On Clinic Day, Thelma and Louise attracted a lot of attention as kittens often do.

Karen, a Clinic Day volunteer and cat foster, saw that the kittens were too small to be spayed and asked if she could foster them and find homes for them. Although Steve and Rosies were sad to see them go, they both agreed later that their small condo was too small for three cats. Two weeks later, when Rosie called Karen, she found that Louise had already been pre-adopted and would be renamed "Licorice." Thelma was pre-adopted later and both kittens have forever homes.

There is so much more I could write about this book, but can't for lack of space. Sometime after their adoptions, Rosie drove an 180-mile pilgrimage to visit the homes of Thelma (Callie) and Louise (Licorice). Both kittens are well-loved and guaranteed a happy future, thanks to Rosie, Steven, and Karen. Not all feral cats are so fortunate, but Rosie is determined to find homes for as many of the Buster Hollow cats as possible.

The book ends with more photos of the cats, a list of resources, both local to the area, and national, and a group of FAQs about Feral cats, from the Humane Society of the United States. Rosie hopes as do I that readers of the book will learn respect for feral cats and those who care for them; practice responsible cat ownership, including spay & neuter; and support the rescue groups, foster care volunteers, and other humane animal organizations.

This is one of the hardest reviews I've ever had to write - not because I didn't like the book - I loved it. But compared to Rosie's honest, vivid stories of the cats of Buster Hollow, my words seem to fall short when describing those stories. As the judge wrote, upon awarding "They Had Me At Meow" the coveted 2009 Muse Medallion from the Cat Writers' Association:

“She had me at her first sentence. A beautiful little jewel of a book: wonderful stories, valuable information about feral cats and just the right touch of humor to spice things up.”

It's that kind of book.