The Right Sign

Tri-City Tales Issue No. 33

Gayle Bailey first stopped by the animal shelter last April on a whim, on her way to a doctor’s appointment. Her husband Bob had passed away the year before, leaving an emptiness she could not get over. She had always loved cats— they had once had one—and her daughter and granddaughter thought that a new companion might help Gayle fill in the hole in her heart.

On her first trip, Gayle didn’t realize that cats are largely seasonal at the shelter. Many months of the year there are very few. Then Spring comes, and kitten season arrives. Suddenly the animal shelter has more felines than they have room for.

That day in April, the shelter only had one cat available for adoption. But by the time she returned after her doctor’s appointment, he had gone home with a new owner. A short time later, her granddaughter was in town for a visit. They drove to the shelter again. This time, there were two cats. But after meeting them, her granddaughter turned to Gayle and said, “I don’t think either of these are the one.”

Shortly afterward, Gayle left for a trip to South Carolina. A few days after she returned home to DeSoto, she decided to try the shelter again—just in time for the annual kitten boom. As she sat in the visitation room, a white male jumped in her lap, curled up, and began to purr. It made her weep. She took it as a sign. 

She named the little guy Zodiac. After filling out the paperwork, she went immediately to the pet supply store to buy food, litter, and cat toys, with Zodiac watching quietly from the shopping cart in his temporary carrier. When they got home, he began to explore. He settled in immediately.

Gayle and Zodiac are now best pals. “He’s got two speeds,” she said, “Curled up and purring, or going nuts.” His kitten energy has brought new life to the house, often in the form of shredded toilet paper or extra paws on the screen as she tries to use her iPad. He follows Gayle around; when she is out working in her yard, he watches through the window, waiting for her to come back inside. At night, he curls up beside her pillow, purring. 

She never stops thinking of her late husband. (“He would have loved this cat,” she says.) But Zodiac has taken some of the edge off Gayle’s loneliness, and she expects he will be with her for the rest of her life.