A hitch in the Miss Kitty saga
Posted: Thursday, September 22 at 03:38 pm CT by Mike Brunker
Many readers of Katrinablog have posted in the last two weeks wondering what has become of Bill Harris and Miss Kitty, the “miracle cat” that he credits with helping to save his life. Unfortunately, the answer is that a long-term reunion between owner and pet appears to be at least several months off.
Harris was transferred on Wednesday from the hospital in Hattiesburg, Miss., where he had been recovering from the trauma of Hurricane Katrina, to the Trinity Neurologic Rehabilitation Center in his hometown of Slidell, La.
That meant one happy reunion for Harris –- with his elderly mother, Jane.
“When I told her my story, she just said, ‘That was some storm,’” Harris says of his mom’s reaction to his amazing tale. “She’s a former English teacher, but she’s not much for words.” (Click here to read Harris’ gripping account of how he survived the storm.)
But the move to Slidell threw a new obstacle in the way of Harris reuniting with Miss Kitty: The nursing home doesn’t accept pets.
“We have ventilator and critically ill patients, so, no, we don’t have animals living in the facility,” Trinity administrator Sheri Foret explains when I phone to ask about the policy.
Miss Kitty. (Andrew Locke / MSNBC.com file)
That means Miss Kitty must remain in temporary quarters at the animal rescue center run by Noah’s Wish only about a mile from the nursing home for the time being. And depending on how long Harris ends up staying at the nursing home while he recovers from kidney damage suffered during his three-day ordeal after Katrina struck, it may force the organization to seek a temporary foster care for the cat.
“I don’t know if I’ll be here two months, six months or a year,” Harris says. “I think this is the best place for me right now.”
He isn’t wild about the idea of another person or family caring for his cat until he can get back on his feet, but he realizes that Noah’s Wish can’t keep Miss Kitty indefinitely.
“I don’t want just anybody to have her,” he says. “I’d want to make sure that she was going to someone who would take good care of her.”
While he tries to work out a long-term solution with Noah’s Wish, Harris is hoping he can arrange a brief visit to the nursing home so he can share his story –- and the cat he loves -– with his new roommates.
“I’m hoping we could at least bring her over to the courtyard,” he says. “They’d all love her.”
For many, a double-whammy
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