Rescue Stories - Mudpie: She Mended Her Mom's Broken Heart

Hello, and Happy Wednesday! I'm very excited to share a very special rescue story with you. Today, I bring you the tail tale of our very good friend, Mudpie of Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, and Meows! We've been friends with Mudpie and her Mom since just about the beginning of our blogging adventures, and we just adore them. And we remember when Mudpie arrived at her forever home and how excited the cat blogosphere was! Read on to see how she mended her Mom's broken heart. 

Lola

The Cat Who Mended My Broken Heart

On July 7, 2015, I lost my tortie Truffles to a saddle thrombus blood clot. She was four years old. After years of adopting older, special needs kitties, she’s the one I planned to spend the next decade of my life with, but we had less than 2 years together. 

I can easily say without a moment’s hesitation that watching what Truffles endured that night is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever experienced. A saddle thrombus is truly every cat parent’s worst nightmare. We all know and accept when we adopt a pet that we’ll have to say goodbye one day, and no matter how much time you have together it’s never long enough, but when you have what you think is a perfectly healthy, young cat one minute, and then she’s taken from you in the blink of an eye, the pain and shock are beyond comprehension. 

In the days following Truffles’ passing, I walked around in a haze. I couldn’t bear to pick up her bed or toys because that would mean she wasn’t coming back. Yet looking at them felt like a knife through the heart. I don’t think reality set in until the day I had to go pick up her ashes. I still remember walking into the vet’s office wondering how I was going to get the words “I’m here to pick up my cat’s ashes” out of my mouth, and sure enough, I couldn’t do it. The minute I started to speak I broke down crying. The poor lady behind the counter even came around and gave me a hug. Yet as surreal as the moment was, it gave me some closure. Truffles was finally coming back home with me, just not the way I so desperately wanted her to.

While I’ve lived with cats my entire life, I’ve always had only one at a time. It’s never really been a conscious choice, I just seem to always choose cats that end up demanding to be an “only child”. The only time this poses a problem is when a house once filled with the love of a cat suddenly becomes empty. The void they leave behind can’t be explained to someone who has never experienced it. While one cat can never be replaced with another, I strongly believe the best way to honor the memory of a beloved pet is to give the love they left behind to another little life in need of saving. 

Mudpie in the car on her way to her forever home.

On July 30th I saw a tiny tortie named Gemma on Petfinder. The minute I saw that sweet little face I felt the same tug at my heartstrings that I experienced when I first saw Truffles. I saved Gemma's pictures on my computer and tablet and looked at them several times daily. I felt Truffles telling me it was okay to take that next step, but I needed a little more time.

Finally, a week later, I decided to contact the shelter and find out more about her. Gemma was around 2 years old and started life in Cattaraugus County, New York. For reasons we’ll never know she ended up in a shelter there and then got transferred to central Vermont's North Country Animal League. I was told she was a total lovebug who wanted to be someone’s one and only. I immediately knew that was me. 

I filled out the adoption application, gathered the needed references, and was quickly approved, but then we hit a bit of a snag. The shelter doesn't typically finalize adoptions before the prospective family meets the pet, meaning Gemma couldn't be placed "on hold" (for lack of a better term) and when I spoke to the shelter on Friday afternoon I learned that another lady had just stopped in and was very interested in her! Thankfully the nice shelter volunteer heard the panic in my voice when I reiterated that I just couldn't get there until Sunday (the shelter is more than an hour away and they had agreed to open that day just for me) and said she'd do everything she could to steer the lady's attention to another cat. She felt we were right for each other too. 

On August 9th my father and I made the drive to bring Gemma home. When we got there I saw a cute little tortie in the front holding room and thought it was her, but I was told my Gemma was sequestered in the shelter director's office because she didn't get along well with others! I was brought back there and as soon as I met her it was all over...she held my heart in her tiny paws. I rode home in the back seat with her and I think we gazed at each other the entire way, falling completely in love. She made herself at home the moment she walked in the door, immediately gravitating to the toys I had waiting for her. It was clear to see she was where she belonged. 

As T.S. Eliot famously wrote, “the naming of cats is a difficult matter,” and I just didn’t feel Gemma was right for her. I was leaning towards another chocolate-related name in honor of Truffles (and also because the coloring of torties just lends themselves to chocolatey names) but was having a hard time deciding on one from my list: BonBon, Fudge, Mudpie, Mocha, Smudge, and Moxie. Finally, I started calling her with each name to see if she responded to any of them, and when I called out Mudpie she looked at me as if to say, “Yes, that’s the one! I’m a little Mudpie!” She was only a slice of mud pie back then, weighing in at barely 7 pounds. Now 5 years later she’s the entire pie at twice that size! 

It was a monumental task for such a little girl, but Mudpie put my shattered heart back together again. Her pure joy and innocence bring a smile to my face every single day. Who rescued who is a popular phrase in the rescue community and those words are so true for us. Mudpie needed a home, and in turn, she made my empty house a home again. Never have I had a cat so in tune with me. She wants to be by my side wherever I am, and when she can’t find me in the house she has a distinct meow that she uses to call out for me. (And anyone who has ever been owned by a tortie knows they have a unique sound for every message they wish to convey!)

While I would never suggest that anyone adopt a cat without having spent time with them first, it worked for Mudpie and I. Sometimes the heart just knows when something is right. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Truffles had a paw in finding Mudpie and sending her to me, and she couldn’t have made a more purrfect choice.

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You can follow Mudpie's adventures at Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, and Meows. We're sure you'll fall in love with her. Tell her Lola and Lexy sent you! 

Mudpie's story was submitted by her mom, Melissa Lapierre. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of our Rescue Stories in case you've missed any. If you'd like to submit your story, please email us at LolaTheRescuedCat@gmail.com.