And I don’t mean Earl.

I’m referring to Katrina - but not that Katrina. Well…not exactly.

I’ll explain.

Sorry, O. Henry, but there are some ironies that are just not funny. Like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, for instance. (I hate when that happens.)

Or like when hurricane Katrina hits Tabby’s Place a second time, on the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Our feline hurricane first made landfall way back in 2007, all big eyes and gangly teenager-cat legs and  frantic, manic energy. Covered head-to-toe with spots and insanity, Katrina had been given the perfect name. If she were a rapper, she would have gone by K-Train, because despite her diminuitive size she came on with the force of a locomotive.

Chaos personified: that was our Katrina. Fresh from New York City Animal Care & Control, this most adorable, most untamable force of nature was unleashed upon Tabby’s Place.

We have never been the same.

In the course of her year at Tabby’s Place, Katrina made real progress. With the patience of saintly volunteers - not to mention her long-suffering feline roommates - K-Train went from literal-bouncing-off-the-walls, raise-your-heart-rate-just-to-watch-her, attempting-to-annihilate-other-life-forms mania to…well, a slightly softer version of the same.

After all, there’s no “taming” a hurricane - just making a plan for what to do when you find yourself in its path. In Katrina’s case, the best plan was to love her just the crazy way she was, make sure to surround her with exclusively those cats who could handle her, and pray for an adopter looking for just this sort of feline phenomenon.

The adopter came. He fell in love. He adopted.
But, two years later - on the anniversary of the non-feline Hurricane Katrina - he came back.
And so did the force of nature.

It’s an understatement and a sad irony that our feline hurricane is less “tame” than ever before. Perhaps her heart is hurting over losing her family of two years. Perhaps she’s been rotating over the ocean and building strength. Whatever the cause, Katrina is not happy…and she’s not making a secret of it.

Brave Tabby’s Place sanctuary associate Karina (the human, not to be confused with Katrina the feline) formerly worked as an animal control officer. After spending time with K-Train upon her return, Karina glumly noted, “If I were still working animal control, and I picked Katrina up off the street like this, I would be certain she had rabies.”

Katrina was never this mad - in all senses of the word - during her first stay at Tabby’s Place. Hyperhyper, sure; a little over-assertive, definitely; prone to nip, yep. But Katrina was never feral, and always closer to, say, Natalie than Dobro.

It’s clear her return has brought heavy clouds over her heart. This time around, our little spotted girl is as wild as her namesake, and it’s going to take all the love we can give to still the storm. It may also take several suits of armor to survive the “love” she’s giving us right now.

But mark my words: the feline hurricane’s second strike at Tabby’s Place will be her last and best. We will prove to this hurting wild child that humans can be trusted, and that she is loved and wanted - quirks and all.

And that true forever home is out there, awaiting a very special landfall of its own.

Stay tuned, Felis Catus family; I will keep you posted on K-Train’s progress.

Tags: dobro, katrina, Natalie, socialization

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