Safe stopover in northern GA or southern TN?

[dustydiamond1]

Hi everybody, I have introduced JaneLuvsCat to this site, I invited her to post her story here for suggestions. She lives in Indiana and needs a safeplace for stop over for a shower and a nap on the way to Lakeland FL to rescue a beautiful abandoned boy named Midnight she fell in love with while visiting a friend. Hope I'm not out of line but knew you folks would rally with advice.

 

[Furballsmom]

Looking forward to meeting her!

 

[Jcatbird]

dustydiamond1 Please do tell her to post! We’d all welcome her and love to hear her story about her upcoming journey. Does she know her route yet?

 

[dustydiamond1]

She just joined will she be able to post yet?

 

[Jcatbird]

I think she can! There are some places that require a certain number of responses or posts but I’m pretty sure she can chime in on most threads. One way to find out! @JaneLuvsCats

 

[JaneLuvsCats]

dustydiamond1 Please do tell her to post! We’d all welcome her and love to hear her story about her upcoming journey. Does she know her route yet?

This is how I met Midnight.
I went to visit a friend in Florida, who has Stage 4 (terminal) Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. There was previous neighbor’s cat who had hand-raised him as a kitten. Later, the neighbor who had several kids and had gotten bed bugs in her house, sold her house and abandoned Midnight. Midnight is a male, middle-aged, neutered cat. I was down in Florida to visit my friend and Midnight and I fell in love. Midnight jumped on me and climbed up and purred in my ear, got on my lap many times and came 100% of the time when I called for him. I took him in my bedroom when it was raining and he slept with me. He was afraid of the rain & raccoons, too. I saw the look on his face. I loved him. I wanted to bring him home with me. My friend who is now in the hospital told me yes. Then, she realized that I wasn’t kidding, then, she told me no. I’m afraid that he will get up in a car to get warm and be injured or killed. Midnight just stays outside all alone now.

I would be traveling between Indianapolis and Lakeland, Florida which I think is mostly I-75. Northern Georgia or southern Tennessee is just about my 1/2 way point.

Thank you,
Jane

 

[Jcatbird]

I am so glad you have your own thread now! I am hoping that other cat lovers here will see the desperate situation that Midnight is in and offer some advice about safe places you can stop to rest as you travel down to rescue him! Please keep us posted as to any progress you make! We are all pulling for you and for Midnight!
Thank you dustydiamond1 for ringing them here to TCS!
J JaneLuvsCats Good luck!!!!

 

[moxiewild]

J JaneLuvsCats I’m sorry, I’m not clear on a few things here, would you mind clarifying?

You said this cat was abandoned, which would mean it is unowned now - but you asked your friend if you could take him and your friend said yes/no? Is your friend claiming ownership of Midnight?

To that end, if your friend has denied permission to hand over ownership, on what grounds are able to take the cat?

I’m just completely confused here - if no one has claimed ownership of Midnight, then you do not need your friend’s permission.

If your friend has claimed ownership, then you are, legally speaking, stealing someone’s pet.

Is anyone at all providing for this cat right now?

I would not worry so much about Midnight crawling into an engine for warmth. Florida winter is mild. I live in Texas and that doesn’t happen hardly at all here compared to most other places that experience harsher winters.

That said, there are tons of other dangers outside, and if he’s not being fed or watered, that’s also an elevated risk.

If you can’t find a place to stay, I am sure people might be willing to donate to a one night stay at a pet-friendly hotel!

 

[JaneLuvsCats]

I didn't take Midnight because I didn't want to upset my friend, who I have known since Kindergarten, because she has Terminal Cancer. She is the type of person that will argue to her death or the person that she is arguing with or whichever comes first. She is currently in the hospital with critically low blood counts. My friend's ex-husband doesn't like Midnight. My friend has had a bird for 30 years in which she refuses to cage. My friend called Midnight the neighborhood cat. However, Midnight always wanted to come inside with me and would follow me everywhere (kitchen, bathroom, my bedroom, living room! She would permit Midnight in the house, if I was supervising him. And, I would sneak him in at night and close my bedroom door. Midnight was very happy with that and purred his little heart out. I know that Midnight is homeless.and has no shelter. The original owner abandoned Midnight. Even though it was the 1st owner who told my friend that she had bottle feed him as a baby kitten. Original owner sold her house because of bedbugs, moved and abandoned Midnight. Midnight ate every time that I fed him and gained weight in the about 3 weeks that I was there. Midnight's fur was also thinning at the bottom of his body by his tail. I want to rescue him and bring him home with me to a permanent inside home with shelter/protection, heat and air conditioning, always available food and water, and love and affection at ALL times!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

What route are you taking? Also, do you have Facebook? If so, there is a group there specifically for such things, and I'll get you the link.

 

[JaneLuvsCats]

Midnight loved my fluffy blanket. It only got down to about 68 F that night. I took it out in the morning to cover my legs He was always tired everyday because he had been up all night out of fear. One night that I let him in the house with me after I caught 2 racoons eating his food. I could see the fear in his eyes and after I ran them off I asked him if he wanted to come inside with me and he jumped off of my friend's truck onto the front porch and happily followed me inside, fell asleep purring and slept all night with me.

What route are you taking? Also, do you have Facebook? If so, there is a group there specifically for such things, and I'll get you the link.

I am in Eastern Indiana only 1 county from Ohio. I can take the Cincinnati, Ohio Route or I can take the Route south of Indianapolis that goes through Louisville, Kentucky. I have a GPS on my phone, a 2nd GPS that mounts in my truck windshield and a State Farm Road Atlas just in case. With GPS, a person getting lost anymore is really not an issue. I will need to bathe and rest once in Florida before I head back with him. I am 60 years old so driving 1-way straight through is too hard on me these days. I will go whichever way that I need to go in order to rescue Midnight.

 

[catsknowme]

Welcome to TCS, J JaneLuvsCats !! Bless you for standing up for Midnight! moxiewild and Mamanyt1953 have made excellent suggestion - please take their advice and then let the rest of us know how we can help! I hope that a rescue person (possibly from Mamanyt1953 's FB link) can get Midnight off the street and into foster, to hold for you until you can get there....what an exciting rescue this will be! Please keep us updated...
P.S. in my experience, Paypal, CashApp, ChaseQuickpay/Zelle have been the fastest most reliable way to send/receive funds.

 

[JaneLuvsCats]

I really don't need any money. I just a place to sleep and bathe. I was thinking about taking a cooler with me to keep expenses down. I even have an inflatable twin bed that I could bring I do have a PayPal account. I am waiting right now for replies as I have to get brakes put on my car before I could leave and also a hood cable. I was getting ready to apply for a job in which I would have to have a vehicle inspection anyway. I have transportation, just not a place to stay because that expense would put me over my own financial limit.

 

[JaneLuvsCats]

Welcome to TCS, J JaneLuvsCats !! Bless you for standing up for Midnight! moxiewild and Mamanyt1953 have made excellent suggestion - please take their advice and then let the rest of us know how we can help! I hope that a rescue person (possibly from Mamanyt1953 's FB link) can get Midnight off the street and into foster, to hold for you until you can get there....what an exciting rescue this will be! Please keep us updated...
P.S. in my experience, Paypal, CashApp, ChaseQuickpay/Zelle have been the fastest most reliable way to send/receive funds.

I am wanting to pick Midnight up myself because he knows me and I was wanting less trama on him. We went to Siesta Key, Florida and stayed overnight on Saturday, October t9, 2019 at a hotel the weekend before my friends birthday. We came home Sunday night, October 20, 2019. Midnight didn't have any food. I could tell that he was hungry and exhausted because a storm had gone through and no one had fed him. I could tell that he had missed me. Midnight knows my voice. Midnight would come running and I am not kidding, running to me when I called for him. When I called his name, Midnight always ran to me, always, 100% of the time. My friend called Midnight my new best friend. Geez, I'm so sad that I didn't bring him home. I wish that I could wiggle my nose, be in Lakeland, put him in a carrier, wiggle my nose and have him inside at home with me, right now. I will be sad until he is at home with me.

 

[Jcatbird]

Hang in there. Do follow up on the advice given here and any contacts given so you can stop worrying and bring beautiful Midnight home. We are all here to support you in your quest.

 

[dustydiamond1]

I understand you want to be the one to pick him up from the street, however wouldn't it better, (safer, fed, sheltered) for Midnight himself to be taken in by a trusted foster until you can get down there? Especially since it seems it may be awhile til you can go and he has been all alone on the street since you left in the middle of Oct. Don't fear that they won't turn him over to you, they will. Please consider letting the foster folks save him right away and keep him safe until you can get down there to bring him back to a furever home with you. Also it would be significantly less trauma for him to be removed from the street right away than he is experencing now on the street hungry, thirsty and alone with the racoons. Please consider what is best for him and let someone trustworthy take care of him until you get can to him. Keep us updated and never forget that we are on your and Midnights side.


Can't make the grid below go away.

 

[moxiewild]

Yes, I absolutely agree, a foster is imperative at a time like this.

I am part of (probably) similar Facebook group, and I would absolutely JUMP at the chance of picking up a cat like Midnight for a person like you!!!

A sweet, abandoned cat in need with an incredibly dedicated adopter willing to drive cross country for him? I’d clear some space, put on my shoes, and leave as soon as I could for a situation like that!

A foster will love on him, play with him, provide him his own room, give him a comfy, dry, warm bed, and offer him plenty of food and water.

Meanwhile, on the street, Midnight could be dying of starvation or dehydration, and that’s if a car, disease, or other animal does not get to him first. There is also the possibility that he may be run off by a Tom, or move on from that area of his own volition in search of food, water, and shelter and become lost or otherwise never return. Does any of that sound less traumatic to you than being with a foster?

If you have an opportunity to find a foster, please take it.

 

[moxiewild]

I really don't need any money. I just a place to sleep and bathe. I was thinking about taking a cooler with me to keep expenses down. I even have an inflatable twin bed that I could bring I do have a PayPal account. I am waiting right now for replies as I have to get brakes put on my car before I could leave and also a hood cable. I was getting ready to apply for a job in which I would have to have a vehicle inspection anyway. I have transportation, just not a place to stay because that expense would put me over my own financial limit.

The money is not for transport costs, it is to help you find and stay at a pet-friendly hotel for you and Midnight to safely eat, shower, rest, and enjoy a bit of your reunion together before hitting the road again if you can’t find somewhere else to stay.

 

[catsknowme]

The money is not for transport costs, it is to help you find and stay at a pet-friendly hotel for you and Midnight to safely eat, shower, rest, and enjoy a bit of your reunion together before hitting the road again if you can’t find somewhere else to stay.

Yes, the money is to give you more flexibility in your travel plans, especially with all the unpredictable weather and other unforeseen road closures and detours. Please realize that it isn't charity when Midnight's new TCS family helps him on his journey to a better life. You may find someone to share their home, especially if they are involved in the "cat railroad" groups - if you do get blessed in that way, then Midnight will have funds for a vet check or a nice cat tree or toys, food, etc.
I am so pleased with your dedication to one lost little cat. He is so unique - I love his milk mustache, he would be perfect for a "Got Milk?" ad.

 

[JaneLuvsCats]

I apologize. You guys have reached out to me in a way that I never expected. You are correct about getting a foster for Midnight. It would cost me about the same price to fly down to Florida and fly back with him. It would be much faster, too, sparing Midnight a long car ride. Flying and driving are about the same cost, actually flying is probably cheaper if done prior to the holidays. However, then, it poses the problem for me that I don't have a vehicle in Florida or a place to stay, if I can not get a turnaround flight the same day.. I could probably get a ride from my home to Indianapolis International Airport there and home because it is only about 1.5 hours 1 way from my house to Indianapolis International Airport. I thank all of you for doing the thinking for me because I've been really upset and cried on multiple occasions about him, even while in bed with my Bobo cat. Bobo, I rescued when my son was in 4th grade (my son is 21 years old now), at the Muncie Public Library, in January with a Windchill Factor of -20. I could feel every bone down his spine and when he sat on my sat it made my lap colder. I will show you a current picture of Bobo. Bobo's not skinny anymore, but Bobo is very content and loved. I want for Midnight to be as protected, content and loved as Bobo.