Starlight Expressed

Written by Jimmy Frost

Although I’d recently been asked to give a special cat a home, I had to decline. My wife had put her foot down. We had five cats and five cats was enough. Sadly, I had to decline the addition of another cat to the dear lady who asked me. Otherwise, I told her, I would have to find someone to adopt me! That certainly wasn’t the end of my involvement though.

That certainly wasn’t the end of my involvement though. I couldn’t take the cat as my own, but I told Mary Anne (the lady who asked me to adopt this rescue) that when she found a quality home, I would transport the cat to the new owner. Mary Anne was ecstatic. This cat had already suffered by being lost in the middle of nowhere. His story was featured on the SOS Forum on TCS and people all over the United States wanted to adopt this Persian. Mary Anne didn’t want to put the cat (Starlight) through the trauma of being shipped to wherever like a piece of luggage.

She called me one evening to tell me she found the perfect home for him - in California. I was still in Georgia at the time, but put in for a West Coast haul, and surprisingly got one quickly. I called her to let her know I was on my way.

Driving to Oregon from Georgia is quite a haul, leaving me plenty of time to think. I already had two cats on board- Zoey and Bari, both territorial at times, and the cab of my truck is a far cry from being spacious. Anything could go wrong. As the road flew by, my mind raced: a fight could break out. If you balance trying to drive a fully-loaded tractor/trailer while there is a major cat fight going on underneath my feet; we could all end up in a ditch somewhere!

I met Mary Anne and her husband at a truck stop on Interstate 5. I welcomed this little dust mop of a kitty aboard my truck. Since Starlight is a Van-Persian and my cats are pretty accustomed to Persians, the socialization process moved forward faster than I’d expected.

I set Starlight up in a soft-sided kennel cage with his own litter box, food dish and water bowl. Mary Anne had given me all the supplies I needed and then some, for him. She said a tearful goodbye to a cat she had been caring for, gave me a hug and left. Now it was my turn to be Starlight’s caretaker.

Making the deck ready for transit, I needed to keep Starlight in his kennel for safety reasons; securing the carrier to the lower bunk in case I had to hit the brakes hard did the trick. Zoey and Bari were curious, but not hostile to this VIP guest.

Once we dropped our load in Portland, I stopped at a rest area for the night. I let Starlight wander around the truck. He immediately used the litter box and sampled the food and water. Zoey and Bari were watching him like a hawk, even going so far as to hiss at him. But Starlight just ignored them. It seemed to me that Starlight knew his purpose lay elsewhere. He wasn’t going to be bothered by anyone else.

Finally it was time for bed. As is her custom, Zoey went to the top bunk, Bari chose the bed on the dashboard and Starlight lay down next to my leg, as though he’d always slept with someone and there wasn’t any place else in the truck that would do.

The air was cool, the night quiet. Apparently, some time in the middle of the night Starlight moved off the bed, making his way to the dashboard. I could have sworn I heard someone outside the truck say “Look at those cats!”

In the morning, I got up and checked the cats for wounds or bites, or ruffled feathers. But nothing jumped out at me. Once I fed the crew, we headed for Hermiston, Oregon where I unloaded the cargo at a distribution center and went over to the truck stop. Currently out of driving hours, an idea was spinning in my head: this cat needed his own web page!

From the time Mary Anne had picked Starlight up, she had shared his story and photos with the community of TCS. The photos were revealing. You could see a cat really beat up by the world, coming about and making a complete transformation from a matted, sick cat to a handsome and lively fella. I wanted to keep the story alive. So many people had expressed interest in his progress. They deserved to stay updated. It was the least I could do. I went back to the truck, worked online while monitoring the behavior of all three animals. The only one that acted out was Bari. He was still curious about this newcomer.

As Starlight expanded his horizons around the truck, he’d hop up on the dashboard and let people “ooooh and ahhhhh” over him as they walked by. This was too much for Zoey’s vanity. She’d chase him off taking his place on the dash. During this time, I realized how important it is to keep extra affection, love and treats bestowed on Zoey and Bari. Showing them they were still loved. Having Starlight along wasn’t a threat to their status.

After the web page was finished, I posted the link on the board. The response I got back slammed home the fact that I did the right thing, by not letting these good people sit and wonder about Starlight and how he was doing. I even received an offer from a grateful member, for a place to park my truck overnight next time I drove through Alabama. An offer like that is always appreciated by a tired trucker!

The following morning, I received my marching orders. I thought for sure I would be re-loaded and sent back East, leaving me to wonder when I’d get back to the West Coast where Starlight needed to go. Debi, the kind lady who opened her home to Starlight, wanted to know when I’d be through her area to deliver her new kitty. The last time she had phoned me, I told her I just didn’t have an answer to give, but now I did! I looked again at my mobile data terminal with disbelief. According to my orders I was to proceed to Redmond, Oregon, and load a shipment bound for Los Angeles California! This would take me one-hundred miles from where Debi lived!

In my fourteen years as a professional driver, I had only run loads out of Oregon to California a grand total of five times. This load South wasn’t an anomaly, I am convinced; it was an act of God!

I looked at Starlight. He was making himself comfortable on a perch I made on the passenger seat. His look said, “And this surprises you? I am after all, royalty!”

The second day on the truck passed almost without incident. Starlight ignored the hisses and growls to the point where I think this began to annoy both the cats. Bari then decided to take the initiative. Before I could intervene, he had jumped on Starlight! The next thing I knew, Bari, whimpering in pain retreated to the top bunk. I was driving at the time and will never know what actually transpired, but after that Bari kept a safe distance from Starlight. I didn’t see any visible injuries on either animal once I stopped and peace reigned!

The last day of the Starlight Express started before dawn. I left the rest area headed toward Northern California. We rolled down to Corning, California where I fueled the truck, got a shower, had the truck washed and called Debi to let her know I’d arrive at our meeting point around 4pm.

We launched out of Corning and everything was going well. Starlight seemed to take a greater interest in looking outside the window at the world as it passed. He would glance out the window, then turn to me, then look back outside, turn back to me as if he was asking “Are we there yet?” It was uncanny, almost like he knew that his path had been chosen, and he had walked it with great difficulty only to reap the great reward waiting for him ahead. I looked back at him several times, and said each time, “Not just yet, buddy, but soon.”

Just south of Sacramento, there’s a shopping center that I recognized as one I’d visited before because it had a PETsMART. Starlight came to Maryanne with nothing, left with all of his medical needs, a bed and other supplies, sent to him by well-wishers all over the globe. I wanted to get him a new break-away collar, engraved with his name on the tag along with contact information of his new owner, some treats and a case of Fancy Feast. He deserved more, but I had to watch my money.

We arrived thirty minutes past my estimated time of arrival and Debi was as nice as I imagined her to be. I packed Starlight’s gear up, handed over his medical records and I gave him, as his previous rescuer had, a long, close snuggle. I quietly wished him a long life and much happiness. Looking at Debi’s beaming smile and the love glowing in her eyes as she took custody of this miracle, I was sure the Lord heard me.

There are things I won’t miss about having him on board. His hair was always shedding, insidiously clinging to everything I owed. In addition, the fact of having three cats aboard is too many even on a good day. This trip taught me that two is my limit.

But what I will miss is his digging halfway to China while in the litter box. I needed an excavator to get to where he buried his waste! His presence at night, pressed against my leg reminded me so much of the quiet calm that is the trademark of a Persian.

I’m sure that there are things that Zoey and Bari won’t miss about having him around. Like the fact that Starlight really didn’t respect anyone’s territory, no matter what! When I had my laptop computer out, Starlight would curl up in the carrying case. A sacrilegious act to Zoey for that was her coveted spot! When it was time for treats, I’m sure that Bari didn’t like sharing treats with him that Bari might have thought was his alone.

Having Starlight aboard wasn’t that big of a challenge. It didn’t last as long as I thought it would, and I can’t help but feel somewhat cheated. I would have liked him to stay around for a little longer. I kind of miss him now.

I do find comfort in the following: When you rescue cats, even if you do as little as my job allows me to do, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it isn’t about what you might want. It’s all about doing what’s best for the cat.

Most importantly, whatever you do, you are correcting the flaw in the universe that caused the situation where the cat needed a home in the first place. You are balancing the scales.

During this entire episode, I was often praised as some kind of hero for giving Starlight a ride to his new home and nothing could be further from the truth. I appreciate the kind words and accolades, but the real heroes here are the people who stopped on their way on vacation to pluck him out of the field, Mary Anne and her husband for driving up, in the middle of the night to rescue him and save him from going to the pound, and Debi for giving him a new, forever home.

But ultimately, the real hero is Starlight himself. One would think that given the horrible condition he was found in, Starlight would have no reason whatsoever to trust humans again. But as Mary Anne can attest, even when they were cutting off the worst of the mats caked with his excrement, the only sign of displeasure he showed was grinding his teeth. The procedure had to be painful. He could have bit, scratched and fought, but he seemed to know that his long ordeal had ended and now people were helping him.

Despite everything he suffered, all the times he must have been terrified in the dark hiding from predators, he’s still a loving cat that is going to bring a lot of happiness to Debi and her family. The ability to forgive humans makes Starlight the hero. He personifies love and expresses it well.