Sometimes you have to know when to break the rules.

Tonight I went outside to water my plants--a job that by this point in the summer has long since lost its glamour. I've got my ipod going, with the ear buds firmly in place, paying no attention to my surroundings. I bend over to turn on the faucet, with my eyes down, happily lost in the book-on-cd I've downloaded and I hear......."Meow?". I swear. If a cat can form the sound meow to come out in the form of a question, this one did.

My first thought is that it is one of my cats and I can hear her through the window. Nope. My second thought is that one of my cats scooted out the door with me. Nope. I look around to see the source and find this:



Only it wasn't resting on the ground. It was stuck on a cat's head. (I've met this cat once before. I was watering my flowers and turned around and there she was. When she saw me she flopped down, exposing her belly, wanting to be petted. I obliged. We exchanged pleasantries and she was off.) The question I heard in the "Meow?" seemed now to say...."Could you help me out? I seem to have gotten myself into a situation here and I'm not sure what to do."

I froze. I had no idea how much distress this kitty was in. I'm a little surprised as I think back over the situation how quickly I took in the bizarre scene, triaged what she needed and acted. My first instinct was to rush towards her but if I knew if I did she might run. I made myself slowly walked towards her. I didn't want to grab the bag until I knew I had a good hold on it, because if she took off who knows if she would have gotten help before suffocating. Without a lot of drama or fuss she let me approach her, grab the bag and tug it off.

She still didn't bolt, so the next thing to check on was if she wanted some comfort. When I petted her she leaned in to my touch. Relaxed. Closed her eyes a little. Safety and comfort taken care of I noticed how thin she was. I know the first rule of stray cats is to never feed them because they'll just come back. I know. I know. I know. I kept seeing the image of this poor kitty with no one to love her, having to scavenge for food, ending up with a bag of cheese stuck on her head trying to feed herself. To heck with the rules.

I rushed in my house, grabbed a Tupperware bowl and a handful of cat food and rushed back out. To say she inhaled it would be an understatement. Poor thing. She was starved. I watched her eating and started mentally going through the steps it would take to get her cleaned up and make her mine. Vet visit, shots, declaw, introducing her to the other cats......but my plans were short lived. I let her finish her meal in peace and when I came back she was gone. I wondered briefly if she is part of a kitty grifter ring and the "head stuck in the cheese bag" was her go-to grift. I could hear her boasting to her kitty friends, "Heh. Heh. I swear it works every time. Walk up to a human with something stuck on your head and you should see how fast the food comes flying out!"

She may be back. She might not be. Either way she was brave enough to ask for help, and I was there to provide it.