Marley is a handsome orange tabby, with a gorgeous white mark on his nose. Marley came to the family from SNAP cats, a local rescue for cats with special needs, during the wildfire disaster in Sonoma County, California in October 2017. Before SNAP cats, Marley used to be homeless and was rescued from the streets by the San Francisco animal shelter. He had painful sores on his paws, was desperate and scared. Because of his habit of “nipping”, Marley was deemed as a “temperamental” cat and was not appropriate for adoption. Once saved, now Marley was sentenced to be euthanized.
Fortunately, SNAP cats stepped in, brought Marley to safety, gave him a chance to live and find a forever home someday. With the help of the volunteers, Marley learned how to trust people again. He started warming up and became a friendly, gentle boy. Marley got along with other cats and especially loved kittens. You could often see Marley sleeping with young kittens and protecting them.
When the fires broke out in October 2017, the area was devastated. We decided to take home a cat from SNAP cats and help with the evacuation. I was thinking about a senior cat Davie; however, Davie may spray a place and maybe challenging to manage with our cat Sunny. Additionally, we decided to take a cat that would be easier to handle on a road trip. When I came to SNAP cats to look for a cat, Marley, a sweet orange boy with a white tie, was sitting on the kitchen table right in front of me. I said: “What about Marley?”
The smog outside was thick; the fires were coming close. What is going to happen with the other cats and with the entire place? I put Marley in a carrier, and my heart was racing. Will I see everyone here again?
Two weeks later, when the fires were over, our life started to go back to normal. And we still had our handsome tabby with us. The agreement was to keep Marley only for the time of fires. In contrast, we fell in love with the boy that I could not imagine returning him. I was looking for an excuse to keep Marley at home, so he and Sunny could enjoy each other’s company for a little longer. Finally, we asked Marley if he would like to stay with us and received a short, chirping sound in response. We treated the answer as “yes”. Marley officially became our boy on November 5th, 2017.