RDP Monday: tame

Written for RDP where segoil asks us
to get creative with the word “tame”.
Thanks, Heather!

We rescued Lucy from under our backyard deck in August 2015. She was about 2 weeks old, fit in the palm of my hand, and was obviously feral. She was also adorable so we took our chances and kept her, hoping she’d calm down as she got older

Lucy is now 11 years old; she’s a sweet and playful girl but she’s definitely not tame; we cannot cuddle with her and she will tolerate petting for less than a minute. This has been a bummer as we’re big animal lovers, especially cats, and our previous cats were all very affectionate. We wouldn’t mind if Lucy was simply aloof …. we could handle that …. but she lets us know when she’s has enough of us by biting and scratching. Even playing with her is a dangerous game. I have the scars to prove it.

We’ve always had more than one cat at a time and we hoped to adopt another cat but we’re reluctant because we don’t know how Lucy will react. It would be fabulous if she loved her new housemate but if she hates it and there’s fighting going on, that would be horrible. We decided it’s better not to take a chance.

Early on we thought about bringing Lucy to the shelter but the truth is, no one would want to adopt her and if someone did adopt her and regretted it, they might not be as patient as we are. I suppose she could live out the rest of her days in a shelter but that seems so unfair. Maybe we are too compassionate but she’s ours, she’s happy, and has a great life. She just can’t help the way she is.

NAR©2026

This is “The Girl Can’t Help It” by Little Richard

RDP Monday: TAME

^{Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, except where otherwise indicated. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.}