The Story of Citroën
Sandra Silva Costa tells:
Let's go back to July 24, 2021.
You know those days when you think nothing more can happen, and then something does? Well, it was noon on my first day back working from home when the doorbell rang. "Is that your car? I saw a kitten climbing up into the engine."
Joana (I didn’t catch her last name) was wearing white pants and didn’t hesitate for a second to lie down on the ground to peek under the car and try to find the cat. As for me, embarrassing as it is to admit, I was in my pajamas and went outside like that.
I lay down on the ground too, and it was only then that I realized what I was wearing, so I went inside to get dressed properly.
We saw the tail; it was a little yellow kitten.
We knocked on the car, hoping it would get scared and come out, but nothing happened. We sprayed water on it, but all we managed to do was make it move to an even more inaccessible spot.
Then we called the fire department – but they couldn’t do anything.
So we called civil protection in Santa Maria da Feira – but getting someone to answer? After an endless automated “I’ll transfer your call, please wait,” I finally reached the police in Santa Maria da Feira.
It wasn’t their responsibility either, but they promised to send a car.
Meanwhile, the kitten remained curled up by the engine, just breathing, without responding to anything we tried – including the food we placed around the car.
The two police officers arrived in less than ten minutes.
Admittedly, it wasn’t their task, but they didn’t give up on the cat for a moment.
They peeked here, tapped there, reached their hands wherever possible, lay down on the ground, stretched their arms past the wheels – and this went on for 45 minutes.
Finally, one of the officers managed to rescue the little one.
Dirty and scared - but alive.
In the meantime, my dear cousin Anabela arrived with a pet carrier and cat food, and she was the one who gave him his first care.
I named him Citroën, and he was then taken care of by Joana, who brought him to the vet, and it seems she had already found a foster family for him – but he still needs a permanent home.
All is well when it ends well.
And even better when we realize that not everything is lost in this world.
If it hadn’t been for Joana, I wouldn’t have known about the kitten hiding there and might have started the car: then both the kitten and, who knows, my engine would have been lost.
And what can be said about the perseverance of the two officers? I know their first names, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find them to thank them properly.
I believe they deserve recognition, and I hope they understood that they truly do.
Good to know that there are still "happy endings."
But you should know even more about how well this turned out!
Cão ou Sem Casa, an animal protection organization, had temporarily taken care of Citroën, giving him a new name: Petit Gateau.
The morning after, I shared a Facebook post from Cão ou Sem Casa at Joana's request – about Citroën!
The week after, I was having dinner with Luisa and two other friends, and we started to talk about Citroën and this post on Facebook.
Our friends immediately thought it must be fate, and Luisa couldn’t resist the little cutie.
Luisa, who already had a cat and also a Citroën car, decided to keep the kitten and renamed him to the name I gave him, and she appointed me as the little one's godmother.
A couple of days after, she picked him up and took him to his new home.
The next morning, she picked him up and took him to his new home.
In the two last photos below:
- Here he is, irresistible, on the first day of the rest of his life.
- And so that he never forgets his roots, I had to show him my car (in the background), now saying goodbye to the Citroën car that tricked him – or rather, saved him.
Good luck, little one, and thank you, Luisa!
So, now you can make a guess where Marta Mouse has stayed for a week!
