Tacoma the Precious

Stay stubborn

We found Tacoma inside the engine compartment of an old Toyota Tacoma. It was raining hard, and he was crying. We could hear that he was on top of the engine just under the hood. We were afraid of what would happen if anyone started the truck and drove away with him inside. Its owner wasn’t around, but the passenger side wasn’t locked so I climbed in the cab and released the hood. When I raised it, there was a bedraggled gray tabby kitten less than three months old huddled on the air intake box. I wasn’t able to secure the hood quickly enough to grab him, and he fled deeper into the back of the engine.

Hawai‘i had already had heavy rain for 10 days. We were in the middle of back-to-back kona lows—powerful winter storms—that resulted in the state’s worst flooding in more than 20 years. Over the course of two weeks, more than 2 trillion gallons of rain fell across the state. A nearby weather station recorded nearly 32 inches of rain. Across the state, more than 200,000 households lost power. Several days after we found Tacoma, that part of Honolulu was hit by a “rain bomb”—exceptionally heavy rain caused by a stationary storm cell—that dropped more than 2 inches of rain an hour and caused flash floods that swept parked cars away.

The kitten was clearly in distress. He was meowing as loudly as he could, stopping only briefly every few minutes to catch his breath. The Tacoma’s owner—who thankfully was very understanding—had come across the street from the garage where he worked to ask why we had opened the hood of his vehicle. He told us there was no easy way to reach the back of the engine where the kitten was. But a woman from a local animal rescue organization was eventually able to get under the truck and reach his hiding place on the transmission. She wasn’t able to get a firm hold of him, and he ran across the street—fortunately at a moment when there were no cars—into an alley where we were able to corner him and get him into a carrier. When I told the truck’s owner we managed to get the kitten, relief and happiness flashed across his face. He told me about the cat he had lost years ago. When I asked what we should name the kitten, he thought for a moment and said, “Precious.”

We ended up calling the kitten Tacoma, but Tacoma is precious. We made a nest for him—a small box lined with a clean towel—in a crate in his own private room. He was underweight and had fleas, but was otherwise healthy. He cried almost nonstop until the next day, as if he instinctively believed his mother might still come for him. Each time the rain picked up, his cries got louder and became more desperate. Eventually, when we didn’t do anything to him besides bring him food, he began to reconsider his situation. He discovered he liked having his cheek scritched and came up to the front of the crate to sniff us. Now, three weeks later, he is exuberant and affectionate; he purrs as loudly as he used to cry.

Tacoma is just one small refugee from these storms. Many of the animals in shelters have stories like this. Those who ultimately make it into our homes and into our hearts are the lucky ones. They survive because they have a fierce vitality and a stubborn resilience. Tacoma took shelter in a truck, cried as loudly as he could for hours, and fled across the street in a rainstorm because he was determined to live. It was all worth it; the joy he takes now in living is a reminder of how precious one life is. Next week, Tacoma will go up for adoption through the Hawaiian Humane Society and will hopefully find the safe, dry home full of love he deserves.

Thank you for reading Telling the Future! We’re grateful to Leilani from Aloha Kitty TNR for capturing Tacoma; to Jordan from The Public Pet for donating a bag of treats and for helping us call animal rescue organizations; to The Hawaiian Humane Society for providing food and medical care; and to Alan for letting us search around in his truck engine.