It was just an ordinary catnip mouse with a strip of yarn for a tail. But for the fierce, frightened little kitten, we knew it was much more than that. "Will this be the only toy you'll ever have?" we wondered when we slipped the mouse into his cage.
We'd trapped the kitten the night before. He was part of a feral colony from a rundown neighborhood on the west side of Maui. He was eight weeks old and as best we could tell had never ventured far from the shell of the charred SUV where he had been born. He was as toasty-orange as a ginger snap with the face of a whiskery angel and oversized paws that promised he'd be a strapping tiger one day. From the moment we caught him, the kitten was wilder than ferals five times his size. He hissed and spit when we spoke to him. He charged the bars of his trap, tiny claws out, every time we came near. With hundreds of friendly kittens and cats vying for space at the local shelter and foster homes overflowing, the chances of taming him seemed slim. The catnip mouse looked small and forlorn at one end of the trap while the kitten sat, growling softly and puffed up like a blowfish, at the other.
Every cat deserves a name. We christened the fierce little kitten "Ripley" and said it over and over as we bustled about, caring for the nine big cats we were TNR'ing from the same colony: "Hi, Ripley!" "Supper's coming, Ripley!" "Ripley is a good boy!" After a while we noticed his fur wasn't standing up quite so much and he was edging closer to the catnip mouse. When he was a couple of inches away, still watching us warily, Ripley stuck out a paw and nudged the mouse. The bell inside jingled faintly. He cuffed it again, harder this time. Then again. Soon he was too busy playing to be afraid. That night the sweet, hopeful jingle of Ripley's mouse was the last sound we heard when we turned out the lights.
Today Ripley is three months old. He's been adopted and lives with a family with a little girl who puts hats on him. He has his own bed, a box brimming with toys and - thanks to a plain catnip mouse that helped him learn to trust - a bright future as a happy indoor cat.