I never thought my blog about taking a break from work would feature a story about a homeless cat with three legs. And I never thought I’d be writing in France with tears streaming down my face. But here I am. Despite my emotions, I wouldn’t swap the last few days for anything. Don’t worry, though. This isn’t a sad story and it’s not over yet. But now I must backtrack.
Travelling on the French Canals
Ivan and I have been living on our canal boat in France for the last 6 weeks. It’s been a wonderful existence soaking up French life, slowly trying to learn the language and travelling at a leisurely pace around the beautiful countryside. Our travels have led us to some incredible places like Dole and Besancon. And we’ve been eating and drinking far too much fine French food and wine and meeting lots of lovely people.
Lamarche-sur-Saone
Right now we’re on the Saone River in the east of France. And just a few days ago we arrived in a little town called Lamarche-sur-Saone. It’s a delightful village with a population of around 1000 people. It has a unique church with twin spires. The mooring spot for boats is excellent, right out the front of a camping car park. There’s our boat Laura moored in the picture below on the right.
Lamarche-sur-Saone is where we met the hero of this story. The cat with three legs.
The fateful meeting
Now, those that know me, know that I love animals. So when Ivan pointed out a cat down by the waters’ edge I popped down for a pat. It was not hard to notice the cat had only three legs and was very skinny. She also had a deformed ear. This is a video of our first meeting.
Getting to know her
I gave the cat some food and she gulped down a whole tin of tuna. I spent a long time patting her. Many hours. In the process I got to meet lots of wonderful people from the camping cars who were curious about the cat and about the crazy Australian woman who spent so much time with her. I met wonderful people like Fred from the camper Fredo who shared my concerns, and a kind fisherman who caught the cat a small fish to eat.
It was obvious the cat had been someone’s pet as she was very affectionate and her missing leg had been professionally amputated. So that got me wondering about how she’d ended up homeless and relying on the kindness of strangers for food. I decided to leave her for the night in her spot under the trees.
That night it rained, and I couldn’t sleep knowing she was out in the weather – a skinny, homeless cat with three legs. The next morning I went to her place under the trees and she emerged completely dry ready for some more food. I was relieved to know that the spot she had chosen to live was sheltered from the weather. What a clever girl! I named her Laura, after our boat.
Laura the cat
I decided to ask around Lamarche-sur-Saone if anyone was missing a three legged cat. The office of the Mairie (Mayor) said that stray cats were a big problem in France. I emailed a photo of Laura to the Mayor and she promised to distribute it to the villagers. At the boulangerie (bakery) and butchery I spoke to some lovely ladies who said they would ask the other villagers. I also put a call out on Facebook.
I tried to put Laura on our boat. She was not happy at all and as soon as I put her down in the boat and turned away for a moment she went missing! In horror, I thought she had fallen overboard. But instead, she’d somehow hopped off the boat and she was running back to her area under the trees.
I spent more time with her that day near her spot giving her food and pats. The only problem with travelling overseas from Australia is it’s difficult to have a pet, so I was soaking up time with this gorgeous little creature. I was smitten. Here’s some images of that day.
Later on I tried again to get her onto the boat. But she panicked as soon as I tried to take her away from her place, so I let her be. Ivan and I discussed what we would do next and we both agreed that despite the unreliability of her food, she was happy where she was. She was not interested in humans except for food and wanted to live under the trees near the river. She’d survived this far without us. Ivan and I decided to head off the next day leaving Laura behind.
Change of plan
That night changed our minds. At about 11pm Ivan and I both heard a soft thumping noise. I got up to investigate and it was Laura! The cat with only three legs had managed to climb onto our boat and was hobbling around on deck. I knew she’d be too frightened to come inside the boat so I put a towel down for her on deck and went back to bed and tried to sleep. I could see through the window that most of the night she slept on the towel. It was then that I realised that she preferred to be around humans and she needed a proper home. I spent another sleepless night thinking about what to do next.
Getting Laura in the boat
Early in the morning I managed to coax her inside the boat with food.
She eventually settled down on the floor and relaxed.
She felt so safe and comfortable she went to sleep purring softly. Will you just look at her!! Laura is the most affectionate cat I have ever met.
Deciding what to do next
I found a list of all the animal shelters in the region. And that morning while Laura was asleep I emailed all 15 of them to see if they would take her. Ivan set off on his bike to the next village 6km away to get some advice from a vet.
Of course, it crossed my mind more than once to keep Laura. I was smitten but knew that a boat was not the best place for a cat with three legs. She could easily fall overboard or lose balance and hurt herself. Also, Ivan and I are travelling and what would we do once we arrived at a new place and wanted to explore? Or what if we went out for dinner? We’d have to lock her in the boat each time and that would be cruel. And dangerous on hot days. Plus what would we do when we headed back to Australia? We decided her ideal home would be a place in Europe or the UK with a garden with someone who could give her lots of love and affection.
One organisation called Chadaba replied to my email and said they would pick her up later in the day. Chadaba looks after stray cats and finds homes for them. We were so relieved!
Laura spent the whole day coming and going from the boat. Look at how well she gets around with only three legs. And you should see how fast she can run!
I spent as much time with her as possible. I had already fallen in love and I knew we would be parted soon.
New beginnings for Laura
The lovely ladies from Chadaba arrived at our boat and were very impressed with Laura. They couldn’t believe how mobile she was with only three legs. They agreed that she must have been someone’s pet as she was very affectionate. The time came to say goodbye.
I’m smiling in this photo but as soon as I walked away the tears flowed. Goodbye dear Laura. How I miss that beautiful little cat!!
Laura is so inspirational. She might be a cat with just three legs but she doesn’t let her disability stop her from walking, running and even hopping on and off boats. Laura is courageous, affectionate and incredibly resilient. She has been fending for herself living under trees for goodness knows how long. How could you not admire her?
And now Laura needs a new home. She deserves a wonderful life with someone who loves her who can look after her properly. She is the most affectionate and gentle cat I have ever known and gives so much love back. I hope everyone who reads this will help the wonderful volunteers from Chadaba find Laura the perfect home. And surely someone knows her history and how she ended up homeless? Maybe she got lost and there is someone out there looking for her?
Worth every tear
And as for me, well I’m going to be missing Laura and feeling sad for a while. But it was worth it. Laura gave so much affection and getting to know her was a pure joy. She never stopped amazing me with her abilities.
She also gave me the opportunity to have more in-depth conversations with French people. This was good from a language point of view, but it also created stronger connections with people, something that doesn’t often happen when travelling. Instead of the normal conversations about where we were from and how long we’d be in France, Laura inspired conversations with people like Fred and the lovely volunteers from Chadaba. Conversations about our mutual love of animals, their welfare and what should be done with Laura to ensure she had the best life.
Laura also taught me to let go of holiday plans and go with the flow and see what unfolds. We’d only planned on spending the night in Lamarche-sur-Saone but it turned into 3 days.
This break from work is teaching me so many things about France and canal boats, but also about myself. And instead of not having enough time to even notice a cat like Laura let alone be able to help her, this break from work has allowed me the opportunity to focus on a creature in need, which has fed my soul. One thing is certain, this break from work has allowed me the chance to meet the most beautiful cat called Laura. And I’ll never forget her.
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