3-legged cats purr with lessons for growth

Contributed photo Daryn Kagan and her cat, Tripod. Contributed photo

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By Daryn Kagan, Staff Writer 4:42 PM Saturday, April 2, 2011

Nothing.

Photographer Melissa McDaniel was on the phone last week explaining to me what her dog Sadie can hear.

Nothing.

That’s right. Nothing. Sadie was born deaf.

Oh, and she’s absolutely perfect just the way she is. This proud Dog Mama will go on and on if you let her. Occupational hazard. We Animal Mama’s tend to be like that.

“I use hand signals to train Sadie,” Melissa explained. “Other than that, Sadie is one happy dog. Deaf dogs make great family pets. They just have different ways of learning.”

Melissa is spreading the word with her photo book “Deaf Dogs.”

Interesting, but honestly, Melissa was preaching to the choir. I have long known some of the best animals come in unusual packages.

For me, it’s three-legged cats. I’m now on my third.

For the record, I’m not some crazy lady doing weird things to fuzzy felines. No, it’s the three-legged cats that seem to find me. They just show up that way.

The first was Tripod the Wonder Cat. I met him back in 1992, as I was covering a local news story for a station in Phoenix. I was at the Humane Society to shoot a story on dogs. But when the PR person let me hold this gorgeous gray and white cat missing his right front leg my life changed forever. He might’ve just had that one front leg, but ’Pod knew how to give a huge hug.

Oh what a love! Things went so well with Tripod that I didn’t hesitate when the shelter came across another three-legger a couple years later. I brought him home and named him I-Lean. I guess you can say he traded the corny name for a couple years of unfiltered love as he lived out his remaining days with ’Pod and me.

Tripod? We had 17 amazing years together when he passed away two summers ago. Still makes me get teary just thinking about him.

Not too long after ’Pod died I received an email from a woman at a local rescue group. “I heard you have a three-legged cat,” she wrote. “We have one here who we haven’t been able to place.”

I explained that it was too soon after losing Tripod. I wasn’t ready. But I could come just meet this special kitty. Stop your giggling you fellow animal lovers! I know you know how this chapter goes. Yes, she’s now mine. All three legs of her. Two in front. Only one in back. We call her, Pisa, as in “Leaning Tower of ... ”

Just like the other two, Pisa has yet to tell me how she lost her leg. Doesn’t really matter as they all have been able to do all the cat things other four-leggers seem to be interested in doing.

Back to Melissa. “Don’t feel sorry for Sadie,” she implored me. Oh, I know better than that.

I also know that folks like Melissa and me are no heroes for taking these special animals into our homes and hearts. They give us so much more than we could ever give them.

One of the biggest gifts is teaching us that the best presents in life come in surprising packages.

This goes far beyond cats and dogs. I’ve had set ideas about what so much of my life was supposed to look like. The beau, the job, the city, the journey. Each time I’ve been bold enough to let go my preconceived idea of the package any of that was supposed to show up in, I’ve come out ahead.

What about you? Are you so sure what some part of your life or dream is supposed to look like that you’re actually missing something or someone better than you could ever imagine?

Living with three-legged cats has done that to me. Stretched the limits of my imagination of what’s possible and what big, true love is supposed to look like.

Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an online community that features a daily webcast of inspirational stories. The former CNN anchor and news reporter is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”

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