Freedom Flight For Simba
Kim and I were scheduled to do a Freedom Flight for 3 kitties from SoCal to Morgan Hill, CA today, along with Simba who needed to go to Santa Rosa. A last minute emergency with the receiving party in Morgan Hill pushed back the majority of the trip, but Simba still needed a ride. He’s a very gentle, sweet 18 year old cat whose person has developed health issues and could no longer care for him. Since a gracious lady in Santa Rosa agreed to take him in, he still needed a ride regardless of whether he was the lone passenger.
The weather was overcast, a little rainy, in SoCal for our departure. I knew that was in the forecast, so I set up a meet the night before to pick Simba up. My wife and I hosted him at our house for the night, then set out for the 430 nautical mile trip.
Cats are often not good passengers in cars, nor airplanes. So we covered up Simba’s carrier, and headed on our way. During the flight my wife Kim checked on him often. He was very relaxed, enough so that she was comfortable putting him in her lap for quite a while in the back seat.
Kim and I are very much cat people. We love dogs as well, but we have 3 cats who hold very special places in our hearts. This was the first time we’d gotten a chance to transport a cat, and it really solidified why we do this. This wonderful boy needed a chance to live out his senior years with a good companion who will love and care for him. We know he has that now, and were honored to be part of helping that happen.
Looking forward to the next Freedom Flight!
Derek Heikes & Kim Bemis
