The children who found Miss Kitty when she was lost (or locked out, or strayed) carried her around the neighborhood in their arms or tucked under their sweatshirts, but that method of transporting a pussycat has distinct limitations. It is totally unsatisfactory for air travel or car trips. Miss Kitty rode home with me at night, locked in a large kennel on the floor of my van. She meowed plaintively all the way home.

A couple of weeks later, Miss Kitty passed her leukemia test, got inoculated, spayed and microchipped. At the end of her long day at the "spa," I picked up one thoroughly annoyed pussy cat, stuffed her into an old pillowcase, tied a knot in it and carted her home in a lovely little cat bed that my sister's persnickety puss had spurned. I had never heard Ms. Kitty (as the staff at the animal hospital labeled her) snarl, hiss or growl before, but she was in a proper snit by then and made her feelings known.

Once it was clear that Miss Kitty was here to stay, we worked on turning her into a portable pussycat. No lonely, neglected, neurotic couch potato cat for me! The Celltei Pouch met all our needs. A "frontpack" (as opposed to a backpack) lets us interact. Nylon mesh openings with double zippers let her poke her head out of either end or the front while keeping her secure with a 10-inch restraining leash clipped to her harness so she can't escape. It doubles as a car seat and includes handles to carry it like a briefcase and a shoulder strap. Fully zipped, it conceals the animal inside.

Miss Kitty's coat color may be "tortoiseshell dilute," but she has undiluted tortoise characteristics, too. She can poke her head out of windows in the pouch like a baby kangaroo ... but if we meet dogs or noisy vehicles, she can pull her head inside like a tortoise and the dogs don't even know she is there. I can put my hands through the windows to keep her calm and keep us both warm ... a furry, purring hand muff.

The first time we went for a walk, we met a picture perfect little girl riding a bicycle toward us ... wearing her helmet and a red jacket, sucking on her lollipop, the whole bit ... and when she spotted Miss Kitty's head poking out of the pouch, the "Awww..." look on her face was just priceless. After the first couple of trips, I added a digital camera to my walking around rig. It rides nicely on top of the pouch, at the ready.

Fallen leaves scrunched underfoot and Miss Kitty wanted to play in them. Can't say I blame her. So we snapped the 4-foot leash in the front pocket to her harness and unsnapped the restraining leash. Then Miss Kitty took me for a walk in the woods. Luckily for me, she didn't try to climb any trees or thread her way between birch trees growing close together, wide enough for her to pass between, but not for me.