It's A Boy!

I went by the vet this morning for the photo you see here and found out our little girl kitty is in fact a little boy, 6 weeks old. This is not the best picture but there were a bunch of other animals in the lobby and I think he was kind of freaked out. But he looks sooooo much better since they got his fur cleaned up. He's still so thin though, which you can't really tell from his fluffy little face.

They're running one more set of tests for intestinal parasites as they suspect something may be wrong. But I still have to find someplace for him other than the vets. I'm placing a few phone calls this morning to see if other shelters or cat clinics might take him. I sort of have that Titanic "You jump, I jump" attachment going on. I'm involved now, so there's no backing out. No without feeling like a complete louse, anyway.

Feel free to send this page link to family and friends--who knows who might want to add a sweet little kitty to their life? 

Healthy Kitty!

The vet called and the kitty is fine and dandy. And female! At least, we think so. The vet tech I spoke with said she had written "female" on the medical chart and it hadn't been crossed out, so she thought that was correct, which isn't quite the same as saying that she definitely is a girl.

My best friend Trisha called to chastise me for not having a photo posted of the kitty, in these days of digital technology. As I explained to her, our camera battery died. So I did try but just couldn't do it. I left Blair instructions to recharge the battery tonight and I'm going to go by the vet's tomorrow to take a picture.

So that's the good news. Here's the more challenging part. Since the vet is so backlogged on kittens, this kitty won't be shown out front until all the cats in front of her have been adopted. Which means she'll be older when she's put out which means her chances of adoption will most likely decrease.

A woman in yoga this morning mentioned she might get a kitten for her daughters, but she didn't really commit and she might want an orange kitten.  But I'm still going to snap an adorable picture and drop it by her office. I have no shame.

If anyone in the area wants a fluffy little kitty who needs a good home after a rough two months of life on her own, please contact me. Blair and I are willing to pay for her shots and to have her fixed. We just want her to have a good life. 

Thanks everyone for the warm wishes. I know we all wish we could be the ones to give her a home and your thoughts and love are appreciated.

Kitty Escape

I promised you details on how I almost bungled Blair's effort to get the kitten help, so here it is.

Of course yesterday when I saw the tiny kitten in the carrier, my immediate impulse was to open the carrier, scoop him/her up and cuddle him/her,which I did. (We think it's a "him" so let's go with that). "Be careful," said Blair. "He'll run."

"You won't run, will you sweetie?" I cooed. "No you won't. No you--" I set the kitten down and damn if the thing didn't take off. I honestly didn't expect it. He'd been crawling around my neck and most kittens will sniff a new environment to get the feel of it before they try to explore. I just underestimated how scared this kitten probably was.

So he ran under our shed, which has poison ivy on one side and sits on what is essential a breeding ground for mosquitoes. I kneeled in the grass and called to the kitty and got 8 mosquito bites as my reward, but no cat. Then Blair got a long piece of wire and poked it under the shed, nudging the kitten until it was close enough for him to grab. Back in the carrier he went, safe and sound.

This morning we got up and checked on him. I held him while Blair cleaned out the cage (I kept a firm grip this time). The little guy was almost purring and stretched his head up once or twice for me to scratch behind his ears. He put up no fuss when we put him back in the carrier and settled in the back in the litter tray.

I almost couldn't get him to the vet this morning. They already have 6-8 kittens and aren't taking in any new strays. But the vet said since I was a good client, he'd take this one. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!  I don't know what I would do if this kitten had been turned away. I couldn't just release it after all this.

So they've going to test for feline leukemia and feline AIDS and they'll give me a call later today and let me know what's up.

I'm so angry at people for not fixing their animals. How many millions of little kittens just like this one are out there right now, hungry, scared and suffering, because some ignorant human being couldn't be bothered to pay the $50 to fix their cat? On July 4th, I wanted to slap this sweet older woman who lives on my street who told me their farm cat just had kittens. I said she should have her cat fixed and she said, "Well we do the male ones." Brilliant solution, Holmes. See any holes in the logic of that one?

Then she said she had wanted one of the kittens but the mama cat either moved them off somewhere or else maybe a fox got them.  Stupid, ignorant, curse word, curse word, curse word. All these animals desperate at a chance for life and a good home and probably 90% of them won't find it.  There has got to be a way to fix this.

A Soft Touch / Kitty Rescue

Ask me how much I love my husband. Go ahead--ask me. I love this man more than words can say.  There are many reasons I adore him but the one standing out right now is because he is a great-big-SOFTIE.

Today is Sunday and Blair was at work all day. He got home around 4 and I was on the couch reading. "Can you  help me with something on the back porch?" he asked, striding through the house. Sighing, I put down my tea, grabbed my shoes and followed him out to the back porch. There I found a carrier containing one small, frightened, malnourished, but VERY cute long-haired gray kitten. 

"Meow," cried the kitten.

I looked at Blair in astonishment. He rolled his eyes. "I walked to K&W for lunch and saw her. She obviously has a lot wrong with her and I left her alone. But I sat at my desk and kept thinking about her and I knew she must be hungry so I ran to PetSmart and got her some kitten food. She gobbled that down and seemed stronger for it, so I thought maybe..." He shrugged. "So anyway, I went back and got a carrier and brought her home. We'll take her into the vet tomorrow as a stray and see what they can do for her."

So everyone calm down--we are NOT keeping the cat. But we will pay for any medical treatment she may need and she's just a beautiful cat--big blue eyes and long gray striped fur around her face--so there's a good chance (we hope) she may be adopted. 

We're going to keep her on the back porch in a carrier tonight. I wanted to close her off in the bathroom but Blair has a point that we don't know what she may have and bringing her in the house with our two girls is probably not a good idea. We gave her litter, food, water, a washcloth to curl up on and a red cotton mousy for company. Poor thing--she's just pawing at the cage, mewing, trying to get out. I hate to think of her out there alone all night but Blair is right--she doesn't know how lucky she is that he found her and it's for the best.

Our county doesn't have a shelter and our vet doesn't allow people to just bring in strays. What has to happen is that tomorrow morning I'll call the police department and tell them I have a stray. Then they'll come by the house and take the cat to the vet and bring me back the carrier. Seems kind of silly but I guess it cuts down on people just bringing a ton of strays into the vet. 

I'll let you know how she does tomorrow and also the  error of judgement I made that almost cost us the kitty. Everyone send good thoughts kitty's way.

And isn't Blair just the sweetest guy around?