Photo by Jari Hytönen on Unsplash

How could an 8-week old calico kitten have arrived in my driveway?

And what was I going to do with her?

Yesterday proved to be a very intense day.  It started out normally enough, but when I went outside to take my morning walk, I was greeted by a very small, about 8 week old calico kitten.  She looked me straight in the eyes and cried, “I’m lost and hungry.  I miss my mommy.  Help me, please.”  She was crying and looked disoriented and miserable.

So, naturally, I tried to approach her, but she was so terrified that she ran.   Fortunately, she ran into my back yard and hid under the sun room which has no basement and is the home of Hattie, the semi-feral cat who has been living in my yard for more than 4 years now.

So I went inside and got more of Hattie’s food and lured the kitten onto the back stoop where she ravenously ate.  I was able to touch her – all skin and bone.   But I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to try to pick her up.  I wasn’t interested in being scratched or bitten, and I didn’t have a plan about what to do with her.

Violet and Sakhara have made it very clear over the years that this is a 2-cat household inside.  Unfortunately, this baby kitten needed to be inside.  This was not a matter of just putting out extra food for a stray.  Eight week old kittens do not know how to hunt and need to eat 4-5 times a day.   Not only that, but she was clearly traumatized and exhausted.  After eating, she collapsed onto the grass and slept.

I asked Hattie to help out.  Hattie is not a mean cat.  She will tolerate other cats without injuring them, but she is also very clear about her boundaries.  All day she kept telling the kitten  “Don’t get close to me.  I’m not your mother.  I don’t want you so near me.  Stay away from me.”   A 2-foot personal space was an absolute minimal requirement.

Of course, this baby just wanted a warm furry moma who would lick it and comfort it.  Not in Hattie’s vocabulary.  And when Hattie would hiss and growl and cuff the baby to make her point, the frightened kitten would cower and cry.  Once she even fell over in a stooper.

This was not a good situation.  Something seriously needed to be done.

Of course, I was working and could only keep an eye on things sporatically.  But I was also distracted by the situation.  I felt deep in my body that there was no time to lose – 24 hours was too long to wait to get this baby caught.

By late afternoon, I had bought extra cat food and litter.  I had found the extra litterbox in the basement.  I decided I had to catch this kid if she was going to have any chance of surviving at all.  I knew she’d be hungry again very soon, so around 4 p.m. I went out onto the back stoop with more food and lured her over to me again.  Very, very tentatively, she came to the bowl.  (I had to give Hattie extra food a distance away so she’d let the kitten eat.)  Again, I was able to stroke her fur with just a finger or two, exceedingly gently.  I made my decision.

I had put a cat carrier on the other side of the sliding door, which I left open.  I figured that if I grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, like a mother cat would, she’d probably just go limp and I could shove her into the carrier, followed quickly by the food dish.

IT WORKED!!!!

But now I had a new challenge.  It was 4 p.m. and I had a kitten whose health was unknown.  Even if I put her upstairs in a separate room, the door doesn’t go all the way to the floor and Violet, the Supervisor, along with Sakhara, my Assistant and Yoga Buddy, would be there to check things out.  Aside from the emotional upset for them, they might also catch something under the door (I don’t have a large enough cat carrier or a cat cage).  What to do?

I started calling veterinarians.  My good friend Allys has a specialty practice and no test kits for FIV and FELV.  My vet in Manchester, a 30 minute drive in good traffic, was willing to give me an appointment for 6:30 and agreed to just do a basic exam and take blood for the tests.  (I didn’t want any vaccinations shoved into this stressed out baby.)  But then they would send the tests out and the results wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.  I made the appointment, but decided to keep calling around.  I found another vet, closer to home, who had the tests you could do in the office, but they required that I wait until the next day to bring the kitten in.

I talked to the Humane Society, but they had no spaces and I’d have to call them the next morning at 9:45 to see if any had opened.  I called 2 other animal rescue organizations and got answering machines.  I got a call back from Our Companions Animal Rescue which I had called in the morning because I knew they had Have-A-Heart Traps.   Good thing I didn’t actually need the trap, as they weren’t able to get one to me right away.

At 5 p.m., a van pulled into my driveway.  Danny had been at my house last Friday to clean the chimney flue for the furnace.  He had left a mess in the basement, and was returning at my request to clean up after himself.  He’s basically a nice guy who likes animals, including cats.  So when he pulled in, I immediately said, “Hi.  Would you like a kitten?”

His response was “No.  My neighbors already think I have too many cats.”  But then he came right over to look at her.  As I said, he likes animals.   After cleaning up the basement, Danny decided to make a few phone calls.  To my utter amazement and profound relief, Danny found someone in his office willing to take the kitten sight-unseen.

Off she went in my cat carrier with extra cat food to make sure she got plenty to eat until her new people could get to a store.

Was this the best solution?  Who knows?  At least the kitten is inside in a warm place with food, water, and hope for a future.  Hattie is happy to have her yard back to herself.  Violet and Sakhara are relieved that I didn’t bring the kitten into the house.  I’m relieved that I didn’t expose my cats to anything.  I cancelled the appointment with my vet.

I don’t know what the moral of this story is, or even if there is one.  I do know that we bring everything into our lives.  I can’t blame anyone else for manifesting this kitten.  I did it.  I own responsiblity for that.

But I have to ask myself, “Nedda, what were you thinking??????”

I hope to get an answer sometime soon.

Namaste,
Nedda