I came home at dusk and saw a kitten dart across my porch and into the ferns at the side of my yard. I’ve had a lot of neighborhood stays around lately (some with litters of kittens) so I didn’t think much of it. At first I thought it would be best if the little guy wandered back to his mamma without me getting involved and messing things up for them.
While I brought in groceries, he sat there in the ferns, mewling at me and acting like he wanted to come out to eat with the other cats. I was trying to see how big he was, and one of the neighborhood tom cats went after him aggressively. I know it’s rare that toms kill kittens who encroach on their territory, but I didn’t want to risk it. Unfortunately the little guy didn’t want to be caught.
I guess my neighbor from down the street saw me crouching and lunging around on my side yard, and came down to see what the crazy white woman was up to. I explained about the kitten and he went away, but after an hour of watching, I guess he took pity on me and came back to hold a flashlight so I could see what I was doing.
It took an hour in the mosquitoes and the dark, and a can of stinky wet cat food, but I managed to snatch up the little kitteh and toss him (yelling and scratching) into the cat carrier. He bit the hell out of my thumb and I had blood dripping down to my elbow by the time I finally plopped the cat carrier down in my spare room. He stayed in the spare room for two days while I tried to figure out what to do with him (I didn’t want to mix him in with our cats because he was a stray and might be carrying something.)
I showed him (in carrier) to the two mom cats who came to eat at my front porch, but they both denied any knowledge of who he was. My vet wanted $130 for a check up with shots and all of that business. I had already stocked up on cat traps for Operation Catnip that weekend, and happened to talk to the helpful fellow at their office who basically said, “We don’t know where you got the cats from. If you happened to catch a little kitten in a trap and bring him in with the rest, we’re going to at least look at him.”
Meanwhile I had been feeding him Temptations cat treats (they are crack to cats, I swear), just so he would stop running for the nearest hiding spot when he saw me. The morning I brought in the other strays I trapped, I put a trap in his room and baited it with Temptations. Poor little sucker got trapped.
Let me tell you, it’s a GREAT thing I caught him and brought him in. His tail was broken and/or dislocated in several places, to the extent that there was dead tissue. The kind folks at Operation Catnip removed his tail and probably saved him from a slow death from infection. He also got fixed, ID’ed as little boy, and got all of his rabies and booster shots for free.
Unfortunately, when they removed his tail, they also shaved his entire behind area, and with the little stump tail, he now looks like he’s got a little bare chicken butt. Which is super cute, but I’m sure he’ll be happy when his fur grows back in.
So he’s back with us now, and he’s learning how to be around people. It’s hard to imagine it’s only been a week. He’s discovered cat toys, scratching pads, wet cat food, and how nice it is to lay on people and snuggle. He also has discovered a deep crush on our other sump-tailed cat, Zeus, who is amused and uncertain about this itty bitty stumpy kitten. He’s getting used to our dog (who loves cats already), and learning the ways of living in a house with people.
I named him Rocky sort of as a play on words about how rocky his first six weeks of life have been. He’s also Rocky because he’s a fighter. And because the guy who played Rocky was delivered with calipers, causing serious nerve damage to his face and tongue, but he still pushed forward and made it big in a tough career that is unkind to people with imperfections (Steve Buscemi being the exception). He might earn another name when he gets bigger.
We’re looking for a forever home for him. Not that we don’t want him, but with a dog and four cats, we’re already maxxed out here. In fact, if he doesn’t get claimed soon, we probably will end up keeping him because he’s such a sweetie. He’s a 6 week old (medium length fur) tabby that’s been fixed and has his whole first round of shots and parasite treatment. Eventually his fur will grow in and his stubby tail will finish healing. He’s pretty fearless, he loves other cats and is getting used to dogs, and he’s getting to really love being spoiled by people. (He LOVES being scratched on his face and head.)
So if you know of any good homes that need another little kitty, please help make the connection. He wants a place to grow up and a home to belong to.
