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? 

Cats & Allergies--Uh-Oh.

Being allergic to cats and having two of them we keep indoors, I'm used to having a semi-constant sniffle. But something unknown has happened the last three weeks and I am a heaving, dripping, snotty, sneezing allergic wreck of a person.

It's definitely something at home causing the problem. I'm fine when I'm in my car or out for the day. But within an hour of returning home I have to remove  my contacts because they're covered in eye gunk.  I'm blowing my nose every five minutes and half the time I sound like Mushmouth from the old Fat Albert show because I'm talking through my stuffed up nose.  My eyes stay raw and red-rimmed from my rubbing them so much and I wake up every 30 minutes at night with dry mouth because I'm breathing through my mouth instead of my nose.

We're not doing anything different - no new washing detergent or plants or anything like that. We're not cleaning quite as often as we used to, so that probably contributes as does the constant rain we've been  having ("mold" is one of  my strongest allergies). But I have to face facts that it's the cats who are making me miserable.

Not that I intend to do anything about that other than suck it up and take it. I am trying to get better about washing my hands after I touch a cat.  (So now I'm washing my hands about 80 times/day. ) But I'm pretty much taking the road of "maybe if I ignore it, it will go away on it's own."

Give up my cats? NEVER!  I'll explode first. 

Stray Cat

I've been sporadically feeding an all black kitten that has made its home in the bushes around the Dollar General Store at the end of our block. It's a friendly little thing. A little skittish at first, but once you start to pet him/her, the motor revs up.

I was pleased to note this morning, when I carried down food and water, that some kind soul had set out two bowls by the side of the building. One was filled with water and I assume the other had contained moist food as there was an empty can of cat food rolling nearby.

As I emptied the food I'd brought into the dish, the kitten seemed more interested in receiving a bit of love then the food, twining around my legs. Only after I'd petted her (let's just call it a her) for a few minutes did she sniff the food and then gobble it down.

She may have already had breakfast. As I was petting her I noticed a bit of fluff around her mouth. "What have you been into?" I mock scolded as I reached to pull it off. Only then did I see it was a tiny feather. And there were several other tiny similar feathers floating nearby. "I see," I told the kitten. "Did you catch your breakfast this morning?"

I'm not a fan of cats killing birds, but these strays have to in order to survive. So I was pleased the kitten seemed to have the hunter instinct and ability.  

Did you know the average life span for stray cats is two years? Not very long. This little kitten is probably already about 4 months old.  It breaks my heart to see how friendly she is. She would make a very loving pet. The problem is finding the household to take her in.

As much as I talk about wanting another cat, we really can't. I'm not even holding my own against my allergies as it is. Plus, Lucy hates other cats. Hates them. Olivia I think could learn to adjust. Lucy's still ticked at us for bringing Olivia home and that's going on 5 years.

I worry about when winter comes. Feeding a cat sort of puts the responsibility on you to have some concern for their health. Maybe we can build the kitty a little shelter? Depends, I suppose, on how flexible the Dollar General people want to be about it. I'm sure they're not wild about people feeding a stray cat outside their store, as this just encourages the cat to stay. Indeed, I often see the cat roaming the parking lot, hesitatingly looking at people as she decides whether or not to approach. 

I wish there were no more strays.  I wish I could find the black kitty a home. I wish she could know the joy of being pampered and adored. I wish, I wish...

Photos of Lucy Cat

Is there anyone more beautiful than my Lucy? She was curled up on the library couch today, snoozing in the sun and I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.  Looking at them, is it any wonder why I love my cats the way I do?

I call this, "Trying not to glare at Mommy for waking me up from my nap with the stupid camera" pose.

"I rule all" pose.

"You bore me and now I will bathe myself" pose

"It's time for me to go back to sleep now" pose.