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.