Mother/One Kitten Disappear

The woman fostering the four orange tabby kittens, who also adopted their mother, left a message this morning that the mother had taken off, with one kitten. She'd left the door open, to the foster room and the laundry room, which opens outside. The mother took off, with one kitten clutched in her teeth by the kittens scruff. It was one of the female kittens.

I tried to call her back. No answer. She finally called back and said she had to go, that they were looking, didn't give really any information. I left a message that I was headed up. I headed up there intent on retrapping the escaped mother and kitten. I've done this before, by using a drop trap and the remaining kittens in a carrier beneath the drop trap.

But when I arrived, no one seemed to be home. I was surprised since I'd just talked to her twenty minutes before. She had not mentioned going anywhere. Finally their son answered my knocks. He's a kid who doesn't talk much, maybe two word answers. I shouldn't say kid. He's twenty or so.

He said his folks were gone and he didn't know when they'd be back. He said he didn't know anything about the escaped cat and kitten. Then he wandered off. I didn't know what to do.

I had tried to arrange to come get two of the kittens, who had a home ready, on Sunday, but could not get ahold of the family. I left a message earlier this morning also, to same affect, trying to arrange to get the two who were going to a home today. A third kitten was to go to a Redmond couple who placed a hold on the kitten last week.

I hemmed and hawed around. I went out into the berry vines searching but it's a huge area and I had no idea where she'd seen the mother with kitten disappear. I had asked the son to call his mother, to get this information and when they might be coming back. He did call but afterwards, would not even say a word to me, other than he didn't know when they would be back.

I searched the fields with binoculars. Tramped through the berry vines. But it is a huge area. The mother finally came out of her bedroom. She is elderly and very sweet. Her daughter wanted to keep the fourth kitten for her. The mother said she really didn't want another cat and I should take all three that are left. So I told the son I didn't know what to do, that I was going to take the kittens and his mother could contact me about catching the mother and fourth kitten.

At that time, the parents arrived home. The woman wouldn't even speak to me, just stalked past me, and finally screamed "They're in the fucking brush" when I asked where they had last been seen. Then she went inside and slammed the door. I didn't know what to do. I asked her husband what I should do at this point, that I didn't want yelled at by his wife.

He said he would go in and get the kittens. He came out with only two. I have homes for three already arranged. I wasn't happy with the woman. She'd not only left the door of the foster room open, where the mom also was, but done so with the laundry room door to the outside wide open. These doors were also open when I arrived with them gone. This was her fault. She didn't mean for the cat and kitten to escape, however. It was just one of those things, an accident. She had no business screaming at me over it.

So I left with the two kittens. I just wanted to sob. I had wanted to find the mother and the other kitten. I don't know if they'll even survive now. I don't know if she'll try to take that one kitten and head back to that barn where she came from, which isn't that far away, actually.

I drove home in a fog of sadness. I drove home in a big black pit of despair. And shock. I didn't expect her to scream at me. It was the last thing on Earth I expected. I expected she'd be there and together we'd try to find that little kitten and her mother.

I've struggled ever since Hopi and Moby died, with sadness and emptiness. I've struggled a lot. It is hard for me here. The culture, I suppose. The lack of any green quiet escape. The hordes of unfixed pets. The drugs. The crime. The alcohol. The roaring cars. The concrete. The absolute aloneness of my life here.

The Albany dirty air report is no surprise. People scoff here at regulation of anything. They scoff at climate change, or of any human culpability to maintain the Earth. They scoff at anyone who even thinks that maybe spraying every chemical available in garden departments on their yard and gardens is not such a great idea. I can't even come close to understanding the culture here. I don't want to try, anymore. I want gone from here.

I am determined to leave Albany for somewhere more in tune with the things I value. I'm dying.