The Last Kitten

 

With six kittens and their mom already here, in my bathroom, the neighbors of the vacant house kept trapping.

Their daughter is seven, going on 60.  She's an old soul.  Wise, smart, kind.   I talk to her about the cats.  She knew there was yet another kitten and the kitten's color.

When I arrived two days ago, to pick up two more kittens, she came running to my car and wanted to show me her floatee.   They have a small pool, the kind with a frame of either PVC or metal pipe that supports usually a three foot deep heavy tarp that holds water.  They're very popular here and come with small pumps with filters, that often start clogging fast.

In the pool was an inflatible floatee with a cat face.  I told her how much I love it.  She got it for her birthday.

Yesterday they caught that final (we hope) kitten.  Gray in color as she had described.   Immediately the pleading began.  The girl wanted to keep the kitten.  So did the wife.  The husband said "no", they had enough cats (two) and a big lovable dog.  Many phone calls later, the woman had her mom on the phone who wants the kitten.  They'd keep her til her mom got settled over an RV breakdown her husband was dealing with.  I went into the cool house (little shed) and pulled the kitten out to determine its sex---girl, gray and fuzzy and darling.  

I sat under their covered patio for some time as the details for the kitten were worked out.  The husband was fearful if the mom didn't take the kitten, they'd end up with her.  Not to worry, I said, push comes to shove I can find her a placement.  The wife brought me an ice water, as it was very hot yesterday, again in the mid 90's.

By then the husband was warming up to the little sweet kitten.

So I came home without the seventh kitten, smiling to myself.

It's hard enough to find placement for six kittens, let alone seven.  

The kittens have been playing wildly in the bathroom, trashing it nightly.   I patiently sweep, mop, disinfect and repeat as needed.

Tonight they all leave, as fosters have been found for them in Portland.  The mom will go to a friend, who will take her to the FCCO tomorrow morning, where she will be fixed.  Another friend, from Salem, has volunteered to pick her up for me, from the clinic, to spare me and my car the congestion traffic home.  She will grieve the loss of her kittens.  

It hurts my heart to think this family will be split up tonight.   They love their mother and she loves them.   She's not nursing any longer however.  She's not much more than a kitten herself.  

Things like this are hard on me, but much harder on them.   They'll be fine in the end.  She'd kick them loose in a few weeks or sooner anyhow.  I remember long long ago, I was at a shelter and they had bottle babes they were feeding.  I asked where their mother was, in case she needed fixed.  "Oh, we killed her," they said, without a blink of remorse.  "She was feral."

That cold statement has haunted me through the years.

We get a cooler day today, maybe 80 degrees tops.   Then back to the 90's.  Once the kittens and mom are gone, I hope to get back up to the lake or a river.