Back a few months ago, I captured a little stray kitten along the road. When I first saw her, I also saw her mom, a small black cat, and another little kitten, black, running up the road. By the time I caught the first little one, the other two were gone. I brought that one home to keep her, but continued to watch for the mom and the other kitten.

And then came a note on my door. The neighbor who told me that the mom was wild left word that there was not just the mom and a black kitten, but there were four(!!) kittens that were wild and living under their deck. As they were getting ready to move away, did I want to come and rescue the kittens? Umm..... Duhh.... Of course!! It's not that I *need* more kittens, or *wanted* more kittens (ok, strike that... I always want more kittens), but that there were four kittens and a mother out in the wild is completely unacceptable. Must rescue. Must make safe.

At dusk, the remaining three came up for some of the stinky food I put in the trap. All three headed into it at once and SNAP!! One backed out just in time, but I'd caught the other two. The final one was caught the following morning. Never did see the mother, but all the kittens are now safe, fed, and growing up loved and together. And wow, are they beautiful!!

New kittens, hiding as best they can!!

When I brought them home, they were held in the bathroom for a few days to see how wild and healthy or not they were. They decided the toilet was best to hide behind.

Four new kittens, waiting to see what will eat them.

After a bit, just later the same day, they were all comfortable enough to stay together on the towel when I came in. They adapted to us so quickly! 

Four new kittens in hiding

 After a few days, they were able to explore the bedroom and living room a little. Since they still wanted to hide, I kept them only in the living room during the day so they could get accustomed to our sounds and us. They chose to stay in the bottom of the kitty castle scratching post. The original kitten, Winky, used these days to re-acquaint herself with them. She was afraid at first, but quickly learned or remembered them.

All five kittens, back together again

Within a week, the formerly wild feral kittens were all back together and snuggling with me on the couch. You wouldn't know they were feral at all. They are so sweet, smart and strikingly beautiful! Along with the original, Winky, we named them Blinky, Zot, Carbon and Silicon. There are four little girls and one boy (Carbon). 

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As I was driving up to get the mail and newspaper today, a black cat jumped out of the bushes into the road. It looked just like our small black cat, Mo, who is known to wander, so I pulled over and got out to go get her. Up by the mailboxes is just waaaay too far away for her to be wandering. Mo has a pink tracking collar to help us find her, but I didn't see it as I was getting out of my truck.

When I got out, the black cat started running away, up the road, and two tiny kittens jumped out of the bushes to follow her. Definitely *not* Mo, I thought. Being out in the wild, and on a road, is far too dangerous for little kittens. I cursed the owners that would let them out to run like that. The mom and a black kitten continued to run up the road, but the little grey tiger-striped kitten was closer and chose to dive back into the bushes, and towards a block fence/wall. I went to get her and she started screaming and trying to jump over the wall. Each jump, going straight up, she would make it about 3/4 the way up the 3 foot tall wall and fall straight back down. After three or four jumps, I was too close and she decided to hide in the bush so I wouldn't see her.

But I saw where she fell to and reached in to grab her. She started screaming and shaking, but I held her to my chest and talked softly to her to calm her down. The neighbor that lived behind the wall came out and said that the mother and the kittens were stray/wild and the mother had been running loose and having litters for 2 or 3 years! He even suggested that I give him the kitten and he would wait until he saw the mother wander by and he'd put the kitten back out into the wild to go back to the mother.

Of course, I hated the idea of taking her away from her family, but being out in the wild is no place for a kitten, or a mother, for that matter. There are far too many foxes, cougars, bobcats, owls, predators out here in the country, so I said "No." and went to see if I could locate the mother and the black kitten, but they were far gone into the hills. So I brought the little girl home. I didn't see that I had any other choice but to bring her to safety and keep her. I'm a sucker for little kittens anyways.

She's so tiny! My big girl, Shadow, likes her and allows her to snuggle up. I think the kitten really needs to hear a big purr, so she settled right in to Shadow's tummy.

She's adorable

Here's a better picture with Shadow. The difference in size is remarkable.

And such gorgeous big eyes.

Yup, that's it for me. I'm keeping her! And if I could, I'd catch the mom and brother and keep them safe too!

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After getting out of my shower yesterday, I heard a strange watery tinkling sound. I looked around the corner and saw Dobby, my red cream tabby with a curly tail, shown here, was hopping off of the toilet. I went over and looked in and sure enough, the water was moving, pee colored and had some fresh bubbles in it!!

I didn't even train him to do it. Usually, I've heard of the little trays that you fill with litter and start training your cat to use that and then slowly take it away, but not Dobby. He just up and used it! And I've noticed colorations in the bowl before, with no clue where it came from, so I think he's been using it for a while! What a smart kitty!

Now if I could just teach him how to flush....

Merry Christmas,
Joy

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