So I heard a strange noise outside the bedroom window on Sunday night (it must have been about 10pm). It had been cooler and rainy all day and the windows were open. I called Neil in.
"Does that sound like a bird? ...or is it a cat?"
"Sounds like a bird to me."
"I'm not so sure, Neil."
It stopped for a minute and then started up again. "That's a cat. It's gotta be. I'm going outside to see." I made the cat "pssspsspss" noise and asked "who are you? where are you?" and sure enough, a small grey fuzzy thing with little claws raced out from the darkness and ran over my feet and scared the crap out of me. I thought it was a rat or a hamster or something until I saw the tail. It was a very tiny, very wet, very fuzzy, very scared kitten.
After a moment of uncertainty and an utterance of "Oh no, not again," we decided to bring the kitty into the basement and make a barrier in the corner for it to spend the night. Arthur and Penny were looking out the door at this point and wondering what was going on. So with a slightly guilty conscience, we shooed them away and snuck downstairs. This kitty was soooo quiet and so calm in my hands - wanted to be close and snuggly. Unbelievably different compared to my experiences with A&P.
Little kitty likes to move. Very wiggly. Very speedy and yet unstable on the hind legs still. We thought it was about 4 weeks old (turns out we were right). We made a barrier out of boxes (the boxes we still haven't flattened from the move in Feb.) and hung out with her for a while and then went in search of kitten formula/milk. Didn't find any at 12:00am. Went to the emergency vet place and they suggested soaking dry food in water and mushing it up. So we returned at about 1am and tried that option. She started gobbling it up with a little difficulty, but she ate.
We knew we couldn't keep this cat. A&P wouldn't stand for it and we can't afford it. We took her over to the vet yesterday to see what her sex was (female) and how old she was (about 4 weeks). She weighs 12.5 ounces. OUNCES!! Luckily, Rudi & Meaghan had said just the other day that they were thinking of getting a cat. We brought her over to their house last night and when she fell asleep on Rudi's lap, it sealed the deal. We're all going to the vet today, hopefully, and will get her checked out. I really hope she's healthy!
This morning, she had eaten most of the mushed up dry food during the night and was playing like a big cat: attacking a toy and then bouncing away backwards, arching her back up and standing on her toes - making herself look "huge"...which on such a small cat, looks totally hilarious. She was tearing back and forth around her enclosure - she likes to explore every nook and cranny and she likes to climb up to your shoulder and nuzzle your neck. She has used the litter box and everything (though the pooping seemed a little difficult).
I'm so proud of her and am so glad that I can visit her while she grows up in a good home! I think she's going to be social and a very good little friend.
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