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Jul. 28th, 2011 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kamomilWe have a neighbor who loves to make sure that we are a cohesive neighborhood... she loves to chat and introduce me to the neighbors. I am finally getting used to her!
Anyhow she came banging on the door yesterday, along with someone I assumed was another neighbor. Turns out he had a cat in his car with his kids, a stray that he was trying to find its home. He said it "had white on it" so I thought it was the youthful Siamese that I had seen hanging around a week or so before. So we went to the car, and the neighbor and I went "ohh" because it was a completely different cat. So much for white on it, which the Siamese could have been described as, it was a mackerel tabby kitten, black and grey, with a W on its forehead and some white around its nose. The neighbor then knew it wasn't a neighborhood cat, she knew of the Siamese's owner.
The man had been at a soccer game with his kids in the park behind our house. So he had found this wee kitten, didn't want to leave it there, couldn't take it home, couldn't reach the Humane Society or Animal Services because it was after hours. The park near the house extends for a city block in length, there is a wooded area section of it that says "caution after dusk: coyotes" so there was a real danger it could have become dinner for a coyote or raccoon.
So I took it in, figuring it's just one night, I can stick him in the spare bedroom, we have an extra litter pan etc etc.
So I get it in the room, give it food and water, it chows down, kneading the floor while it eats... still so young! I lift it and look at its butt to see if I can figure out the gender... no little balls but that doesn't mean much in someone so small. So it's still an "it".
When I close the door, it starts howling and mewing. So sad! It starts to get me upset at this point, wondering what I have gotten myself into.
I crack the door open a bit, and my own 2 cats circle around the door, I bring him out in my hand and my one cat hisses at him. I figured this would happen, I just wanted him to realize why I had him locked up. I put him back in the room, I opened the door a crack periodically to talk to him and let him know that I haven't forgotten him.
I read up on the internet about the humane society and the city's animal services... to see what his prospects are because I just want him out of there ASAP. I posted a little "found" thing on the humane society site with his photo. The humane society makes a big deal out of "surrendering" an animal, ie they treat it like a crime (a worse crime to leave it on the street or in a vacant house to fend for itself?) so I don't want to go there unless I have to.
My boyfriend comes home, all interested in the kitten, guessing at his age, etc. and I am reassured that I have done the right thing. Seems as though he doesn't mind keeping him!
This morning, I figure I have the space for him, so I can keep him for a while to see if anyone claims him. He doesn't have to stay in a cage like in a shelter, and I have no deadline looming for him to leave. The bad part: I don't have a car to go drop him off anywhere; I am on vacation, when I go back to work I don't have a lot of time to go hunting down his possible owners.
So now I am going to call a few vet offices and see if anyone is missing him, then make flyers, get them printed out, and run around to peoples' mailboxes and put them in. My vacation days are precious because my work stress is atrocious, but whatever, he is safe with us for now and that's what really matters.
Anyhow she came banging on the door yesterday, along with someone I assumed was another neighbor. Turns out he had a cat in his car with his kids, a stray that he was trying to find its home. He said it "had white on it" so I thought it was the youthful Siamese that I had seen hanging around a week or so before. So we went to the car, and the neighbor and I went "ohh" because it was a completely different cat. So much for white on it, which the Siamese could have been described as, it was a mackerel tabby kitten, black and grey, with a W on its forehead and some white around its nose. The neighbor then knew it wasn't a neighborhood cat, she knew of the Siamese's owner.
The man had been at a soccer game with his kids in the park behind our house. So he had found this wee kitten, didn't want to leave it there, couldn't take it home, couldn't reach the Humane Society or Animal Services because it was after hours. The park near the house extends for a city block in length, there is a wooded area section of it that says "caution after dusk: coyotes" so there was a real danger it could have become dinner for a coyote or raccoon.
So I took it in, figuring it's just one night, I can stick him in the spare bedroom, we have an extra litter pan etc etc.
So I get it in the room, give it food and water, it chows down, kneading the floor while it eats... still so young! I lift it and look at its butt to see if I can figure out the gender... no little balls but that doesn't mean much in someone so small. So it's still an "it".
When I close the door, it starts howling and mewing. So sad! It starts to get me upset at this point, wondering what I have gotten myself into.
I crack the door open a bit, and my own 2 cats circle around the door, I bring him out in my hand and my one cat hisses at him. I figured this would happen, I just wanted him to realize why I had him locked up. I put him back in the room, I opened the door a crack periodically to talk to him and let him know that I haven't forgotten him.
I read up on the internet about the humane society and the city's animal services... to see what his prospects are because I just want him out of there ASAP. I posted a little "found" thing on the humane society site with his photo. The humane society makes a big deal out of "surrendering" an animal, ie they treat it like a crime (a worse crime to leave it on the street or in a vacant house to fend for itself?) so I don't want to go there unless I have to.
My boyfriend comes home, all interested in the kitten, guessing at his age, etc. and I am reassured that I have done the right thing. Seems as though he doesn't mind keeping him!
This morning, I figure I have the space for him, so I can keep him for a while to see if anyone claims him. He doesn't have to stay in a cage like in a shelter, and I have no deadline looming for him to leave. The bad part: I don't have a car to go drop him off anywhere; I am on vacation, when I go back to work I don't have a lot of time to go hunting down his possible owners.
So now I am going to call a few vet offices and see if anyone is missing him, then make flyers, get them printed out, and run around to peoples' mailboxes and put them in. My vacation days are precious because my work stress is atrocious, but whatever, he is safe with us for now and that's what really matters.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 07:58 pm (UTC)Of my 3 cats, 2 (sisters) were abandoned at a vet's office. And the 3rd walked up to me on a warm September evening about 5 months after I moved here, and asked to come home with me. (She's kind of, sort of my favorite, but shhh... don't tell the other two!) Of course, those are my 3, who are confined to the second floor of the house. Downstairs, my mom has 2 kitties -- my younger sister's cat, who we sort "inherited" about 2 years ago, and another stray kitty, who showed up on the back doorstep on Easter Sunday, crying her eyes out, and mom fell in love with her.
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Date: 2011-07-28 08:20 pm (UTC)I had initially said no to them - I had one cat, then she died of kidney failure, then next time I saw the guy, I told him I'd take his cats. Bella is cranky, but my boyfriend pets her in such a way that she adores him, Ezra made me have to relocate some items because she loves climbing up on top of things.
Because Bella is cranky, and I feel 2 cats are enough, I don't really want to take on this little guy as well. I found a local cat rescue organization, they have volunteers fostering the cats, so I am fine with keeping him until someone finds a home for him. If I were to get another cat I would like to take a senior cat, this little guy has everything going for him, he would be easily adoptable I imagine.