This young man is Josh P. Almost immediately after I had to put my sweet Komet down, he started pestering me about taking on of his cats. At that time, it was a year old black male cat. I just was not ready to bring another cat into the house immediately after losing Komet. I needed some time to grieve. Also, a year old male cat? I had no idea if he was neutered or not--a non-neutered cat of that age would probably already be spraying.
It was a cute cat, and I was tempted, but I just didn't feel a connection to it. I kept saying "no...no...no," and he kept telling me he would have to shoot it if I didn't take it. I didn't want it to be shot (and I wasn't sure he was serious about shooting it, either. He talks tough but he is really more of a marshmallow than he appears.)
Well, the day came when he announced to me that he had shot the cat but that his grandma's cat had had kittens. A bit later, he told me that he had actually dumped the cat at a farm. (Not much better than shooting it, actually, as a cat raised in the house is not prepared to be let loose in the wild, and any other cats around would see it as an invader and an interloper and be mean to it.
Days passed--then he told me that he had to find a home for his grandma's kittens or he would have to shoot them. I said i needed to see them first as I didn't want some straggly, sickly cats that would cost me a fortune in vet bills and then have to be put down in the end any how.
So, he returned a day or two later with pictures of the kitties on his cell phone. He said to pick the two I wanted and he would shoot the remaining one. I said, "Just bring them all to me."
Then, I didn't know if I'd ever actually see them anyhow, as he kept forgetting to bring them or forgetting to come to school at all. Finally, one morning he came and told me they were in his truck. I said, "They can't stay out in your truck all day, they will bake alive." So he brought them in and they were immediately snuggled by many students who paraded them all over the school. Jay told the kids they could not stay in school all day, so I asked him if I could run them home and come straight back. He said, "Go ahead."
So, I took them home. I stopped at the vet clinic in Byron to get them some good kitty food, and the vet assistants had to see them. They checked them for their gender, and that's how I found out for sure who was a boy and who was a girl. when they are little like that it is hard to tell. They also said they figured the little ones were about 8 weeks old, which would make them nearly 10 weeks old now.
In the beginning, only Stewie would let me hold him. I could catch Tyger Lilly every once in a while, but she'd hiss and struggle to get away. I was able to tempt her with kitty treats to come close to me, and she began to see me as "Mommy, giver of good things." And now she wants to be held and cuddled all the time.
Little Peaches still won't let me hold her, but I have been able to pet her quite a bit, and at night she snuggles up tight to my legs. It won't be long before she is my snuggle bug too.
And that is the story of how I came to be the Momma of 3 sweet little kittens.
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