Totally Free Kitten

The urge to have a kitten has been overwhelming lately, last week we saw an adorable 10-week old black girl on Gumtree and we enquired after her but she was gone.

(The friend of a friend who has been feeding what turned out to be a pregnant stray well I was down for a kitten from that litter who were 5 weeks old yesterday but then a friend of hers who was down for one kitten decided to take two if she could. So I agreed she could take two as that meant another kitten got a home)

This Saturday there was a tabby tuxedo girl- just under 10 weeks old and one of a litter were the subtext of the ad read:"PLEASE take them off our hands just come and take as many as you like- we don't care what happens to them- free to anyone who'll take them we can even deliver"

So I emailed them about her. (Dave is in full agreement even though (or maybe because) it will irritate the district nurses one of whom has already said "You shouldn't have a cat, I can get someone round to get rid of it for you") and heard nothing over the weekend so thought how rude they couldn't even be bothered to let us know.

About 11 this morning my phone rang and it was about did I still want a kitten? Alas the tabby and white tuxedo had gone but they still had her black and white sister, I said I'd ask Dave. Dave then said he was so depressed he couldn't look after himself let alone a kitten but after thinking about it said if it was okay with me then he'd like a kitten to be company to Bonnie after all kitten will have to be in the carrier while they're introduced (before anyone says anything it's a massive one, 2-3 full sized cats would fit with room to move so there's a ton of space for a small kitten, a small water dish, a small food dish and a small container of litter). When we got Bonnie the plan was to keep her in there while we did introductions but Sarsi had other ideas

I was about to let them know when the people came back to me-someone was supposed to pick up two kittens Sunday and didn't show so the tabby tuxedo was still available.

So we arranged 6.30 tonight and I got an address in East Ham. Quick check on Google maps showed it as being miles from the station and I don't like walking areas I don't know after dark so it would be a cab job there and back..

Left work at 4.30 and on the way into the main building there was a £20 note lying on the pavement, neatly folded. Looked round, no one about and certainly no-one looking for money so I picked it up (I paid the electric bill this morning every penny helps)

Got home and realised my smaller carrier has a broken gate so it would have to be the big carrier, which is awkward to carry so I was CERTAINLY getting a cab. Luckily my local cab office has some drivers who are lovely and I got one of my favourites and he knew the way.

Dead on 6.30 I arrived and was shown into the kitchen where 3 kittens were huddled together sound asleep. (the good news is hopefully the other two are going to a new home tomorrow)

What followed was the rudest awakening for a certain tabby tuxedo (If not any kitten ever) by 6.32 she was in a carrier by 6.40 the carrier was in a cab and that included a quick talk to the woman there who it turned out was rehoming them for her mum whose cat had the kittens (they didn't realise the stray their mum was feeding was unspayed- mum is now booked in for a spay- the kittens mum that is). she was nice and said she was just hoping they'd go to good homes so I gave her some advice about what to look for when someone wanted a kitten. They didn't want any money and the cab fare was £18 so I handed over the £20 I found- so this was a totally free kitten.. (I'd like to think Sarsi sent the money via the agency-it wouldn't have been folded if she'd sent it direct)

I opened the front door and had to put the carrier down, Bonnie of course ran out to see if it was someone who could feed her and found herself facing a carrier with a kitten in it. She backpedalled and ran off.

Since then she's been fine- curious yes but apart from a first close inspection she merely has a peep from the living room door and is her usual self.

We decided to keep things low key, assuming the kitten was used to household noises Dave watched some telly and I've been sitting in here letting people know. I suspect kitten has resumed her rudely interrupted sleep we've heard the occasional meep and sounds of movement. Either that or she's dead but I had this with Bonnie and for a small kitten it's not even been a long day it's been a long and challenging 3 hours

We don't have a name yet and because the carrier is on the floor Dave hasn't even seen her (then again it was 3 days before we got a proper look at Bonnie when she came)

The carrier is big enough so later I can put food and water in if she doesn't want to come out- in fact to be on the safe side I'll probably keep her in there overnight although as I say Bonnie seems largely unbothered she's sitting next to me getting skritchies and purring as she usually does this time of night. (If I know Bonnie she's thinking "GREAT! Another kitten! This means I can eat her food on top of mine! Double helpings for me!")

So for the moment (and longer if all goes well) I once again sign myself

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

PS I put the carrier on the sofa so Dave could see her- she was asleep but now she's further forward in the carrier and dozing off again. He's in love and she's asleep whilst he watches "The Walking Dead"

Update- she's still in the carrier- I'm hoping to take a half day tomorrow to get her and Bonnie introduced. We put a plate of food in and she seemed to ignore it, which was a worry then Dave informed me she sniffed at it then proceeded to inhale it- 3 minutes later the plate was licked clean and she settled down to a good wash

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

On 10/27/2014 8:03 PM, Lesley Madigan wrote:
Update- she's still in the carrier- I'm hoping to take a half day tomorrow to get her and Bonnie introduced. We put a plate of food in and she seemed to ignore it, which was a worry then Dave informed me she sniffed at it then proceeded to inhale it- 3 minutes later the plate was licked clean and she settled down to a good wash

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Wonderful news! Do keep us updated.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 10/27/2014 8:03 PM, Lesley Madigan wrote:
Update- she's still in the carrier- I'm hoping to take a half
day tomorrow to get her and Bonnie introduced. We put a plate
of food in and she seemed to ignore it, which was a worry then
Dave informed me she sniffed at it then proceeded to inhale it-
3 minutes later the plate was licked clean and she settled down
to a good wash

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Wonderful news! Do keep us updated.

Jill

Super, you deserve each other!

Sylvia

Update- I put some food down last night and she didn't appear interested - until we looked away then suddenly the plate was empty, she must have inhaled it.

I went to bed , leaving kitten in carrier and Dave on sofa.

Woken this morning by suprisingly loud "FEED ME!" racket coming for the living room, as Bonnie sauntered past me on the way for her breakfast from the bedroom it wasn't her.

Went into living room kitten screaming for breakfast. She wasn't in the carrier Dave insists she broke the door down but looking at how the door was neatly on the side I suspect he let her out in the night.

I put some food down and immediately she chowed down.

Dave said he liked her spirit then said "Spirit sounds like a good name for her"

So I asked her what she thought and she looked up from stuffing her face and said "MEEP!!!"

So she now has a name Spirit although as with all kittens she'll be called "Little sod" at some point

She loves Dave she's even snuggled up with him for a bit but she's still not so sure about me maybe she hasn't quite forgiven me for taking her away from her siblings less than 24 hours back. If I keep feeding her she'll come round.

Bonnie isn't being aggressive or anything- she seems to mostly ignore Spirit, which given how famously genteel Bonnie is may be down to the fact they have not been formally introduced (at Court presumably). When they meet as they have done a couple of times now Spirit is starting to explore, Bonnie gives her a quick sniff then walks off. At the moment Bonnie's not keen on coming in the living room so in order that she doesn't feel neglected I sit in the bedroom with her, which I would do normally anyway as my PC is in there and she comes up for her usual skritchies. To be honest Bonnie seems a tad scared of her but we're keeping things ordinary, Bonnie and me usually have skritchies this time of night. There's been no aggresion on either side at all so I am hoping once they get used to each other (and Spirit is of couse introduced at court)they'll be friends

The one thing where we are keeping them apart is mealtimes. Bonnie gets to eat in peace in the kitchen and Spirit at least for a few days gets to eat in her carrier. ~I don't want either of them to feel they can't eat in peace or have to compete for meals. Although when Spirit explored the kitchen Dave reports she took a couple of nibbles from Bonnie's bowl.Thankfully Bonnie was asleep at the time.

Today Dave reports about mid morning- Spirit was half asleep when Dave heard the noise of Bonnie using the litter tray. At which point Spirit gave him a filthy look as in "You forgot to point something important out" and went to the bathroom where a couple of minutes later Dave heard her covering her deposit so she's litter trained.

Then of course it was the district nurse visit- some of these are such judgemental nightmares (They think I am a bad person for going to work I told them if they want to pay me what I earn to stay at home "where do I sign up?" that didn't go down too well)last week one of them told Dave "You shouldn't have a cat I can get someone round from the RSPCA to get rid of it" (Dave was a lot less than polite but they will keep complaining about his attitude like the time it ended up in his notes apparently that he was "potentially aggresive". This was after he threatened to do a nurse for assault if she put a silver dressing on. AFTER he told her he's allergic to silver (okay so he's a werewolf) and she told him not to be silly and tried to go ahead)

Luckily he got Lynette who is okay and she fell in love with Spirit who rather than hiding sat and watched her at work.

Right now after having her tea (served to her in the carrier on a saucer I brought today just for her- I couldn't find a saucer yesterday- we don't use them so last night and this morning I used paper plates and got a 45p saucer for her today) she's investigating the washing machine (it's switched on) and she just did her first BCT

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:08:15 -0700 (PDT), Lesley Madigan
wrote:

The urge to have a kitten has been overwhelming lately, last week we saw an adorable 10-week old black girl on Gumtree and we enquired after her but she was gone.

....

The carrier is big enough so later I can put food and water in if she doesn't want to come out- in fact to be on the safe side I'll probably keep her in there overnight although as I say Bonnie seems largely unbothered she's sitting next to me getting skritchies and purring as she usually does this time of night. (If I know Bonnie she's thinking "GREAT! Another kitten! This means I can eat her food on top of mine! Double helpings for me!")

So for the moment (and longer if all goes well) I once again sign myself

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

PS I put the carrier on the sofa so Dave could see her- she was asleep but now she's further forward in the carrier and dozing off again. He's in love and she's asleep whilst he watches "The Walking Dead"

Good news, a new feline member of the family. And she's already
running all over the place!

Her first BCT was getting under Dave's wheelchair so he could not move for fear of a nasty accident. I had to direct him so he could move. We reached a point where she was no longer under the chair at which point the little sod immediately went back under the chair!

This morning she also ate Bonnie's breakfast- you can imagine how well that went down!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 3:47:52 PM UTC-5, Lesley Madigan wrote:
Her first BCT was getting under Dave's wheelchair so he could not move for fear of a nasty accident. I had to direct him so he could move. We reached a point where she was no longer under the chair at which point the little sod immediately went back under the chair!

This morning she also ate Bonnie's breakfast- you can imagine how well that went down!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Sounds like she's not totally free anymore- does she maybe need more food than she's getting? Toci

"toci" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 3:47:52 PM UTC-5, Lesley Madigan wrote:
Her first BCT was getting under Dave's wheelchair so he could not move
for fear of a nasty accident. I had to direct him so he could move. We
reached a point where she was no longer under the chair at which point
the little sod immediately went back under the chair!

This morning she also ate Bonnie's breakfast- you can imagine how well
that went down!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Sounds like she's not totally free anymore- does she maybe need more food
than she's getting? Toci

---
Sounds like it went down HER tummy just fine (-;
Don't kittens have to eat more often than grown cats?

Sylvia

On 10/29/2014 4:16 PM, Sylvia M wrote:
"toci" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 3:47:52 PM UTC-5, Lesley Madigan wrote:
Her first BCT was getting under Dave's wheelchair so he could not move
for fear of a nasty accident. I had to direct him so he could move. We
reached a point where she was no longer under the chair at which point
the little sod immediately went back under the chair!

This morning she also ate Bonnie's breakfast- you can imagine how well
that went down!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Sounds like she's not totally free anymore- does she maybe need more food
than she's getting? Toci

---
Sounds like it went down HER tummy just fine (-;
Don't kittens have to eat more often than grown cats?

Sylvia

Speaking of which, I'm running into a problem with Koala when it comes
to food. Pickles is eight years old and has always had food available.
She has enough problems being pestered by Koala that I don't want to
upset her more by taking away her food. She eats Iams weight control
formula.

The doctor game me some Science Diet kitten food for Koala, and that's
what I've been giving him - twice a day. That worked fine when he was
shut into a separate room. It worked for a while after I opened the
door. Then he realized that there is a dish of dry food available all
the time. First he started eating it between meals. Then he decided
that he liked it better than his kitten food, so he almost stopped
eating that.

I decided to try Purina Kitten Chow, which he seems to like. However,
so does Pickles.

Now what do I do?

Joy


--
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Colorful Crocheted Critters
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