The question came to me the other day: do kitties have angels? How did two tiny orphaned kittens, not much more than two weeks old, born under our mobile home, know to go towards a tiny bit of light they saw seeping through a vent? How did they know to go right to the only spot I could have reached them? How did they know I WOULD rescue them? They had no adult cat to direct them. So do kitties have angels? I think they do.
Here is a remarkable story, done in diary form, of how two orphaned kittens, about two weeks old, found their way to my care.
For quite some time now, I have been feeding several neighbourhood strays. Two of them, a male and female—wild, but beautiful—Siamese are offspring of Keeper. (See the story: Finders Keepers)
I had not seen the female Siamese at the feed dish for quite some time. I had suspected that she may have had kittens some place.
Friday, June 17, 2005 - At 4 pm, when I went with Rocky to get the mail, I heard a loud mewing sound coming from under the house. Rocky and I scrambled around, trying to find an opening where a cat could have been trapped. We went to the vent just under our office window. With a hammer I pried off the cover. Reaching down, I pulled out a very tiny kitten with Siamese markings, probably no more than 2 weeks old, still unstable on its feet. I took it into the house and fixed up a cat carrier for it. I know that cats often cannot tolerate dairy milk, but that is all I had to offer it. So, after supper I started off to the store to see what else I could get for it--maybe pabulum or something. Just as I was leaving the house, I heard another loud mewing. Going to the same spot, I reached in and pulled out a black kitten. So now, here I was with two very young kittens on my hand, and NO mother cat. I had to become an instant mother. I came home from the store with Whiskas cat milk. But I still was not satisfied that this milk was enough. The kittens should have some sort of supplement, as they would have had on their mother's milk.. But what could I do at 8 pm? I had a medicine dispenser, with a kind of dropper top, so I used that to feed them. I was up a couple of times during the night to feed the pair. The black kitten, I temporarily named, Black Beauty. The white one, I decided I would call Billy Boy (for now).
Saturday, June 18 - I purchased a can of cat's mother's milk, expensive, but necessary for the health of the kittens. After getting the mother's milk and some canned chicken cat food, I mixed them together and began spoon feeding the kittens. I did that for a few times until bedtime, and then I fixed up a mixture and put it in tiny containers and encouraged them to eat on their own. I tried saucers, but they just walked in the food. Black Beauty, who is much bigger and stronger, caught on right away. Billy Boy, I had to spoon feed.
They couldn't stay penned up in a tiny cat carrier for long, so I got some boards and made a barricade to keep them in the kitchen, where cleanup would be easy, and where they couldn't get into any dangerous places. I put down a few toys for them, and something soft and furry to play with. I was used to watching where I stepped while I work around the kitchen, as this is not the first time I have been nurse mother to kittens. Scooter had to be babied at first when we took Keeper away to the Vet's last October, and E~Z (Ezee) was very undernourished when, as a neighbourhood stray, he came to us, almost three years ago. He was older though, about 10 weeks old, I estimated. Another mystery that makes me think kitties have angels. How could a kitten so young, lost or abandoned, find his way to someone who would care for him, and how did he survive in cold, rainy October weather? {But he did and now he is a very big kitty.}
I use the clumping kitty litter for the rest of my cats, but when I put the tiny new kittens into it, it stuck on their feet, and they started to eat it. I knew I would have to get something safer, as clay-based litter would be very bad for them, if ingested So, off I went again to the store in search of something safer for the kittens; although both Scooter and E~Z survived through the clumping litter. I came home with something I had heard of before, called Swheat litter. It is made, as its name suggests, from wheat. I put it in a shallow box, putting each of the kittens in and holding their front paws, scratching the litter to show them how. Right away they caught on. Now they have a bigger pan, but still separate from the big kitties' box.
Sunday, June 19 - I am amazed at the progress the kittens have made in 24 hours. Both of them are eating now on their own. Nine-month old Scooter is very curious about these two new "things" and has sniffed them out, but is not yet brave enough to play with them. E~Z is jealous of them, as he is "MY BABY," Casey and Casper have both ignored them, and Keeper--their own grandmother--hates them. No mother instinct left in her. I guess she lost it all in December when we had her fixed. (The Keeper story). Rocky, with his great shepherding instincts, has taken on the role, as he did with the other two--E~Z and Scooter--of guardian. He got into their enclosure and was playing so gently with them. And to think, when we took Rocky at 17 months old, in 2002, he was dubbed "a cat hater!"
Monday, June 20 - I took away all the barricades and decided it was time for the kittens to explore their full surroundings. After last night's struggle at trying to make a kitten-proof barricade to keep the kittens in, I decided it was easiest to let them run free. And they eat from a small bowl now--cat milk mixed with chicken cat food. Scooter is having a ball, playing with them. EZ looks interested in joining in, but instead, comes to me for an "ear nibble," a habit he has had since I brought him home nearly three years ago. He and Scooter were great playmates when Scooter was small. Casper, 9, and Casey, 3, look on with mild interest. But Keeper will have nothing to do with these little intruders.
Please go to: Part II – Do Kitties Have Angels?
See also: Part III – Do Kitties Have Angels?
Finders Keepers