Wild Kitty is Recovering......

Wild Kitty is back at home getting used to a new routine.

I captured her and took her to the vet where there was all kind of grim news....mostly centered around her being too young and too small to have a real decent chance of having kittens.

So she had surgery....and is spayed now. She came up negative for feline leukemia....and seemed to be in good health.

When we brought home she was in a big dog kennel from the vet and since we have a kennel too we transferred her from the vet's kennel to our kennel which is stacked on top of Mattie, our deaf dog's, spot in the garage. I thought she would recover better in the garage than in the house....the garage door is often open and she could smell and see the outdoors versus the strange scents of indoors.

Trouble is kitty looks so small yet and so vulnerable....that I'm not sure I want to let her outside again. So this week....we are experimenting. She sleeps in her cage out in the garage at night and we've been putting her in the laundry room during the day. At first she was very frightened...but now seems to enjoy the laundry room....she opens a lower cabinet and sleeps on some old towels when she wants....or she curls up into a laundry basket with some nice dirty clothes. We've found she is fond of strings....and have searched our junk drawers for all the loose shoe strings....which we dangle in front of her ...much to her delight.

So far so good.....she's letting up pick her up and touch her....even purring in the process. She is recovering nicely and getting her appetite back. She's learned to use a litter box.....and seems quite content with the arrangements.

I guess we'll see if she can blend with the other animals....if not we'll keep working on socialization and see if we can find someone who will her adopt her. She's cute as a button.....and she just might socialize well...with enough lovin'.

To touch, to tame, to connect.

For 4-5 weeks....a skinny ragged little kitten has made her home in the bushes in our front yard.

I don't know how she found us, perhaps, some invisible sign written in cat language is staked in our front yard...."these people are nice to strays."

Whatever, she was a small streak of gray meowing in the bushes.... obviously hungry and I have cat food.

I hesitated for only a few seconds before placing the bowl under the bushes.... I don't want another cat.

I have two cats, two dogs, two sons living with me....and one husband.

The Inn is full.

My last cat, Fancypants, was a stray but I'm not an animal hoarder or someone that takes in every animal that wanders our way.

Still...I could not not feed this small cat. I would figure out what to do with her later.

To my surprise....the little kitty hissed and arched her back trying to look ferocious when I placed the bowl down.

I wondered if she was feral....but her little ribs were sticking out and whatever she was....she was under my bush, in front of my house meowing pitifully.

I fed her the next day and the next day.

She wouldn't come to me and always kept a couple of feet distance.... each time I got down on my knees and peered under the bushes... she would sink further back into the greenery and hiss.

I tried to catch her as the weather grew colder....put out a cat carrier with food in it...but once she was inside... she flung herself so hard against the grate her nose starting bleeding...so I let her go.

And so we continued our little dance.....

"Kitty are you there?"

Meow Meow.

"Here's some food"

Hiss. Hiss.

With snow and below freezing temperatures coming, I worried for the little thing but I wasn't sure what to do.

One day when I opened our front door on a very cold morning, kitty was sitting on our doorstep...but she zipped away the minute I bent over and tried to touch her.

So I placed a bowl of food on our front porch and waited......she peeked out of the bushes and cautiously stepped onto the porch to eat....she had one eye on her food and one eye on me. If I moved....she ran away.

So the dance moved to our front porch.

The night before the first snow storm, I looked out the door's window and saw her sitting on our steps. Cold, small...a little spit of a thing....I knew I had to do to provide some sort of shelter for her or she might not make it. But anything that reeked of human....like a towel...a box....she jumped away from.

Since she occasionally sat on our doormat.... I found an old heating pad and slipped it under our mat and plugged it in to our outdoor lights. Within minutes, after I shut the front door, she curled up in a tight knot over the doormat. Next trip outside, I placed a small square of wood in front of the front step to provide a little wind screen.

Heating blankets don't stay on continuously....people were injured or burned when pads were left on so most heating pads have a two hour timer....which meant someone in our household would have to open the front door and reactivate the heater for our wild cat.

We all took turns ...anyone who was passed the front door looked out the side window to see if the red heating light was still on. Each time someone reactivated the pad.... she jumped away quick as lightening but jumped back just as quickly.

She survived the first snow storm and the ensuing bitter cold nights after. I would reactivate the blanket at about 1am before I went to bed....and my son, who leaves for work at 5am, would be the first in the morning to turn the thing back on...which meant she only had a two hour window to keep warm on her own.

Since she survived the cold tough week, I thought I would try a different approach. I sat down on the front step and waited. Sure enough....she'd peek out of the bushes...cautiously jump onto the front porch...dance around....stretch...rub herself against my flower pots....but she always kept the two foot distance between her and my outstretched hand.

"Come here kitty kitty" I would say softly to her.

"Meow" she'd answer...dancing around in a circle but still keeping her distance.

And then yesterday.....the usual routine....I gave her some food....went about my day....and opened the door around noon to sit on the front step for a few minutes.

Out she popped from her little home in the bushes.....and then she carefully....walked closer to me....I reached out my hand.....I could see the hesitancy in her body.......all her muscles seemed ready to spring ....and then she moved her head towards my fingers...paused.... then bent her head down for a few seconds....allowing me to scratch her..... behind her cold little ears.

We both jumped apart after contact.

She looked as surprised as I was.

What happened today? Why today? After a month of shying away from me....what had changed? Why did she decide to trust me for three seconds...to offer me her neck to touch...to connect?

I don't know.

She came up to me later in the day and allowed me another scratchie then darted off.

Now I'm wondering if she is really feral or is she simply an abandoned kitty who's never been touched or petted.

A couple hours ago I saw a preview for the movie "No Strings Attached" and I found myself smiling because I can guess the plot.....girl asks guy for sex// no strings attached....touch touch kiss kiss...but somehow the same door that opened today between my wild cat and I is opened on a bigger scale when a man and a woman are involved.....the touch...the skin contact creates a connection.

Touching an animal or another person....changes you....some neural pathway is altered....some synapse which was unconnected is connected and caring...concern....attention...flows easier.....and the more we touch.....the more the bond strengthens.......which is why "No Strings" doesn't work often in life....and why I am now worried about a little wild cat sitting somewhere under my bushes.

I opened my front door a few hours ago and wild kitty is not there....the doormat is heated...the board in place....and it's very cold....hopefully she has found another spot which is warmer ...safer than my front door.

So now I am more concerned for her and for her safety....now....that she trusts me a little....I've reciprocated by caring a little more about her. I've even thought of giving of her name.

You touch...you connect....and then there are consequences.

Where are you little wild cat?
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Hard to Believe

Hard to believe my wild stray nervous kitty that hissed at the slightest provocation....is now the gentle comfortable lazy princess which curls herself up in my silk comforter and snoozes for hours....and demands to be combed each morning....and wants fresh water at least twice a day.

Hail silky preened queen of the house!
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Any box will do

Fancypants quickly jumped into an old tax box from my parents which I just emptied.

Once she claims a box....she sits in it for a day or two....then on day three she starts tearing it apart with her teeth.......she whittles the box down into a million shredded pieces then patiently waits for another box to appear in her domain...so she can claim it....squatter's rights.

Yikes.....She's got me trained......lol

The Girl's Alright.....

She's alright.

We were supposed to get lab results last week...but an emergency surgery at the Vet changed her appointment till today.

Her surgery was canceled a couple of weeks ago....because of a very low platelet and white blood cell count. The Vet worried she might have had a rare form of feline leukemia.

But today he sounded happy.......her platelets were normal...her white blood cell count almost normal.

"Just keep doing whatever you're doing for another couple weeks."

I scratched her ear then her belly....then kissed her on the head.

Yeah!

Cat thoughts

What are you staring at me for?

You put this marble bowl on the floor ....and now it's part of my domain.

I shall now take a nap in my new bowl.

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Ouch.

My kitty was set to go to surgery today....but the vet called.

They will not spay her today....her platelets are very low, her white blood cells count low also.

Although she tested negative for leukemia....she may be infected.

Now it's a one month-6week wait.....to retest and see if she has cancer or not.

60/40% odds and the 60% is in favor of her having leukemia.

So my new little lovebug is home.....and guess we will just love her up and wait and see what happens.

Ouch ouch ouch.

I don't mean to get all emo on my new kitty but.....

I'm studying Old Testament/Biblical Hebrew and every time I pull out my workbook....Fancypants settles next to me...closes her eyes...and just listens to me....this pose was so darn cute....I had to snap a picture. Maybe she is a reincarnation of some old soul....lol

Fancypants update

My new cat, the little stray I took in....is doing great.

She's settling in so nicely....she's starting to be helpful.

Today, I'm cleaning out a closet.....and Fancypants has captured a stray hanger.
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Fancypants aces her tests.

The vet pulled the scanner out...and I took a deep breath....she had already estimated Fancypants was a year or two old.....and now we would see if she was lost pet.

We both bent over to look at the digital readings.....but nothing came up.

Fancypants, the stray that wandered into our life, passed test one.



Fancypants had been absolutely terrified riding in the cat kennel in the car. She howled...and peed in the box.....and howled some more. After she was scanned, she decided she had enough of us. She turned towards us and gave us one robust hiss.

The Vet's assistant quickly grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and we proceeded on to step 2. Blood drawing. To live in our house she would have to be both AIDS free and Feline Leukemia free because of our other pets. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when the needle went in her leg for blood...but the assistant had her tight and she couldn't move.

Now we sat on a bench in the office and wondered what the results would be. We packed her up into the kennel ...and the Vet felt her belly again.....there's a chance she could be in the early stages of pregnancy.....and we waited.

20 minutes later, Dr. Cathy walked in with a smile.

"She's yours."

My son and I laughed.....

Full house again.....two cats...two dogs.

We just can't seem to break the cycle.

Welcome to the family...Fancypants.
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Fancypants update.....on to Level 2

I can't believe the transformation. I can't believe the irritated hissing touchy cat that came to our house begging for food and water is this little "love bug." It makes me think she started out in life in a home and somehow got detached from her owners....either by choice or chance.

She's like a different animal.....and I'm happy to say she has graduated from being sequestered in the bathroom to now living in my daughter's old bedroom. She is litter box trained and has a huge appetite. I hope she not eating for more than one...I hope she's not pregnant.

Tomorrow....is the next big step.....we'll take her to the vet....The vet will scan her to see if she has a lost and found microchip in her....and then she'll get a medical checkup.

Now that I'm getting attached to her...I'm worried she has a chip and owners somewhere....but there's nothing I can do but wait for the scan on that outcome. And of course...medically...there's all kinds of pitfalls--feline leukemia, heart worm, plain old worms and fleas among other things.

Last night she curled up next to me in this big old flowered chair in my daughter's room. It's my reading chair and she purred while I read my book...just like my old cat. I was so spooked by the similarities....I looked down and asked, "Your not my old cat's soul in a new body?"

To which she replied, "Meow."

I don't know if that means yes or no.
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