The Kitten

Last Saturday - July 31st I was working in the garage when I heard a strange mewing sound from outside. Right outside - so close that it almost sounded like it was in the garage with me. I opened the side door to the garage and there by our garbage can was a tiny little kitten. It looked pitifully underfed so I picked it up and brought it inside. Then I went and told Colin, since I am far from an expert on cats. Also, I knew I would need his help keeping Izzie from smothering the kitten with love.
We fed it some tuna, which it seemed to really enjoy. (It wasn't until later that we read you're not supposed to feed cats tuna intended for humans.) Colin held out his finger and the kitten licked his finger and then tried to eat it. It was very innocent, but she had broken the skin and we were concerned about the possibility of rabies. We talked to our vet and also called the nurse hotline. Neither person seemed particularly concerned about rabies - they were more concerned with tetanus and infection - but we were advised to keep the cat for 10 days and if it became ill, have it tested. So we kept the cat and the kids loved it.

When Ben was using the computer she would jump up on the chair and sit beside him. Sometimes he would decide he was "hot" and put the cat down which made her protest loudly until somebody else gave her attention.

Unfortunately, just as we had decided the kitten was very healthy, she became ill Wednesday night and was dead by Thursday morning. When we realized around 11pm on Wednesday that the kitten was very sick Colin went to the ER. We were now very concerned, but not so much anyone else. Colin was told to get the cat tested the next day. Thursday morning was spent making arrangements for the cat - the rabies test has to be done on brain tissue. Luckily we merely had to drop the cat off at the vet. Somebody from the Health Department was responsible for transporting it to Knoxville (about 2 hours away from us) where the test is performed. We were waiting on tenterhooks all day and got the results about 4:30 - everything is clear!

We don't know why the cat died, and of course we are sorry she did, but at least she had several happy days with us in which she spent a lot of time purring happily and getting lots of love.

And a little bit of mauling.

Of course the first thing the children asked Thursday morning was, "Where is the cat?" We told them, in carefully chosen words, that the kitten was unhealthy and had died. They asked a few questions. Izzie wondered if we could see the cat later and Ben bluntly told her, "No. When things die they're dead forever." This didn't phase Izzie at all.

I think the kids enjoyed the kitten because they were the ones in control. They could pick her up, put her down, hold her in their laps. They really liked petting her and hearing her purr. It didn't take much to make the kitten purr, and when it happened Izzie would proudly exclaim, "She's happy!" I hope she is.