i can iz has your soul?
the journey 
a week ago today i found this kitten. it was the morning of the new moon, very early morning, that i woke up to hear a kitten screaming. in the throes of mid-night stupor i convinced myself that i was dreaming and/or hallucinating (the dark and i have a very volatile relationship). i eventually fell back to sleep.
around 9 a.m. the dogs and i are laying in bed and i hear the kitten screaming again. i get out of bed, put my clogs on and meander outside to see if i can tell where all this squalling is coming from.
i decide it is coming from beneath the semi-trailer that is parked next door to our house at the fireworks' stand. sure enough, as i make my way in that directions (in my pajamas) i see that there is a tiny black kitten sitting, screaming under the trailer. as i come up on it, the little creature hissed and darted into an outside corner of the building. i am able to scoop the mess up.
and believe me-- mess. this tiny monster has consumed my life with mess. when i found him he was wet from the nights storm, covered in cocklebur's, and stinking from diarrhea. i wrapped it in a towel and called josh.
i started the conversation with, "i found something." my husband is a smart man, and from those three words he pretty much knew the direction this conversation was taking. i told him the story, and we concluded that we would try to get it to eat. still wrapped in its towel, the kitten and i made our way around town, gathering the needed items for it's basic care-- food, kitten milk, litter, and a litter box. i set up kitty-kamp in the bathroom, away from the dogs.
i then changed my clothes, went to work, and scoured the internet for abandoned-kitten care sites. thank goodness for the internet. i was able to find a plethora of important information, which then led me to the vet after work that day. if abandoned kittens are experiencing diarrhea, the sites made clear, you should take them to the vet for a once over. at the vet i learned the kitten had a case of the 'bad-poops,' was malnourished (weighing approx. 1.1lbs), was maybe 6 weeks old, and was male. the vet:
- wormed the kitten
- prescribed me antibiotic
- prescribed something for it's intestines
- charged me nearly $50
- said we'd need a check-up
- gave me 6 free cans of food
i am trying to see the grace, feel the grace, to pursue this. i wrote a letter to the big Mama, telling her that i am lost and hurting and need love to experience this. and clever Gal she is, the levels of grace i am feeling ARE magnifying, in the smallest most precious ways-- a call from a friend, the ability to write about it, and the acknowledgment that this is a lot, and this is enough. i feel it imperative to take better care of myself tonight. sort of regroup. tonight i will bathe not only the kitten's wounds, by also my own. and perhaps more grace will blossom around them. there is a check-up tomorrow, and we'll go from there.
Reader Comments (4)
He is...er...adorable?! Ha ha. Cats are always more difficult in the beginning, doesn't seem to matter much if they are sick or healthy, old or young. They are just tempermental beings and take time to adjust to everything.
You are doing a good thing for that kitten. He needed you, that's why he was crying so loudly. Are y'all keeping him for good? Have a name?
Kittens make you crazy in the beginning. I know this well. I adopted two once, and I ended up begging my best friend, in tears, to come get them for the weekend. She did, they came back, we eventually adjusted. It sucks at first. :-)
Aww...he looks like he would be a good companion for Glendale. Actually...nevermind. They might join forces and attack us in our sleep!
If it makes you feel any better (probably won't), we just finished dealing with a UTI. *blech*
You ARE doing good because you are a wonderful person. How could it be any other way?
Er, let me clarify. Glendale had a UTI. Not any of us...