The Kitten Rescuer

 So, as the sun was going down last night, I was out in my postage stamp sized garden pottering about with, er, garden things, when the sound of mewling reached my ears.

I thought it was a bird at first, then when it continued I realised it was probably a cat. I just assumed it was a local feral passing through, as I've seen feral cats in the vicinity of my flat before. 

Later on, I went out in the rain to put some rubbish out, I heard the mewling again, coming from somewhere over my back wall. Thinking there might be an injured cat out there, I put on a head torch and headed into the overgrown yard of the beauty salon next door, who own the land over my wall. 

The high pitched little meows got louder, and it seemed clear to me I was in the right place. And it didn't take long to locate the source of the sound. I looked to the right, and my torch beam swung round to reveal a tiny tabby kitten sitting shivering in the rain in a forked tree trunk looking straight at me.

It wasn't this kitten that was making the sound though. The mewing was coming from a second jet black kitten that I only saw when it moved. 

I was utterly stunned.

I grabbed the two of them - they made no attempt to run or hiss at me - and took them into my kitchen, while scrabbling around for a box to put them in and grabbing the oldest towel I have as a sacrifice to get them dry and give them something to lie on and get warm. Sitting however was the last thing on their minds, as they kept climbing out, with the tabby kitten especially keen to follow me around. 

Their then followed a frantic period of researching and phone calls and messages with a vet nurse I know to find out what to do. I've never rescued kittens before after all! 

The advice is actually rather counter intuitive to what you actually want to do, which is give them a hot water bottle and snuggle with them all night making baby noises. If you are assuming they are feral, which I was, the advice is actually to put them back where you found them so mum could come back for them. 

So I rigged up the box as a shelter for them, and put them back, although if it got cold or started raining again I would have fetched them straight back in. It was about 11pm by now, and I resolved to check on them in the morning. 

So, Monday morning I go into the beauty salon, explain what I'd found, and asked for permission to go out back in the yard and see if they were still there.

They were exactly as I'd left them. 

So, after a colossal amount of fuss from the staff next door, who gave me a bigger box they couldn't climb out of and an extra blanket, I brought them back into my yard where again, mum could find them if she was around. It was clear now that the tabby was much the more active of the two, desperate to climb out and explore, while the black kitten was quieter and less active, although seemingly just as healthy. 

The ladies from the beauty salon now brought kitten food, which they totally scarfed down indicating they were weaned and older than the 6 weeks I had initially thought, while I phoned a cat rescue I know through work. It was becoming blatantly obvious to all of us that these poor little mites were not feral, rather they had been dumped. They were too healthy and tame to be feral kitties, and they could not have been in the yard for long as I would have heard them. 

The rescue called me and said they'd pick them up from a local vet practice, so I prepared to walk with a box of kittens through town. Thankfully the staff at the estate agents out front who run my flat offered me a lift, after about an hour of fussing with the kittens and wanting to take them home with them. 

The staff at the vet practice were exactly the same too, although they also sexed the kittens - black kitty was a boy and tabby kitty was a girl. 

The last I saw of them was them being taken for a checkover by the vet, after which they would go to a cat foster home. 

I was very sad to see them go.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 24.10.22

Christmas Still Ongoing

The family are all still here, and of  course the two bengals, who last night spent literally two hours going completely mad and fighting each other for domination of the mini fishing rod. Dusty, the smaller and shyer of the pair constantly tried to get control of the sofa where the rod was wedged from Ziggy, the rather more bengally of the two brothers.

He had his backside kicked every time.

Now the two of them are sleeping next to each other on that sofa, where they are allowed to rest and strop as it is already falling to pieces.

I've been out for a walk for an hour to look at rubbish sales. Nothing good out there.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 26.12.18

Home Invasion

So my sister and fiancee have arrived at my parent's house for Christmas, which is exciting enough, but they've also brought their two bengal kittens with them.

I say kittens, but at 6 months old they are great long cats, heavy with solid muscle and tails like snakes. I can hear them thundering up and down the stairs while I type this. A lampshade has already been broken; these kitties are expert climbers. Bans are in place in certain rooms with nick-nacks on shelves.

It's been a few years since there was last a cat in the house, we've all missed kitties. It's wonderful to have these furry menaces here.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 23.12.18

Fred the Kitten

Well, we have only caught the one kitten at work so far, but what a cute one!

Fred is named after our facilities worker who has been here a million years doing all sorts of things and is rather a legend. He helped the cat care lady when this feisty little fellow tried to make a run for it out of his trap.

He's now being fostered and accustomised to human handling so he can be rehomed. He is very lucky. We've not caught any more, and the cat care people on site have been told by night staff that there is also a vixen and four cubs, and also a family of weasels and that they between them may have taken the other kittens, which is heartbreaking, but not unexpected.

Let's hope Fred can find a good forever home.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.07.17

Danger Kitties at Work

Lot of admin type stuff today, as yesterday, but it was all done. Was doing my other comms tasks, when a facilities manager appeared with a rather odd request.

"We've got some feral kittens on the campus. RSPCA won't help as they aren't injured. What can you do?"

Our team gets all the odd miscellaneous tasks.

So, I went with him to visit a large bush at the edge of a lorry park, where he said the mother and 7 kittens were living. All these bushes are being chopped back for security reasons, and also the fact that, yes, it's a lorry park, means it is going to be unsafe for a family of cats.

I watched for a good twenty minutes, and saw nothing. But there was a bit of a whiff of cat urine in the air. Lovely.

What now? People have suddenly been talking about these cats all day all of a sudden, and several people have contacts with various shelters - the kittens could possibly be rehomed, the adults relocated to a farm perhaps - but none of them have the means to catch them.

Well, I can only see this leading to Keystone Cops type scenes, along with a lot of stress for the kitties and a lot of scratches for us. So I called up Lincoln Cat Care, who do have traps.

They are visiting on Monday hopefully.

I've been sketching cats drawing, smoking dope and being feral kittens.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.06.17