Kittenpalooza
Last Saturday night, MaxZine and I were heading home from an evening of live music. About a quarter of a mile up from our mailbox and driveway, we saw a small dark creature lingering in the middle of the road. We slowed down to a stop to avoid hitting it. I thought it was probably a squirrel or a groundhog, but I was mistaken. It was a little black kitten. We quickly noticed that there were two more of them crouched over on the side of the road.
As we continued home, I decided that I would come back out immediately in my own car with a pair of gloves, a flashlight, some food, and one of our cat carriers. If they were not friendly and feral, I would at least leave some food for them. Otherwise, I would scoop them up and keep them safe in my house until I figured out a plan.
Within five minutes, I was able to gather all three into my carrier. They were tiny and defenseless—too young to be away from their mama and too feeble to face the big summer storms that have been passing through. Their presence on a country road leads me to believe that they were dumped by humans, but there’s no way to tell for sure how they got there.
A couple of days later, my next-door neighbor, who happens to work as a vet tech, came by the house to look them over. He gave me an ointment to apply to the mild conjunctivitis in their eyes and weighed each of them. The smallest of the three weighed just under a pound and the other two about one to two-tenths over a pound. They are astonishingly tiny at roughly 4 weeks old. My neighbor also recommended an over-the counter dosage of de-worming medicine, which I promptly gave them the next day.
I must also note that they are QUITE FLUFFY. These are not your average short-haired kittens. They will grow soft, long luxurious fur. These kinds of cats are not typically found in my neck of the woods.
I gave each of them a lukewarm bath and have been feeding them wet kitten food. They are (mostly) using the cat litter box I set up for them in the upstairs room that they occupy. When they relieve themselves elsewhere once in a while, I have to remind myself that this is a process, but I do get quite giddy and overjoyed when I see them hunched over the litter box.
It’s been less than a week since I found them, but they are no longer the quiet, feeble, and very shy kittens who were lost in the middle of nowhere. They now jump all over the place, cuddle and purr on my lap, and eat voraciously!
I love these kittens so much. I feel like the Mandalorian after he came back to rescue Grogu, except I have three foundlings (minus all the violence and intergalactic warfare, of course). At this point, it is very likely that I will be keeping the black one, but the two orange and white ones could use a sweet home with adoring cat lovers.
If anyone in my neighborhood or surrounding areas (Murfreesboro, Watertown, Woodbury, Nashville) is interested in adopting one or two of these kittens, please respond to this email (if you are a subscriber), send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or text me. Ideally, it would be great to keep the two orange and white kittens together so they would each have a playmate to grow up with. This may be a lot to ask of course, and separating them to new loving homes is also an option. All three appear to be male. They are all very friendly and playful. The orange/white ones have blue eyes, and the black one has green. (Please note that eye colors in cats have been known to change over time.)
Here is a photo for scale. I wear a 7.5/8 men’s shoe size. This photo was taken this morning.
For the record, there is still one cat who rules them all in my world. Steinway has not met these foundlings yet, but they will soon learn that he is the boss.
Last but not least, some of you may recall that I have a reputation of being a Cat Daddy. That is definitely the case at the moment. I dote over these young ones as if I birthed them myself. Sigh. Here’s further evidence if you need it:
It is Kittenpalooza here in my home in the woods. Life sure is full of sweet, fluffy surprises.
Art and Photos by Roqué Marcelo