Three More Kittens Rescued

An industrial area is no place for kittens, or cats.  Last week I did what I will only do willingly for cats and that is to get up super early, dressed and out of the house.  Yawn!


Mom Mystery with kitten #4

Mystery is a beautiful grey female that I have been helping to feed.  I met her about 5 or 6 weeks ago when Robin told me about her.  What we couldn't determine was if she was pregnant and about to give birth or had she given birth?  Ten days ago we got the answer, she had 4 lovely babies and they looked happy and healthy.  Mystery brought them out of hiding to show them where to come for food.

Last week I made a number of failed attempts to find Mystery and her kittens.  Finally I realized, after speaking with an employee from the city works department that I needed to be there early because Mystery was accustomed to being fed at 6:45 a.m.   Arghhhhhhh.....really?  I made an effort on Friday morning to be there at 6:45 and sure enough Mystery was there with one of her babies.  Within minutes I had a beautiful little female in the trap.  What concerned me was where were the other two kittens?

That afternoon I got a call from one of the city workers to let me know Mystery was back with two kittens so off I went in a mad dash.  Within minutes of arriving I had kitten number 3, a sweet little grey male. 

The next morning, a Saturday, a sacred sleep-in-until-whenever-morning, I was up and out by 6:45 a.m.  I arrived to see Mystery arriving with her beautiful little baby following close behind.  Wish I had been able to snap a picture of the two tails held high.  In no time I had the 4th and final kitten, another male.

All four kittens appear to be in good health and my guess is they are about 8 weeks old.  There are two females and two males.

Willow was the first kitten caught the previous weekend and she is as sweet as can be. The other three kittens will be tame in no time. I was able to handle all three without wearing Mike's motorcycle gloves, which is a good sign.

Beautiful baby Willow

Kitten #4

Now that all four babies are safe and sound, the next step will be to get Mystery in to be spayed.  The plan is to trap Mystery and get her in for a spay this coming Friday.

I met a lot of the men who work at this city works department yard and everyone was helpful and interested.  They all seemed to genuinely care about this mom and her babies. 

Freddie, Nutmeg and little Ree-Ree

When last I wrote, I had just taken in Freddie and Nutmeg and was waiting for the third kitten to be caught and brought to me.  Reba, or Ree-Ree as I have been calling her, arrived the day after Freddie and Nutmeg.  While the first two came without much fuss, Ree-Ree was a whole different story.  Holy moly!!!  This little black kitten was so frightened it was distressing to watch.  All I could do was leave her in the cage with her brother and sister and walk away so she could calm down.

The next morning I began the serious hug sessions with Ree-Ree.  It took me about 10 minutes to catch her in the cage and I was wearing my husband's motorcycle gloves to do it.  Once she was in the carrier I locked the two of us in the bathroom and for the rest of the day we hugged.  I started off with a 45-60 second hug, then returned her to the carrier.  I repeated this a number of times during the day with each hug session getting longer and longer.  By the third hug session I no longer needed the biker gloves.  That evening Ree-Ree and I sat down to watch TV for an hour together.  I didn't have to restrain her at all and she seemed content to sleep in my arms.

Over the past two weeks each of the kittens has settled down, become quite tame and much less nervous.

Ree-Ree describing to Nutmeg the bug she just saw
while Freddie thinks she is exaggerating a little!

This past weekend we were away.  A neighbour was going to come in to feed but then suggested the kittens go to her house.  I loved the idea.  So off they went on Thursday evening for a weekend away, while Mike and I were away too. 

Nutmeg

Freddie Bear and Ree-Ree

In the meantime, another friend had found someone interested in possibly taking one of the kittens as a companion for her cat.  It was getting a bit tricky trying to arrange times convenient for all concerned but in the end it worked out.  The biggest issue was that Freddie, Nutmeg and Ree-Ree had an intake appointment at Toronto Humane Society this morning at 11:00 a.m.  I had tried to change the appointment to later in the day but that wasn't going to work. Anyway, it turned out to be a non issue.

Tanya came over last night, met all three of the kittens and was leaning towards taking Ree-Ree.  She wanted to go home to think about it overnight, which I encouraged, and said she would give me a call before I had to leave for THS.  An hour prior to leaving Tanya called to say she wanted to take Ree-Ree and I am thrilled - for two reasons.  One, I want all the kittens to find a home, but what was extra nice is that Ree-Ree is a black kitten and they are so often overlooked.

On my way home from dropping Freddie and Nutmeg at THS I had to pull over because the tears wouldn't stop coming.  I only got to love these babies for two weeks but I loved them with all my heart.  I know they will have a very good chance at finding good homes but I will never get to hear about those new homes and how they are doing.  I lose all contact with them and that I find difficult to deal with. 

As well, while I was at THS there was a beautiful adult cat in one of the cages. He had just been surrendered too.  I went over to his cage and he came right up to my finger and rubbed his head against it.  I wanted to snap him up to bring home.  He looks a bit like Annie Sparkles, except he is grey and white.  Annie is one of the sweetest cats and this fellow oozed sweetness too.  Arghhhhhh how come I can't have them all?  I sure hope he finds a home soon.

Ree-Ree will go to her new home on the weekend so I have a few more days to play with her. Howie is also still here waiting for his forever home.  I can't believe he hasn't found his forever home yet.

Howie

Freddie and Nutmeg

Last week Robin called me about some kittens living behind a pub and asked if I could go check them out. I found them.  There were three little cuties.

Yesterday Robin and Carrie arrived with the little orange kitten from the pub.  What a little cutie he is.  Just before midnight last night Carrie brought another kitten.  There is one more little kitten to catch and fingers crossed Carrie is successful tonight.

Freddie

Freddie and Nutmeg

Both babies are still a little nervous but I feel they will come around in no time.  I have them until Wednesday afternoon when they will move to another foster home.