The Cat Lady

The kitten calls are flooding our lines. This year the calls to our Lost & Found line with people wanting to get rid of their kittens is up by 30%. We don't know if that's because we are building our shelter and have had more PR lately or if that is because we have lost control of the Spay/Neuter of our local strays. I agreed to take one litter at a time and since I have adopted out our one adult we had, I have space to take a litter.



I had the opportunity this week to go and catch a mom cat and her litter. She had made her home under a person's deck but that person doesn't like cats and her son is "dreadfully allergic" (yeah, we've all heard that before).



So I arrive at the lady's house after work. I'm tired. I've worked all day and now I'm going to try and catch a bunch of kittens who have been un-handled (except for her son who goes out daily and feeds them and plays with them but apparently is NOT allergic to the cats if they are outside!!). Great. I didn't tell her the nasty thoughts that went through my head when she told me this!



I get to her house and she's waiting at the door for me. She won't open the door. She talks through it, opening it only about an inch so her voice carries through. How Rude. As soon as I'm within hearing range, she calls out "Are you the cat lady?"



Great. Now I'm "The Cat Lady". Wonderful. Just what I dreamed of when I was little - to grow up and become "The Cat Lady". Yahoo. Can you hear the sarcasm dripping? I tell her that yes, I'm the one who is going to catch the cats. She nods, closes the door the rest of the way and turns around to go back into her kitchen.

So much for me using her bathroom ... and no, I didn't want a drink of water or anything - thanks. Dumbass.

I shake my head and set myself up on her deck in the shade. Momma cat is SO happy to see me, she's purring and ever so friendly. The kittens run away when they see me.



After about 30 minutes, I have caught all the kittens. I knock on the door and the lady comes back, opening the door an inch. I ask her if there are 5 kittens. She says no, there are 6. I ask her what colours, she says 3 brown and 3 orange. I tell her I can't find the 6th one. She calls her son who then tells her that there are 4 orange and 2 brown. Great.



I wait for another 10 minutes with Momma cat but I see no other kitten and hear no mewing. I doubt there is another kitten or if there was, I bet it's dead. So I load up the momma in my spare carrier.



I tell the lady I can't find the last one and she tells me she will call me if she sees it. Now that I've caught the kittens, she wants to know what I will do with them. I tell her that they will be handled until they are friendly, then adopted out. Suddenly, she knows all sorts of people who would want the kittens. (Go figure, eh?) I thank her and ask that she let these people know to call the Humane Society if they are interested. She is upset. Apparently she thought she could just have the kittens back and give them to her friends when they've been dewormed, vaccinated and "friendlied". Dumbass.



Now I've got 5 kittens and a momma cat in a crate. I had to put them in the barn because I currently have a dog who would kill them given the chance. My resident cats are both adults and have figured out that if they don't know the dog, don't go close. Not to mention that my husband is allergic to cats ... though we live with two permanents plus fosters. Pictures to follow shortly. I have none right now.