The Saga of Katniss

Last Thursday I received a text message from my neighbor (the one who had the Eagles nest).  While I am sharing some of her pix she sent me, I did not cut and paste her words.  Paraphrasing will have to do AND WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR THIS...

Katniss & her Mom

"I saw some pictures of MY/your kitten and wanted to tell you that I had seen the mother cat and her kittens for several weeks before Thanksgiving.  They played on my patio all the time.  In fact, I bought an igloo doghouse for them to keep warm during the snowstorm we had.  And, of course, I was feeding them every day."  


My HEART SANK.

Traps

Katniss at my neighbor's

She went on to say...

"I got two have-a-heart traps from Our Companions and put them on my patio hoping to catch them.  I was able to catch the mom and brought her to the local veterinary hospital.  They participate in the feral cat program called "TNR" (trap, neuter, release) so I brought the mother in the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  She was spayed, recovered, brought "home" and released.  

Abandoned Hole in brier patch

Meanwhile the two remaining kittens (one all black like the mom and the one with the white paws) were on their own while she was gone.  The mother cat won't come anywhere near the house since I trapped her.  She was traumatized.  I really was planning on catching the kitten with the white paws and raising it.  She's so cute.  

The mom had 4-5 kittens in a hole in my brier patch on my property and the only two that made it were the black one and the one with the white paws.  Something got the others."

As you can imagine, as I read each word, my heart sank more and more.  Not only did I now know that Katniss came from a litter of four or five, was born in what looks like an abandoned rabbit hole, and was THE ONLY ONE to survive, but also wanted to be adopted by my friend and neighbor.

Sending her a response immediately describing the capture as well as a few pictures, I was more than concerned.  

She texted me back asking if she could come over and "just hold her."  When the doorbell rang Sunday afternoon, I jumped.  Katniss was downstairs taking her afternoon nap.  Walking quietly down the stairs, I saw Katniss' head pop up as my neighbor peered into the bedroom.  She didn't see me behind my neighbor and I could see the frightened look on her face.   But, MY little girl recognized my voice and her demeanor changed immediately.  Picking her up and handing her to my neighbor, she cuddled and hugged Katniss while Kat struggled to get free.

After we hung out a while with Katniss, she left, telling me she is very happy that I saved her as are the folks at OUR COMPANIONS.  When she sent them the pix of Katniss here at home, the staff said it was the happiest feral kitten story they've heard in a long time.  

just seeing, saying, and sharing...

The Saga of Katniss

with you and those at

Image-In-Ing

Thankful Thursday