A couple months ago, just before Thanksgiving in fact, a friend of mine called me to ask for my assistance. We will call my friend Superfuzz since she is an amazing woman in many ways who also happens to be a law enforcement officer.
This particular night Superfuzz stopped to type up some notes in her usual spot and she noticed a stray cat loitering around. Being the conscientious and wonderful person she is she carries (as do many officers) animal kibble around in the trunk of her car. I imagine it also comes in handy if you are cornered by a vicious pitbull on top of a picnic table. So, she offered the kibble to the cat who turned up its nose. Very unusual for a stray so she surmised that the cat was sick or injured. The cat, at this point, began yowling and rubbing up against her leg. Superfuzz then took a closer look at the cat and determined that she was not sick or injured but very pregnant and most likely in labor. Superfuzz took an old towel out of the trunk and laid it in the rear floor of her squadcar. As soon as she opened the door the cat took a leap and settled herself into the car. Superfuzz immediately began making calls to emergency veterinarian centers thinking that they would accept the cat from an on duty officer. Every one of them refused her and by the time she arrived at her garage in desperation two kittens had been born in the back of the squadcar. She made a makeshift bed for the kittens in the garage and a call to the Humane Society answering machine reassured her that they did not turn away any animals.
After a long shift Superfuzz returned to her garage to find five healthy kittens and a sweet mother cat all relaxing in her garage. A none too happy husband was wondering how long they would be staying. She called the Humane Society, who despite their answering machine message, refused to take cat or kittens. So here she was with all these kittens, a cat, an increasingly disgruntled husband a noisy bird and her two dogs, all in an upstairs condo.
This is where I come in. Superfuzz is a good friend of mine, more than that, she is my running partner and has been for for a year and a half or so. Those of you who are runners you know how rare a good running partner is. Superfuzz runs at the same pace that I do and typically we sign up for the same races and run them together. Usually half marathons; this year we have done four. We run together almost every Saturday and try for one day during the week too. So when she called me asking for help of course I wanted to do whatever I could.
I thought it over and talked about it with UberGeek. He wasn't a hard sell. UberGeek is like Dr. Doolittle with animals. When he was growing up any animals that walked through their yard became pets. My mother in law says it was pretty much a zoo, but a happy one. We also thought it would be a great learning experience for our four year old twins Diva and Eddie Haskell. So Superfuzz delivered the feline crew in a giant Tupperware box and we installed them in our spare bathtub.
For weeks they were no trouble, just nursing and sleeping. Now, at 8 weeks old they are running all about and generally wreaking havoc on the house. Plus they have a lot of output litter box wise. We have found adoptive homes for two kittens and have decided to keep the mother and one other kitten. It has been much harder than expected to find a home for the last two kittens. So, for now, we are a home with five cats. Did I mention I already have an incontinent and ancient cat that lives in the garage?
