Wednesday I got a message from a
friend who rescues and fosters rescue dogs and more than just a few
have become permanent residents. Anyway, she asked if I had some
newspaper piled up for another rescue group that had 10 puppies
coming in. I usually take my accumulated newspaper to the vet but as
it happened I had a one foot tall stack and she came by to pick it
up. During our conversation she mentioned she had some half feral 6
week old kittens. My sister has been on the lookout for a kitten so I told her and she wanted to know if she could
go look at them. I texted my friend...
Me: my sister
wants to know if we can come look at the kittens
Debbie: Ha ha!
Did you explain that she will have to walk through a pack of dogs?
Me: no but
she'll be fine.
So we arranged
to go look at the kittens Thursday. Now, I knew about the dog pack,
Debbie posts about them often, but I hadn't given much thought to
what 'walking through a pack of dogs' really meant. When we drove up,
following Debbie to her house out in the country, the pack got all
excited (they don't see many strangers she says) barking like mad and
jumping around and crowding the fence and gate...all 20 or so of them
from little bitty to about knee high, all friendly and waggy tail and
the noise was deafening. We had to squeeze in through the barely open
gate while Debbie and her husband tried to keep the dogs from squeezing out
the barely open gate and then we were surrounded by a swirling mass
of dogs each trying it's best to get close and smell and jump and
lick while we patted and spoke to as many as possible until the din
finally died down. Moving from the fence to the house to the garage
was more like shuffling instead of walking for fear of stepping on
myriad toes as they followed moved along with us but they were all friendly and obviously treated with
love and tender care and we never felt afraid and it was really kind of joyful.
about 3/4 of the pack
They also have a
fenced area for fixed feral cats and the kittens were the result of
confusion about who was going to the vet and who was just getting
turned loose and the feral cat that was supposed to go to the vet for
fixing ended up pregnant because they couldn't catch her again,
hence...kittens. They had scooped up the newly born kittens and put
them in the garage where the mother left them as she was able to get
in and out through a partially open window and so Pam and I held the
babies and she decided to take two of them home with her.
So, of course,
my sister is leaving town next week for about 10 days but I had told
her that if she wanted to take them home now instead of waiting til
she got back to pick them up that I would bring them to my house and
baby cat sit. So that's the plan. This way they will have two extra
weeks of socializing instead of two extra weeks of being half feral.
It remains to be seen how our older cat Emma will feel about this as
she has always been an only cat and has never played well with others
and then, of course, the dog but I'm not worried about her.
Anyway, I'm sure
it will get sorted out after the first couple of days and it will be
fun having kittens in the house for a little while.
Sounds like an adventure to me!
ReplyDeleteKittens are always wonderful to have around. You're going to have so much fun with those two.
Not fun yet but hopefully soon. They seem to be adjusting - sort of.
ReplyDeleteThey might give Emma a run for her money or she might slip into mommy mode. I remember when I brought home a kitten. My sister's older cat, Tigger wouldn't have anything to do with it. But it was like maybe a few hours later and everything was fine. Tig, as old as he was, was playing with the kitten just fine.
ReplyDeleteIn my past experience of bringing new kittens home, you can just unplug the TV.
ReplyDeleteWhen we would have a new set, we found about all we did was sit and watch them being cute.
Omg Ellen! You going to keep them in the house, or the garage? Put a tarp over your floor because they probably won’t be completely litter box trained, and there will be accidents. Kittens are crazy fun but they’re also a mess!
ReplyDeletethey are already litter box trained (Debbie's a pro at this animal thing) if it is in the room with them so they will be confined to one room. my sister has had them since Thursday (also confined to one room mostly) and so far no accidents though she did have to scoop one of them up that doesn't know the house well enough yet to find the box.
DeleteTwo kittens are a lot of fun. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAWwww that is so sweet! That place looks dangerous to me, I am pretty sure I would come home with at least a bakers dozen...of everything. Kitten monkeys- oh joy!
ReplyDeleteThat will be fun.
ReplyDeleteOur older cat hated it when we got the foundling kitten and there was a lot of hissing and hiding over the years. They lived side by side in mutual disgust for 18 years.
that's kind of what I expect will happen here only when Emma gets her panties in a twist she tends to disappear for a couple of days. the last time she was gone for three days because I had two puppies in the garage overnight waiting for the animal rescue group to come get them the next day that I had snatched up when the neighbor aggressively ran off the stray mama dog and she abandoned the puppies.
DeleteGood she got two, company for each other. I've always found it easy to introduce kittens into a pack of older animals. Older cats, not so much.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet. Baby kittens are just special. That little ball of fragile fluff. They bring something to the house that only they can. Much better than chicks, but then chicks are good too. But, kitties...I want some!!
ReplyDeleteWow -- that IS a pack of dogs. You're friend wasn't lying! I'm glad your sister took a couple of kittens and they'll get to stay together. I forgot entirely that you have a cat too!
ReplyDeleteOoooh, that sounds like so much fun. It is my secret (not now) wish to have a pack of dogs. Quite adorable kittens, but then, that's redundant, isn't it? Nice of you to baby cat sit - I might have a hard time giving them up. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could still have several dogs and maybe a few cats too. There isn’t really any reason not to except age and what will happen to them should I die or become infirm.
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t go to a place like that and not come out with a new acquisition or two so perhaps I better not go.
Good luck introducing the kittens to your household. You never know you might decide you could adopt one yourself.