mom's side of the story, part the first

if you hasn't been following the story, please go back to here and start at the beginning.

THURSDAY (8/20/09): the black kitty? i really didn't mean to; i really tried not to. i really, really, did! but last thursday the guys at work kept the back door open for ventilation, this little kitty-guy wandered in (we dunno how much before he was first heard crying), and when they spotted him in the warehouse, four grown men couldn't catch him. (you must understand that there are no homes around our building; the railyards are at the back, a c-store to the west and an electrical supply place on the east. very busy street out front, and nearest inhabited homes about a block away on the other side of the street.

so up the 14 stairs he scooted and at the ONE place in the whole building where the gap in the walls is exposed, down he zoomed and vanished. we don't know if he fell or managed to climb on something. at any rate, he was soon heard yelling at the top of his cons bbbbbbb (helpful little kitteh types, too) considerable lungs. they guy were busy on a build that was to go out the door on friday, so it took a while for them to get to the wall business. in the late afternoon, they blocked access to the largest part of the room under the stairs, sawed the hole, and constructed a one-way door over it so he couldn't go to ground back in the wall. i got a can of cat food from the c-store next door (where they had had a crying kitty the day before, but caught it and turned it over to (shudder) "animal control". i left the can in the room with a small pan of water, and went home with heaviness in my belly and fear in my heart.

FRIDAY: but the next morning, there was the little wild thing sitting on a shelf, spitting and screaming and swearing (where DO they learn such language so early?). i couldn't lay hands on him because of the tight quarters and my arthritic legs and hips (he was far back on the bottom shelf behind a stack of heavy parts), so i had to leave him there after replenishing the water and mopping up all the poop generated by a whole can of friskies (and, probably, fright). i called everyone i could think of, and of course, cat people have cat people as friends, and they were all "maxed out". i took a tip from the c-store cashier and tried the gal in the hair salon across the street. she said, yes, she wanted one, but her b.f. said no; she promised to ask some of her clients, though.

about 3 pm, i tried again to pick the little feller up, and finally succeeded (after falling into the shelf on the way to standing up). i scruffed him and held him to my chest, and he just melted; started to purr. THIS was a feral??? more and more, i think that he and his littermate (and maybe others) might have been dumped over the fence between us and the railyard. in the late afternoon the hair salon gal and the b.f. came in and she squeeee'd and he appeared to be softening (they already had 2 cats) until he looked under the tail and pronounced him a "she" and he wasn't havin' no kitten factory in HIS house. she went away almost as sad as i was; but after an hour, she called and said that one of her clients who lived out on a farm was coming in on monday and said would take "it" to live with the other barn cats. well, ok. i felt better. but not right, not good enough. i called tom and said to find the large cat carrier, that we'd have a weekend guest, and explained. loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggg silence. "ok." *ffffweeew!* i thought he'd blister my ear or stroke out, or both, but he didn't.

we equipped the cage with folded towel to sleep on, dish of water, dish of food, tiny litter box: he seemed to know what to do with all of them. he hollered as long as he could see me, but shut up after a while when i left the room, and all seemed well. the boycats had sniffed in my direction as i brought him in, but didn't say anything. we left him overnight so the others could sniff at him if they wanted to, but i don't know how much, if any, of that occurred. at one point, i screwed up my courage, and asked if we couldn't PLEASE keep him; tom looked surprised and said, "i kinda figured that was what was gonna happen." *faint* *thud* *faint sound of sphincter unpuckering*

SATURDAY: i got up early and called the vet (ours was out of town, but they recommended one nearby, and was gratified to be worked in at 9:15). off we went, and the vet reported that this was indeed a boy (tom called it right), he had no ear mites, his eyes were clear, his mouth looked pink and healthy, she couldn't hear his heart and lungs for the purr-motor working overtime, he had precious few fleas, and was negative for FeLV *hosanna*. got his first kitten shots, and i went home with another $100+ free cat.

we never saw the other kitties lurking around the cage all saturday long. we let him out several times on the desk next to the computer to eat and drink and play (he had upended the water overnight and saturated his little cardboard potty box), and then locked him back up.

in the evening for a while, we brought him into the living room on our laps and there was some more minor hissing again, but funniest of all--cocoa is terrified!!!!!!!!!!!! she was actually shaking with fear when he swiped a paw at her big, intrusive nose, and would not re-approach him. xing, of course, didn't want anything to do with him, and griped and hissed and b!tched the whole time she was out there, so (to her delight) we returned her to her 2-room suite.

little guy was returned to his cage, and we all settled in for a long night's sleep.

. . . to be continued