The Kittens....And Mama Kitty
I hate this planet. I hate the rules here. Animals suffer. People suffer. Since the kittens in the back yard would only grow up to be four big bird killers, along with their mama, we had to take them (the kittens) to the Humane Society. My husband caught them this morning.
The kittens need care anyway. They had fleas and ear mites and I know they had hookworms because the mother - the same mother of Junior Beans, who had hookworms - has them.
Their eyes, when I could get close to them, looked sad, as if they already know what they have been born into. Yes, they cavorted all over my back yard, climbing my tree stumps that have bird feeders on them. But their eyes were not like the eyes of my four pet cats. Always wary, and when I would speak softly to them, sad.
Their mother is a whole other story. She is a small cat - probably not long out of kittenhood herself. Her eyes are like a beaten refugee's eyes. Wary, always wary - and unutterably sad.
All I could do is feed them. So I put out dry Iam's kitten food and cans of good cat food, too. I made sure they had water - and I occasionally slipped kitty vitamins into their food. But like all good things on this piece of shit planet, the food got covered with flies, in between being eaten - and even though I put the food in the shade, as the sun moved across the sky, eventually the food would sit in the sun, too.
Since I already have 4 indoor cats, there is no way I can take anymore - so that was out of the question. We agonized before adopting her last lone litter baby - Junior Beans.
So this morning while I was out, my husband caught the 4 little babies. For now, they have each other. They were taken to the best option we could find - the Humane Society. I don't even want to think about if they are found to be sick - they will be euthanized. And I hate to think of them being separated - but who will take 4 kittens? And, realistically, once kittens get older, they are single animals, not prone to family ties from kittenhood any longer, anyway. I also hate to think of them being adopted by someone who just wants to give Little Johnny a new toy to play with, until he gets bored.
I hate this planet. I hate the human beings who have made it shit. I hate the fact that sin has changed all the good to bad. The fact that animals hunt other animals and kill them.
Just a little while ago, after having cried myself out over the kittens, missing their little bodies peeking out from various bushes and stumps in the back yard, missing how they climbed up to the bird bath to drink (even though they have a nice big dish of fresh water) - I was sitting on the porch. I was feeling better, eating my lunch. Then I saw mama kitty. We want to catch her to have her spayed - and then return her here to live out her life. So the cage is back out and there is food in there. She cautiously entered the cage and ate. No problem. Then, like a good mother, she came out of the cage and called her babies. Faint, little repetitive meows carried on the air from back by the gate she and her kittens used to climb under - to me on the porch. I'd heard her do this before - and soon, little heads would peek under the gate, followed by four little tumbling bodies ready to eat.
I couldn't stand it. She kept calling and no one, of course, was coming. I immediately starting bawling all over again and tried to go out and explain it to her. I approached her and she watched me - and I tried to explain, if she could understand somehow the tone of my voice, that her babies aren't here anymore. Stupid, I guess. Sentimental, for sure. She just looked at me, waited for me to go back inside - and proceeded to continue calling for her babies.
This. planet. sucks.
The kittens need care anyway. They had fleas and ear mites and I know they had hookworms because the mother - the same mother of Junior Beans, who had hookworms - has them.
Their eyes, when I could get close to them, looked sad, as if they already know what they have been born into. Yes, they cavorted all over my back yard, climbing my tree stumps that have bird feeders on them. But their eyes were not like the eyes of my four pet cats. Always wary, and when I would speak softly to them, sad.
Their mother is a whole other story. She is a small cat - probably not long out of kittenhood herself. Her eyes are like a beaten refugee's eyes. Wary, always wary - and unutterably sad.
All I could do is feed them. So I put out dry Iam's kitten food and cans of good cat food, too. I made sure they had water - and I occasionally slipped kitty vitamins into their food. But like all good things on this piece of shit planet, the food got covered with flies, in between being eaten - and even though I put the food in the shade, as the sun moved across the sky, eventually the food would sit in the sun, too.
Since I already have 4 indoor cats, there is no way I can take anymore - so that was out of the question. We agonized before adopting her last lone litter baby - Junior Beans.
So this morning while I was out, my husband caught the 4 little babies. For now, they have each other. They were taken to the best option we could find - the Humane Society. I don't even want to think about if they are found to be sick - they will be euthanized. And I hate to think of them being separated - but who will take 4 kittens? And, realistically, once kittens get older, they are single animals, not prone to family ties from kittenhood any longer, anyway. I also hate to think of them being adopted by someone who just wants to give Little Johnny a new toy to play with, until he gets bored.
I hate this planet. I hate the human beings who have made it shit. I hate the fact that sin has changed all the good to bad. The fact that animals hunt other animals and kill them.
Just a little while ago, after having cried myself out over the kittens, missing their little bodies peeking out from various bushes and stumps in the back yard, missing how they climbed up to the bird bath to drink (even though they have a nice big dish of fresh water) - I was sitting on the porch. I was feeling better, eating my lunch. Then I saw mama kitty. We want to catch her to have her spayed - and then return her here to live out her life. So the cage is back out and there is food in there. She cautiously entered the cage and ate. No problem. Then, like a good mother, she came out of the cage and called her babies. Faint, little repetitive meows carried on the air from back by the gate she and her kittens used to climb under - to me on the porch. I'd heard her do this before - and soon, little heads would peek under the gate, followed by four little tumbling bodies ready to eat.
I couldn't stand it. She kept calling and no one, of course, was coming. I immediately starting bawling all over again and tried to go out and explain it to her. I approached her and she watched me - and I tried to explain, if she could understand somehow the tone of my voice, that her babies aren't here anymore. Stupid, I guess. Sentimental, for sure. She just looked at me, waited for me to go back inside - and proceeded to continue calling for her babies.
This. planet. sucks.
posted by Susan Humeston at 12:25 PM
2 Comments:
If it's a good Humane Society, they will find a adoptor, or a rescue. Good of you to catch Momma to have her spayed. At the Shelter I work for, we always think people suck. Espically this time of year, when litter after litter come in the front door.Dogs, cats, kittens, and puppies....all viewed as expendable by our society.
We haven't caught mama kitty yet - now that the kittens are gone, she isn't coming at the usual times - maybe during the night. We'll keep trying - she deserves the very best.
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