Kitten Season

Once again, kitten season is in full swing.

On March 4 I got the first call. A mama cat had left a black and white newborn kitten on the second floor roof of a house, of all places. The family tried to climb up and retrieve the baby, but it fell to the concrete below before they could get to it. Upon rushing it to the vet school, they were told it was fine and to call the cat rescue.

It spent the first 24 hours breathing like it was going to die at any moment, but eating like crazy anyway. Kiseki (Japanese for "miracle") is getting stronger every day. We did try to put her with a mother cat that came to us when she was 4 days old, but she was so used to the bottle by then that she couldn't figure out how to latch on, and so will continue to be here.

The second call came on the 10th. A beautiful brown tabby kitten in the back yard, eyes well opened but still very young, found mama's body in the woods behind the house. We can only figure she went scrounging for food, and a dog or raccoon got her. Enter Forrest, a week older than Kiseki, but happy to have a small sibling. Doing very well so far.

Then today. Born last Tuesday, only survivor of a litter of 3. Mama has a severe upper respiratory infection and will not eat or drink. Baby is at risk of contracting the illness, so has to be taken away. He is solid black and does not like the bottle. We can't put him with the other two until we are sure he doesn't have the upper respiratory issue, so he is living in my shirt. The other two are girls we think. This one is so obviously a boy that Bigger Girl wants to name him Jules. I will have to think about that one.

And so it begins again. From now until December, I shall live with kitten formula stains on my clothes, scratch marks from kitten claws all over my chest and stomach, kitten mess on towels and washcloths and in the corners of the rooms when they won't take the time to go all the way to the box, and put in hours with bottles and medicine and chasing adult cats away from the kitten chow.

Yes, I love it. It's great, awful, fabulous work, if you can get it. The pay is lousy, too -- round the clock feedings and my adult cats getting mad if there are too many kittens and messing on the beds and the stove to show their displeasure.

It's worth every minute.

This kitten season is dedicated, by me anyway, to the memory of my friend and mentor in the business, Miss Jan, who died suddenly a couple of weeks ago. She is sorely missed.


Today is:

Check Your Batteries Day

Daylight Savings Time Begins

Fallas de San Jose, Valencia, Spain

Feast of Hyperborea

International Ask A Question Day

Learn about Butterflies Day

National Day of Prayer for Farmers (second Sunday)

National Potato Chip Day

National Pi Day- Why today? Because today is 3.14, the value of Pi.

Pilgrimage to the Dragon Pagoda, Rangoon, Burma

Vaturius Mamurius (Festival to Armor)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Bieber, 1994
Colby O'Donis, 1989
Taylor Hanson, 1983
Kirby Puckett, 1961
Pam Ayres, 1947
Billy Crystal, 1947
Michael Caine, 1933
Quincy Jones, 1933
Frank Borman, 1928
S. Truet Cathy, 1921
Hank Ketcham, 1920
Les Brown, 1912
Albert Einstein, 1879
Johann Strauss, Sr., 1804


Today in History:

England grants a patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island), 1644
Scotland dismisses Willem III & Mary Stuart as king & queen, 1689
Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin, 1794
During the Great Blizzard of 1888, New York receives its second largest snowfall on record, 21", 1888
The United States goes on the gold standard, 1900
Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of genetics, 1900
The first theater for rear movie projection is built, in NYC, 1931