Beech Tree News Network

Our cat, Figaro, passed away a couple of weeks ago.  He was nineteen years old.  Figaro was the last of the cats that came to live with us while our daughters still lived at home.  I counted that I have had cats in my house for nearly 25 years.  That is a lot of cat litter to be emptied.  I told Garey that I don’t want anymore cats in the house, and it’s not just because I’m the one who empties the litter box.  I don’t think I’ve got any strength left to grieve for another animal that passes on.

               You know how you make a declaration and almost as soon as it comes out of your mouth, a circumstance will occur to make a liar out of you.  Yeah, well you’d think by now I’d know not to make those kinds of statements.

               Shortly before Figaro passed on, I’d been noticing a stray cat out beside the barn.  Anytime one of us walked out the back door, the cat would run for the hills—the hills being Garey’s shop.  We didn’t try to run it off because the mice in the barn tend to gravitate into the house as winter grows nearer.  Last week, Garey found the cat dead in his shop.  As he was removing the cat, he heard kittens crying.  He got me to help look for them, and we found them under a tarp in the horse trailer.  We had no idea the stray cat had been pregnant.

               It was late afternoon when we found them, so we had no option but to feed them the milk in the fridge with a dropper.  We cleaned them up, put some towels in a box, and set the box in the bathroom, near the heater.  The next day I got some mama cat milk substitute from a friend, mixed it up, warmed it in the microwave and started the task of trying to keep them alive.

               My daughter took one home with her, one of them didn’t live through the week, and that left me with three.  The thing about kittens is they might not eat a lot at one feeding, but they do eat often.  How do people with triplets manage, or people with twins for that matter.  By the end of the week, I could have landed a part in “The Walking Dead” with no previous acting experience.  I am quickly becoming the crazy cat lady you’re always hearing about, simply because of sleep deprivation.

               I refuse to name the three kittens, because I am determined to find homes for them when they are old enough to manage on their own.  I have given them nicknames, however.  The little gray one that eats more than the other two, but never shuts up, I call Mouth.  There are two kittens that are black with yellow markings.  One of the two sounds like geese making their way north when he cries.  That one is Goose.  The other black and yellow one is Sweetheart, because she is so little and cries so pitifully. 

               We started out feeding them with a dropper, moved on to a syringe, then today, Garey got them to suck on a bottle, God bless him.  You don’t have to fight them so much just to get them to eat, especially the smallest one.

               I researched how much to feed them online.  There was also a suggestion to fill a sock with rice then heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds to make something warm for them to snuggle up to.  They love it.  I’m thinking about fixing one for myself. 

               I don’t know how long it’s going to be before I can find homes for them.  I’m trying really hard not to get attached.  Anybody need a cat?