"S" is for Sucker

Have you noticed the big S on my back, on my forehead, painted all over my house and garden? Well, the cats have and they must be the ones that put them there. I can't help it I am just a sucker when it comes to cats.

We have known for about a week that one of the neighborhood cats was hiding kittens in our garden shed. So far, so good. We were going to wait until they are big enough for her to bring them out like MamaCat did a couple of years ago. BUT - the weather forecast for today calls for a heat index of 104, not good for little tiny baby cats. So we decided to get them in the morning and move the whole family into the basement. Our basement has a window and gets daylight.

Change of plan. Last night a raccoon came into the back yard and I was worried that the mama cat would try to tangle with it to defend the young ones. So we lured her into the basement with food and out we went with flashlights and basket to capture the kittens. Well, our garden shed is a bit creepy in broad daylight - we don't use it and after cleaning it out a bit we never went in there - but in the dark it is way creepier, only one thing to do, don't think about all the creepy crawlies and go in. We did. We found the little fur balls, I caught the feisty one, it fought like crazy, amazing how hard it can be to hold on to a handful of cat if it does not want to be held. Del got hold of the other one and we brought them in. I had set up a big box on its side for them to hide in and I popped them into the box. Then I got the mama cat to show her where they were because she tried to get out to get back to her babies. She saw them and then laid down protectively in front of the box.

I am just glad none of the neighbors called the cops on us, it must have looked strange, people with flashlights traipsing around the garden and disappearing into the shed and then run like hades back to the house.

I had a bad night. Too much adrenalin and way too hot, I did not sleep well. Brownie and MamaCat were very upset by all the late evening activity and I think they saw us bring in the kittens. Those two are very protective of their new home and I think we would have a hard time adding more cats to the family.

This morning I checked on them and they seem fine. Mama cat is purring and seems to have forgiven me. The basement is a bit damp at the moment but way cooler than the shed would be. I think the kittens are about 4 - 5 weeks old and I will try later in the week to see if they are ready to eat solid food. As to what I am going to do with them I don't know yet. Time will tell, we will cross that bridge when we reach it.

The funny thing is, that yesterday afternoon I had decided not to interfere and not always feel responsible to take care of the results of other people's irresponsible actions. But hey, what have those poor little fur balls done to deserve suffering in the heat? As I said - SUCKER!!