There Are Kittens… Kittens Everywhere… - August 4, 2020
I applied to the St. Catharines and Welland / Niagara SPCAs to be a foster pet-mom. In particular, I’d like to foster old cats – especially a bonded pair. And ratlets – smart, friendly “pocket pets.”
Like a lot of folks, I have light blues these days. Nothing serious. Likely related to the feeling of being glued to the couch by this pandemic. Even Michelle Obama is feeling a little low.
Having critters to care for in my life – especially if it helps to find them good homes – is something I truly enjoy doing and this is something I can still do in spite of having a very limited social bubble.
You can imagine my surprise when I got a call from the SPCA. “I know you would like to foster older cats, but would you consider fostering SEVEN FOUR WEEK OLD KITTENS?!” I laughed that I would but I was pretty sure this was not in my hub’s future.
I asked and, understandably, he looked at me as if to say, “You didn’t…. Tell me you didn’t agree to…” He is the guy who does most of the housework, and four week old kittens are pretty hit and miss when it comes to using the litter box.
I assured him I did not, and then called the SPCA to confirm what I knew the answer to be. But I’m still on the list for fostering older cats and ratlets.
*****
The funny thing in all of this is that I really don’t like kittens that much. I know that sounds weird but they kind of make me sad. Sad because they compete for adoptions with older cats, and they win much of the time. Too many felines; not enough furever homes.
But we’ve had many kittens that came through our house at 465 Loach’s Rd. in Sudbury. I was a volunteer for the Rainbow Shelter and they regularly got overrun in the spring and summer with kittens. I even had a room in our house dedicated to kittens.
Son Tom says he thought it was weird when he found out his friends didn’t have a “kitten room.” A place where you could just lie down on the floor and have a dozen balls of fur crawl all over you.
*****
Every cat we’ve ever “owned,” we’ve had spayed immediately – not letting them repopulate. There was an exception – Minou… She came to us “great with kittens.” She would lie on the dining room table, late in pregnancy, trying to get comfortable. In search of softness, she’d stretch out on the term papers Laur was trying to mark.
She gave birth to five kitten’s in Elaine’s toybox. A story in itself, and when Laur realized what was going on, he moved her and the kittens thus far to a dresser drawer. Elaine thought this was pretty neat, calling “Monkey! Monkey!”
Turns out Minou wasn’t all that fond of kittens either. Tom was happy to have Minou and babies in his room. It must have been his drawer that Laur had grabbed. But Minou would get up and leave them in the middle of the night and go elsewhere and ignore them. Tom would be woken up by incessant mewling and would either bring the kittens to Minou or Minou to her kittens.
Our kids all got to name one. Elaine called hers “Fat.” I can’t remember what the rest of them were named. They all got adopted, including Minou (by us).
I could say “And that is the end of this story…” But of course, it isn’t. 😊
Like a lot of folks, I have light blues these days. Nothing serious. Likely related to the feeling of being glued to the couch by this pandemic. Even Michelle Obama is feeling a little low.
Having critters to care for in my life – especially if it helps to find them good homes – is something I truly enjoy doing and this is something I can still do in spite of having a very limited social bubble.
You can imagine my surprise when I got a call from the SPCA. “I know you would like to foster older cats, but would you consider fostering SEVEN FOUR WEEK OLD KITTENS?!” I laughed that I would but I was pretty sure this was not in my hub’s future.
I asked and, understandably, he looked at me as if to say, “You didn’t…. Tell me you didn’t agree to…” He is the guy who does most of the housework, and four week old kittens are pretty hit and miss when it comes to using the litter box.
I assured him I did not, and then called the SPCA to confirm what I knew the answer to be. But I’m still on the list for fostering older cats and ratlets.
*****
The funny thing in all of this is that I really don’t like kittens that much. I know that sounds weird but they kind of make me sad. Sad because they compete for adoptions with older cats, and they win much of the time. Too many felines; not enough furever homes.
But we’ve had many kittens that came through our house at 465 Loach’s Rd. in Sudbury. I was a volunteer for the Rainbow Shelter and they regularly got overrun in the spring and summer with kittens. I even had a room in our house dedicated to kittens.
Son Tom says he thought it was weird when he found out his friends didn’t have a “kitten room.” A place where you could just lie down on the floor and have a dozen balls of fur crawl all over you.
*****
Every cat we’ve ever “owned,” we’ve had spayed immediately – not letting them repopulate. There was an exception – Minou… She came to us “great with kittens.” She would lie on the dining room table, late in pregnancy, trying to get comfortable. In search of softness, she’d stretch out on the term papers Laur was trying to mark.
She gave birth to five kitten’s in Elaine’s toybox. A story in itself, and when Laur realized what was going on, he moved her and the kittens thus far to a dresser drawer. Elaine thought this was pretty neat, calling “Monkey! Monkey!”
Turns out Minou wasn’t all that fond of kittens either. Tom was happy to have Minou and babies in his room. It must have been his drawer that Laur had grabbed. But Minou would get up and leave them in the middle of the night and go elsewhere and ignore them. Tom would be woken up by incessant mewling and would either bring the kittens to Minou or Minou to her kittens.
Our kids all got to name one. Elaine called hers “Fat.” I can’t remember what the rest of them were named. They all got adopted, including Minou (by us).
I could say “And that is the end of this story…” But of course, it isn’t. 😊