Kitty Korner: Unexpected Kitten #2
I’m not sure if this is the year of the cat or something, but I seem to be attracting way more strays that I have a right to. So here is unexpected kitten story #2.
I was pulling out of work to go and grab some lunch when I saw out of the corner of my eye a tiny marmalade stripe kitten along the road. It was acting peculiar — this is a very busy two lane road, and it was walking TOWARDS the flow of traffic, crying at the cars as if it was looking for something.
Now, there were bushes and a ditch behind it, but on the other side of a narrow strip of land is an interstate full of cars rushing 80 mph or so. So, between the busy road in front of work and that interstate, I was sure this kitten wouldn’t survive long if it was walking towards the cars.
I quickly pulled around and parked. Then I ran across the street to the bushes to try and see if it would come to me. It was scared, but it didn’t bolt on sight like a feral would, so I tried to approach it. I got within a foot of it before it ran into the bushes.
I grabbed lunch, but the kitten was on my mind. I didn’t know if it had run far away, or if it was still there in the ditch. I felt bad that I had blown my shot at catching it.
It hardly looked a month old, and it was alone. I saw no other siblings or mother cat around.
I told my boss about the kitten, since she had been part of kitten rescues around the work campus in the past. We agreed to keep watching for it, and if it showed up again, we’d call out the humane society to come out and trap it.
I looked for it on and off all day and didn’t see it again. Not until I was pulling out to go home from work.
Again, there was the kitten, walking towards the road (which was even more busy at rush hour) and crying at the cars. I did a quick swerve back into the parking lot, ran back across the road, and tried a second time.
The kitten hid again under a bush, but kept crying at me. So I meowed back (I probably speak terrible cat) in a tone I’ve heard mother cats use before. Surprisingly, the kitten stayed still enough for me to grab it. It pitched a fit, but I scruffed it and didn’t let go.
I had no idea if I had a feral who was going to go wild on me the moment I unscruffed. But I took that chance and ran him back across the street to my car.
The two of us had a moment of reckoning there in the driver seat. The kitten stared straight up into my face, in a way that an animal does when it knows people, and when I let it go, it started to cling to me rather than bite.
I calmed it down, then took it inside work since I had no way to transport it anywhere. My co-workers instantly gathered around, and in short time, he (confirmed he) began to purr. We got him some milk, a box for transport, and I brought him home.
Turns out he’s a super social kitten, and very, very sweet. He’s also a lovely kitten, but so young that his eyes are still blue. I’m trying to give him a safe calm place away from my other two jealous kitties. He’s eating and doing alright.
But as lovely and sweet as he is (and he is super, super social), I know I can’t keep a third cat. I’m hoping to home him with a co-worker or their family, but for now, I’m going to get him into the vet as soon as I can.