Stray Kitteh: A.D. VII KAL. AVG

Last week I was walking Katrina out to her car, when from under a shed peeked a small pair of glowing eyes. It was roughly midnight, and pretty dark, but the kitten stepped forth into the garage light. It didn't come close, but just looked at me. I talked to it for a few minutes before returning to the house.

I didn't really think I'd see her again.

I went to get groceries about four days ago, and upon my return, the kitten emerged from nowhere and followed us to the door of the house. Half-starved, she quickly gobbled down the food we gave her. She also seemed to gobble down the attention -- for a wild kitten, she was sure sweet. We weren't sure what to do with her. We stayed outside with her in the backyard all night, taking care of her and playing with her; she hated my dogs, and my cat hated her, so she could not stay inside.

She certainly has spirit! And she seemed to have the attitude of a Cockney orphan, to boot. The kitten is pretty tiny, but seems to think she can take on the world. When she got her energy back, after having eaten, she decided it would be fun to attack every little thing that moved in the back yard . . . up to and including myself. It is a frightening sight indeed to see a 2 lb. kitteh stalk you from behind a shed, and then charge your shoe. Her little charge is adorable, too. When attacking, she runs kind of sideways. Katrina says it's because her back feet move faster than the rest of her. :P

The kitten, hereafter referred to as "The Tribble" decided to stick around. To say safe, she made a home in our tree in the back yard. That is to say, the Tribble hides twenty feet up in the tree and then desperately meows later until I come and get her down. Then, she goes right back up. Over the course of a couple of days, she remained around the yard. She grew attached to us, and we to her. During the days when it grew windy or rainy, she would hide under the neighbor's shed. It never took much to find her, because the moment we stepped out the door to look for her, she would run out to greet us.

Feeding time makes the Tribble very happy (Not only does she look like a tribble, but she eats like one). I guess happy is really an understatement. When I walk out the back door with a plate of food, she would come to the nook in the tree and whine until I got her down. Once I had ahold of her, she squirmed frantically to get down and charge her food dish. I decided to try and feed her ham, which was perhaps a mistake. By that I mean she loved the ham so much that I could not feed it to her fast enough, and my fingers were mistaken for said pork product. Cyrano Jones lied -- this Tribble has teeth! And she was not above climbing my leg in order to get to the ham faster.

All in all, it's been a tiring few days. I've devoted most of my time to taking care of this kitty, going outside continuously checking on her and worrying that she'd wonder onto one of the nearby busy streets. Katrina, my Mom, and I all really wanted to keep her. But sadly, as I said, my current pets and her were not compatible and Katrina's family wouldn't allow her to keep a kitteh in the house. Trying to find a home for her was hard. Katrina's dad even offered to install an underground electronic fence to perhaps keep the Tribble in their yard. But, they live out in the woodsy hills where a lot of predators live. Kitties and Coyotes do not mix. The story is sad, but has a happy ending. My mom found her a home with one of her friends. I don't know them all that well, but they are good people. They wanted a pet for some time now, and are all very happy to have her. Katrina and I were, well, devastated to see her go. Deep down we wanted to her to stay around . . . she touched all of our hearts pretty deep. In the end, though, we knew she needed a good home, and she got one.

Within a couple of hours, mom heard from her friend. The Kitteh had warmed right up to them and made herself right at home at their house. She was relaxing and playing, and hiding in dark places ready to jump out and attack feet. Mom is close with her friend, and she said we could come see the kitty any time we want. I am glad for that, and glad she has a loving home, but I am really going to miss going outside to feed her and getting her out of the tree.

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