The Kitty Saga
my sudden journey into motherhood
Sometimes it is a Friday evening and you get home from work and you are just so tired that, rather than reading or writing, you slump on the couch and doomscroll. And perhaps you are just too tired from the long week that you simply cannot bring yourself to cook dinner and so you order your favorite thai food to magically appear right to your door. And maybe, when you go to pick it up, you notice a note on your door:
And suddenly, you are responsible for a family of kitties! It’s like they had been waiting for you.
This is what happened to me a few weeks ago. I am sure many people out there have similar stories of how the Cat Distribution System came to them. How at first they struggled to feed themselves, and now happily feed a small creature out of the kindness of their heart.
When I saw that note on my door, I was elated. I had heard of this ‘Cat Distribution System’ and was patiently waiting for it to happen to me. And now the time has come! Before the note, I was drained, and then, after finding this handwritten note from my neighbor, I was full of life and hope again. There was a sweet, little kitty family living directly under my husband and I’s bedroom!
I knew my husband wasn’t keen on getting a cat, but he is not a heartless man, quite the opposite, so I knew he would fall in love once he saw the tiny precious things.
And once he came home from work that Friday night, I showed him the note, jumping up and down excitedly. A similar scene, I’m sure, to that of a wife showing her husband a positive pregnancy test. And in a way, it was.
And so plans were made with the neighbor to catch the kitties. Though they didn’t get caught til early Monday morning. What were they doing on Saturday and Sunday? Perhaps the kitty family took a little kitty vacation. Perhaps they knew that life as they knew it was going to change. And so they went to the beach and played in the water and made sand castles and ate ice cream. They watched the sunset together as a family for one last time. And then went back to the hole under my house. They ate the wet food in the traps and suddenly, they were in a cage. Mommy Cat in one, 2 kittens in the second, and 1 kitten in the last. The other 2 kittens of the litter still free. They were all probably so confused and scared, meowing quite a bit.
And that is what woke me up on Monday morning. The sweet sound of little kitten meows. The cries of a family torn apart.
I selected my baby, a light grey and white kitten, the more curious of the bunch. This was the kitten I would get to take home, rather than living underneath, cold, dirty, and hungry, she would live inside, warm, clean, well-fed, and loved.
I told my petless friends about the litter and they decided they wanted a kitten too. Eva took 2 kitties (the ones who didn’t get caught until the following day) and Anna took the one that was caught with mine. The last kitten went to my neighbor’s assistant, who was helping us and she also took Mommy Cat to get spayed and then released back into the neighborhood where she can live free as she has all her life.
I took my kitten and Anna’s kitten back inside, and told my boss I was going to work from home the rest of the day, as I am a mother now. The babies were so tiny and afraid, huddled next to each other in a cardboard box I had provided for them. My husband was practicing guitar for work, making lots of noise, which I realized was probably not the best for newly rescued kittens. And so I moved them to the cloffice (closet-office) which then became the Kloffice (Kitty-closet-office). Later, we went to the pet store and got all the kitty necessities. I thought of Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City when she makes a wedding registry just for herself so she could get a pair of shoes that had been stolen from her at a baby shower. Now, I have a baby, although not a human baby, she still requires plenty of things that I do not have and I like parties. Can you have a baby shower for a kitten?
My husband and I went back and forth on names. I wanted to go with something silly, like Princess Firetruck. I quite like when cats have absurd names such as this. Mikey pitched the name Grace. And we decided to go with that. It fits her. She adjusted to life in the Roberts household quite gracefully. At first, she hid amongst the shoes in the shoe rack, and after a few days she was running about and playing.
On the second day, we got the other 2 kittens, Eva’s babies. Taking them out of the cage and getting them into the box to transport them proved to be difficult. After 24 hours without their mother or siblings, they were terrified! I tried to grab one of the kittens and she fought back, biting me on the hand, quite ferociously for a little 3 week old thing. She even drew a little blood. We transported the kittens back to the Kloffice where they would stay until their new mommy would come pick them up. Gracie comforted them and cuddled with them.
Worried about being bit by a cat that had been living outside all her young life, I called my doctor and she prescribed me a round of antibiotics, warning me that I would most likely get diarrhea. After hearing this warning, I stocked up on kefir and kombucha to help, and ended up getting a yeast infection instead. We now call the kitten Bites. I kinda want to call her Yeasty, but Bites is probably better.
The third day, it was just the three of us, Grace, Mikey, and I. The first day as a little family. I decided to put on a load of laundry and then went to work on the couch while Grace hid underneath me. Five or ten minutes go by and then I hear Mikey shouting from the laundry room. It seemed I had caused a slight flood. The water pipe thingy got disconnected from the machine and rather than pouring water into the machine, it was pouring water directly to the floor. We were met with about a half an inch of water covering the laundry room and Kloffice. The two of us quickly sprung into action: turn off the laundry machine, gather everything on the floor, put the wet things out in the sun to dry, and sweep all the water out the back door. All the while, little Gracie stay resting under the couch. Thank God.
After the stress of almost flooding my home and possibly drowning my kitten, I continued on with my day, hoping no other surprises would come.
It wasn’t until that evening, when Mikey was a work, that a new problem arose. You see, after Mommy Cat got spayed, they had to release her back out into the world, a place she knew and was comfortable, which is my neighborhood. Poor thing arrives back home after a surgery to find all her babies GONE. Now, I don’t know much about cats, but I am sure they have a strong sense of smell. And Mommy Cat could smell her baby, my baby. I was making myself dinner when I heard Gracie practically screaming. She was so stressed, running all over the place. I grabbed her and found outside our back door, where we swept all the laundry water out earlier that day, was Mommy Cat, sitting so politely, and calling to her baby. I felt horrible. My new kitten was so stressed, I couldn’t have her mom coming here all the time while I’m still trying to get Grace adjusted. I took my kitten to the bedroom, put on some cat music (which apparently is just calm piano music with nature sounds) and held her until she calmed down. I felt so conflicted and guilty. Here I was, tearing a baby from her mother. But I was her mother now, and I knew I could give her a better life if she stayed with me.
After the stress of that Wednesday, I fell ill and woke up the following day completely sick. I spent the day at home with Grace, who was getting more adjusted and confident each day. I was afraid I would keep seeing Mommy Cat, but I haven’t seen her since. I hope she is having fun with all the other neighborhood kitties, no longer having to worry about having to care for 5 little ones.
The week after, I was dealing with car troubles. It’s funny how the universe works. It gives and it takes.
I was feeling so down about the world that Friday night. And then I was gifted the most perfect little kitten who I can love and call my own. Given a new purpose. Besides person, wife, daughter, friend, I am now, also, a (cat) mother.
And now your Friday nights look a bit different, less lonely, because you have a tiny living being relying on you. And so you feed her, and play with her, and give her oh so many kisses. And suddenly, you have a little family.
this was the most wholesome sweet story ever 🥹🥹 cats are the best and i'm so happy you get to call gracie yours 💗