Oh Rats...here we go again...

Miguel is away, so I'm doing all his chores as well as my own, along with my job and my schoolwork and trying to reorganize the upstairs storage area. The last thing I needed was to find a stray kitten in need of food and TLC.

Saturday morning I was on my way up to the top level when I thought I heard a cat crying nearby. All my cats were inside, so I thought maybe a cat was trapped inside the neighbor's yard, but I couldn't see anything. Sometimes the birds sound like a cat, so I figured that's what I'd heard and thought no more about it.

Saturday evening, at dusk, I took the dogs out and as we walked to the corner I heard the crying again. Just as I decided it was really a bird, Loco headed for a rock on the top of a hill right at the corner. He poked his head into the rock and then yelped. That's when I saw it - a little grey head poking out of the rock.

I put the dogs back inside the yard, got the cat carrier and a can of cat food, and headed back to the rock. The little grey kitten was hissing at me. I sat on the rock and it came out a little, but any movement on my part sent the kitten back under the rock. I threw a little food its way but it either didn't see it or was too scared to think about food.

I got off the rock and down to the kitten's level, and gently called it. It came out towards me but any time I reached out it hissed and backed off. I decided it might be a wild kitten and knew I'd need a towel to catch it.

Back to the house to find a towel, and then back to the rock where the kitten was still crying. Crouched down again at kitten level, softly calling...and the kitten came far enough out that I could get behind it and block its retreat under the rock. Reaching out with the towel I caught the kitten and although it wasn't happy, it didn't try to scratch or bite me. I placed it in the cage and carried it home.

I placed a small dish of food in the cage but it didn't seem to know what to do with it, so I added a little water and it 'drank' the food. It kept crying but I put a rug over the cage and put the cage inside the shed and closed the door. It was dark now and I hoped the kitten would sleep and be more settled by morning.

Yesterday morning I discovered a hungry, friendly kitten. Still scared but throughout the day it realized I was its friend and today it thinks I'm its mommy. Someone dumped this kitten, how else would it be there at the main road on the top of a small hill, under a rock all day? There are no homes there, there are no other cats there. It is too small to have walked there. It was dumped. Makes me sick.

The kitten is eating well, and I've blocked under the patio door so it has free reign of the back terrace. Since the kitten has fleas and probably worms, I have banned Minina and Maya from the back terrace. Loco is dying to go out and check on his baby kitty, but he plays rough and the kitten doesn't need Loco right now.

I tried to find Delfino at the clinic yesterday morning because I knew it would just get harder for me to give the kitten away. This morning the kitten is pressing up against my feet, trying to snuggle. I've cuddled it as much as I can, and given it some body rubs which it seems to like - maybe reminds it of its mother and when she used to clean it. I can tell this will be a wonderful cat, it has a sweet nature.

I did not get done what I planned to get done yesterday. Kittens need attention, especially lonely ones crying for their mother.

We don't need another cat, we don't want another cat. When we find a litter of kittens it's easy to just hand them over to Delfino. But finding just one, and not being able to give it away right away just means getting attached. I need to get to Delfino fast, but if he doesn't tell me he has a good (and I mean REALLY good) home for it, it may turn into a back terrace cat.

I deliberately have not taken a picture because that makes it even harder to let it go. I will let you all know the outcome, I'm off to see about getting this kitten taken care of. Oh, I didn't mention - it's grey with white paws and a really cute face.