And the Kittens Move Again
For the first couple of days that the kittens were in the doghouse, everything was great. It was raining outside and so they were protected. Mama Cat would leave them periodically to come to my front door to eat or to go and do whatever she does when she’s not nursing her babies. Then she would come back and curl up with her them.
Then yesterday it rained again. It was the fourth straight day of rain, and the soil was saturated. As it continued to rain through the morning my backyard started to flood. With that, the doghouse eventually started to flood too. When I arrived home for lunch Tim told me that the kittens were gone because Mama Cat had had to evacuate them. I looked outside and the whole backyard had at least a couple of inches of water.
Needless to say, I felt horrible. I had endangered the kittens without knowing it. I wondered whether they might have been better off in my neighbor’s yard after all, under the slide, but realized that her backyard must have flooded too. I only had about 40 minutes at home, so I panicked for a while and then started to think that perhaps the kittens were fine. Mama Cat seems to be a very good mother so she must have known where to take them. I didn’t have the time to find out where the babies were so I continued my search in the evening after work. Although I looked and looked I couldn’t find them. I began to wonder whether the babies had made it through the flood after all. But I did notice that Mama Cat was taking me toward an old pickup truck that one of my neighbors always keeps parked in the same spot. Debbie’s daughter had also noticed her going in that direction so I figured if the kittens were still around, they were somewhere around there.
My search continued this morning before work and also this evening. Finally I discovered where they were. I found the two kittens huddling behind some monkey grass, near the pickup truck. They both seemed fine and were more active than I’d seen them in the previous days. I took that as a good sign and was enormously relieved. A weight was lifted off me because I had seriously considered that they might have drowned during yesterday’s downpour.
I decided to give the doghouse one last try. I brought out the bedding I had placed in the doghouse the other day (which I had washed and dried yesterday) and put it down in the house. I then placed the doghouse on a platform high enough to keep the doghouse dry, but not high enough for the kittens to hurt themselves if they fell out. Finally I went to the nest and got the kittens. I then brought Mama Cat to see them. It took her no time to decide that they weren’t staying in the doghouse. I felt bad interfering, but thought it had been worth a try. After all, in the monkey grass dogs could get to them very easily. Mama Cat picked up one of her babies by the scruff of its neck and started carrying it back. So I followed her with the other one, and the small family was reunited in the monkey grass nest.
It is unfortunate that Mama Cat had such a bad experience in that doghouse. It’s highly unusual to have 4 straight days of rain in August in Oklahoma, and of course it had to happen when I least needed a flood in my backyard. On the one hand I feel I shouldn’t have interfered with Mama Cat’s nest choice, but on the other hand if it hadn’t been for that flood, the doghouse would have been ideal. The babies would have been safe from dogs and unfriendly humans, and they could have gotten used to positive human contact from a very early age, making it easier to get them adopted. The good thing is that throughout all the things that have happened over the past couple of days, Mama Cat seems to continue to trust me. She still likes getting belly rubs and acts friendly toward me. I hope this will continue so I can keep visiting her babies as they grow up.
In other news (though also cat related), this morning I petted the shy kitten for the first time. She’s the Siamese-looking one with the dark nose. She came with the other kittens when I brought out the can of food that I feed to the hungry yellow cat. While she was eating some of that wet food facing away from me, I managed to pet her several times. She apparently enjoyed it, but then jumped away when she realized that I was touching her. That’s the way her siblings came to be so friendly toward me, so I still have hope for “taming” her.
Then yesterday it rained again. It was the fourth straight day of rain, and the soil was saturated. As it continued to rain through the morning my backyard started to flood. With that, the doghouse eventually started to flood too. When I arrived home for lunch Tim told me that the kittens were gone because Mama Cat had had to evacuate them. I looked outside and the whole backyard had at least a couple of inches of water.
Needless to say, I felt horrible. I had endangered the kittens without knowing it. I wondered whether they might have been better off in my neighbor’s yard after all, under the slide, but realized that her backyard must have flooded too. I only had about 40 minutes at home, so I panicked for a while and then started to think that perhaps the kittens were fine. Mama Cat seems to be a very good mother so she must have known where to take them. I didn’t have the time to find out where the babies were so I continued my search in the evening after work. Although I looked and looked I couldn’t find them. I began to wonder whether the babies had made it through the flood after all. But I did notice that Mama Cat was taking me toward an old pickup truck that one of my neighbors always keeps parked in the same spot. Debbie’s daughter had also noticed her going in that direction so I figured if the kittens were still around, they were somewhere around there.
My search continued this morning before work and also this evening. Finally I discovered where they were. I found the two kittens huddling behind some monkey grass, near the pickup truck. They both seemed fine and were more active than I’d seen them in the previous days. I took that as a good sign and was enormously relieved. A weight was lifted off me because I had seriously considered that they might have drowned during yesterday’s downpour.
I decided to give the doghouse one last try. I brought out the bedding I had placed in the doghouse the other day (which I had washed and dried yesterday) and put it down in the house. I then placed the doghouse on a platform high enough to keep the doghouse dry, but not high enough for the kittens to hurt themselves if they fell out. Finally I went to the nest and got the kittens. I then brought Mama Cat to see them. It took her no time to decide that they weren’t staying in the doghouse. I felt bad interfering, but thought it had been worth a try. After all, in the monkey grass dogs could get to them very easily. Mama Cat picked up one of her babies by the scruff of its neck and started carrying it back. So I followed her with the other one, and the small family was reunited in the monkey grass nest.
It is unfortunate that Mama Cat had such a bad experience in that doghouse. It’s highly unusual to have 4 straight days of rain in August in Oklahoma, and of course it had to happen when I least needed a flood in my backyard. On the one hand I feel I shouldn’t have interfered with Mama Cat’s nest choice, but on the other hand if it hadn’t been for that flood, the doghouse would have been ideal. The babies would have been safe from dogs and unfriendly humans, and they could have gotten used to positive human contact from a very early age, making it easier to get them adopted. The good thing is that throughout all the things that have happened over the past couple of days, Mama Cat seems to continue to trust me. She still likes getting belly rubs and acts friendly toward me. I hope this will continue so I can keep visiting her babies as they grow up.
In other news (though also cat related), this morning I petted the shy kitten for the first time. She’s the Siamese-looking one with the dark nose. She came with the other kittens when I brought out the can of food that I feed to the hungry yellow cat. While she was eating some of that wet food facing away from me, I managed to pet her several times. She apparently enjoyed it, but then jumped away when she realized that I was touching her. That’s the way her siblings came to be so friendly toward me, so I still have hope for “taming” her.
posted by Ana at 19:14
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