A Christmas Kitten

Turns out this computer was only the first of the gifts my daughter’s planned for me. The second is as the title indicates …. a small pathetic flea ravaged kitten they came across while they were they were relocating the horses from the farm proper to the smaller acreage.

Small kitten was discovered to be the sole survivor of her littermates who were savagely attacked by something or other well after it was thought all the cats from the farm had been gathered and placed in loving homes.

I visited my daughter’s on Christmas day knowing it would be a very tough Holiday for them to get through. I had already been there a few days ahead of time and my visit on Christmas day was a bit of a surprise.

It was a “My Christmas Story” kind of day … Janelle’s oven wouldn’t light, she couldn’t find her crock pot … the horses and livestock needed to be immediately removed from the farm (thanks to Gary’s malicious sister who inherited the farm and suddenly wanted everyone off right this second) … so the girls and their men did what needed to be done, and we had dinner around 8pm at a Chinese Buffet … (it was either that or Denny’s).

And when we returned to the “Cabin” (which is what the girls now refer to as the 12 acre farm-et with the lovely rustic cedar-log A-frame house Gary had built to his very particular specifications)… they presented me with small kitten (naturally giving me the option of not accepting her) …

But as I held her stinky little flea infested body, she began to nuzzle me and purr … and climbed up under my chin, and in spite of the good whiff of the decomposition of the litter mates with whom she was found …. I was hooked.

She was a trooper on the long drive home, quiet as a mouse. I set her up in the master bedroom away from all the other animals and took her to the veterinarian yesterday morning (his first available appointment).

Small kitten was determined to be about 12 weeks old, was tested for Feline autoimmune disease Feline Leukemia and is fine. She received a long acting antibiotic injection for a little respiratory infection, her first vaccines, and has now been treated for worms and fleas.

At this point, she resides under my cedar chest and nests in a detachable hood from a winter coat I lost years ago … I visit her several times a day. She is eating well, and uses the litter box like a pro. She loves to be cuddled (but still smells funky in spite of the bath I gave her before she even got to the veterinarian) .. he says to wait about a week and bath her again … I forgot to ask him if there were any particular products I should use when bathing her.

Now I just need to find her a name. She’s a gray and black tabby kitten with a light brown buff colored belly. She’s gentle as a lamb, has a petite little face with close set amber eyes containing flecks of gray and green. She looks like a little calendar kitten!