Rain and Cat Care Sheets

Let me start by saying that if you’re in Hartford do not go outside!! Let me repeat, DO NOT go outside! We just got caught in a downpour. I’m cold and wet, being cold and wet sucks. I’m itchy, cold, and grumpy. *whine*

I’ve been working on my kitten care sheets today. I’m very picky about my new kitten owners and in addition to my pickiness every new owner, whether they’ve had cats or not, is getting a Kitten Care Sheet. We got a care sheet with Sara and it just sounds like a good idea to me. These kittens, even though they are the result of irresponsible pet ownership by someone else, became my responsibility when I told the vet that no, we do not want to abort the kittens. Sophie was a stray I took in. I feel it is my duty to them to find them loving homes and you better believe I will do my damndest to fullfill that duty.

Sophie was a little 10 month old stray. She’s not even a year old. In human years she’s the equivalent of a 17 year old. Now, 17 years olds can and do get pregnant. A lot of them turn out to be fantastic mothers, a lot of them don’t. Sophie is somewhere in between as far as how good she is. She wants so play and run. Giving birth was scary for her, the person that let Sophie run loose and didn’t spay or neuter her didn’t here her cry out in pain when she passed the first kitten. That person didn’t see the fear in Sophie’s eyes when she went into labor. That person doesn’t see the frustration in Sophie’s eyes when she wants to play but the kittens are crying. That person doesn’t hear her meow or see her pacing out of frustration. If you don’t spay and neuter there can, and often are, consequences. Even if those consequences don’t affect you, or you don’t see them. Someone else may, and if your cat gets lost while hunting for a male when she’s in heat you may not know your cat has had kittens outside, in the cold, in the rain. Sophie happened to show up on someone’s doorstep, someone who happened to have a cat loving friend. Sophie’s kittens are lucky, they have a warm place to lay, their mother has plenty of food, which means plenty of milk for them. Some kittens aren’t so lucky. Sophie may not have ever had a home. I skimmed papers and websites and checked all around but didn’t turn up any missing cat’s that fit her description. But a lot of cats that turn up stray and pregnant did have homes, did have owners, they will try, and try hard to get outside to a male when they’re in heat, it’s instinct.

Every life deserves a chance, a lot of cats don’t get a chance. There are millions of cats in shelters across the country. We all have to do our part to make sure the number of cats in shelters decreases, and doesn’t increase. A home for every cat!

And last, but certainly not least I thought I would share what I’ve been working on all morning. My cat care sheets. Of course, these look much nicer in MS Word than they do on the internet but y’know. 🙂

http://www.nilesweb.com/brandi/od/Kitten.htm

By the way, if there’s any crazy cat people finding homes for kittens out there that want to steal and adapt this to suit your own needs feel free. 🙂

EDIT: And upon re-reading that care sheet I see I have lots of grammatical errors to correct before I print. 🙂