A KITTEN STORY

You may remember that a few weeks ago I found a kitten under the engine in my truck. It took several neighbors and an hour to remove her. Unfortunately, she bolted and climbed up under a neighbor's car and eventually disappeared. I was running late and couldn't hang around and search, though for the next several days I put food out and kept an eye open. I was certain I would never see her again.
Last Wednesday, I was shocked to spot her on the patio, drinking water left out for the dogs. Over the next couple of days, I caught glimpses of her coming out from under our hay shed. I find it hard to believe that she had been hanging around for weeks without my seeing her. I'm outdoors a lot. I suppose she was sneaking into the barn at night to eat cat food. Our Scoutie has a strong prey drive and I was afraid the dogs would catch her before I did, so I called Talbot Humane for advice, and bought a trap. We decided to prop the shed door open and set the trap inside so she would have protection if we caught her in the middle of the night.

On Saturday afternoon we set the trap and waited, peeping through the windows every two minutes. Couldn't help it, I've never tried to trap a cat before. Eventually, she appeared and climbed up into the shed, where she ate an entire can of cat food without tripping the latch, and darted back under the barn. We'd left the safety on. Point, kitty. We reset the trap and again she went into the shed, eating her weight in kitty tuna without tripping the latch. She was too lightweight. Kitty scores again.
Fortunately, the raccoon/feral cat sized trap that I bought came with a bonus chipmunk/baby squirrel sized trap. We set it and went out to dinner.
She was in the trap when we returned. Poor little thing, she was scared, having no idea that she had just won the stray kitten lottery.

We didn't try to touch her that night, just shooed her into a dog crate with all the kitty comforts I could think of, covered it with a blanket and said goodnight. The next day we took her outside and let her out in a portable dog pen, she was wary but curious, eating well and using her litter box.

I took lots of pics of this sweet face and put them on Facebook. I asked friends to share. I offered to throw in cat food, litter/litter box, and even a pie. It worked. She is going to friends, who saw that little face and were smitten. I am thrilled to know she will be loved and cared for in a home where pets are treated like family.
This kitty is delightful. I thought it would take at least a few days for her to trust us. Not so. On Sunday, I stroked her with my heavily gloved finger (thought she might bite or scratch) and she leaned into my hand. By Monday, I was picking her up and playing with her, and she was trotting over every time I opened the door to the little room she was in for safekeeping. She spent most of the day lounging in a big dog bed.

I went to Petsmart and bought her some kitty things.
Yesterday I baked the promised pie, and delivered her to her new home. 

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan, and yes, all my pies have ponies on them.

Have to admit I was a little sad about it. We had bonded. I admired her survival skills, her positive attitude, and her ability to adapt so quickly to new surroundings. She admired my head scratching skills, the bottomless bowl of cat food, and cushy digs in the little library.
I did have a moment of panic yesterday when I let the dogs out and they ran straight to the shed, sniffing around the foundation. Made me wonder if there might actually be a litter under there, and this little girl was just the tip of a feline iceberg. Keeping my eyes open.

Wishing you some happy endings of your own. XO.