A Kitten

One chilly Autumn night in 1983 things changed... Memories of Moorhead Minnesota: A Kitten

Jennifer was eight and Trica was eleven, they were outside playing after supper at 5'o'clock. We were very structured back then supper was at 5 and there were no excuses for missing it. I worked nights and Far Guy worked days, if I left for work before five, supper was in the oven or ready to be reheated at the appropriate time. It was the only time of day that we could possibly be together as a family.

The girls came bursting into the house hollering "Mom, Dad come quick!" Not exactly the words that have a calming effect on any parents. "Look what we found !" I am afraid to look. Holy Cats! It is alive! Breathlessly they explain that Jen saw something in the gutter outside on the city street. They are grinning from ear to ear as they extend their treasure. A teeny, tiny newborn kitten. So teeny tiny it still has it's umbilical cord attached, it hangs sadly from it's wet cold little body. It is alive and squeaking. The girls look at me with those sad doe eyes as they say "Mom, you have to help it." Far Guy says "It's a goner." The girls burst into tears. They showed him exactly where they found the kitten and they all walked around the neighborhood searching for the Mama cat, who had obviously just given birth to the squalling little wet creature that I now held in my hands.

No Mama cat could be found, No one had seen a cat or kittens. No one knew of any pregnant cats either.

It was getting dark, Far Guy and the girls came back home. In the meantime I had dried off the kitten and warmed it up. It was so tiny, it weighed maybe 5 or 6 ounces, it was a kitten of three colors, black, white and tan. The girls wanted to know if I thought it was a boy or a girl? It really didn't matter, there was no way this kitten was going to live without a mother. The girls took turns holding it admiring how cute it was, talking to it softly saying "It will be okay, we will take care of you."

Time for a family meeting. How do you explain the laws of nature to two little girls that have fallen head over hills in love with something they found in the gutter. It certainly would have died if they had not found it. They were convinced that they saved it from certain death in the street. If they had left in there in the street untouched would the mama cat have come back for it? We will never know. Our problem at hand was impressing upon the girls that this kitty had ZERO chance for survival. Far Guy finally told them flat out "It will die." Which of course brought them to tears, which of course brought me to tears. The water works are really flowing now. the girls are sobbing, I am trying hard to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from sobbing with them. Far Guy reminds us all "We are dog people, have you girls forgotten that?" Yes, momentarily we have forgotten everything rational.

"Mommy can't you do something? It is so little and all alone." The girls were pleading with me to do something. "Could we feed it? It looks hungry." Could we? But what and how? I gently explained that I knew next to nothing about baby kittens. Sure we had barn cats on the farm but those mama cats would hide their baby kittens and did not bring them out to meet us until their eyes were opened, and they could walk and play and hiss. If we accidentally discovered a litter of kittens the mama cat would move them to a different hiding spot. I never got to see the how and what of the process concerning newborn kittens. . I am clueless..or am I ? More tomorrow:)