Tale Of Sick Kitty by Carol Wells
Having children usually means that there lies a possibility of having pets becoming a part of the family. My children adopted a black cat that they named Angel. Angel was already pregnant at the time of her adoption into our family, so she blessed us with kittens. One of Angel's offspring in particular created a slightly humorous memory for both my family and a veterinarian. Notation: Story is divided over 2 pages.
We were preparing to move, in 1992, from an apartment to a house. Sometimes, when least needing another item to worry about, that is when another item decides to present itself to your attention.
After finding itself abandoned by its owners, my daughters adopted this pregnant cat. The problem was not the fact she was giving birth, even though we did not count on that particular event happening for another week, but where.
My third child, then 5-years in age, the bearer of good news, "Mom, I think something is wrong with Angel. She's under the couch making funny noises."
I figured that the cat, due her pregnant status, merely expressing displeasure of the cramped area under the couch she once enjoyed. "Let me go pull out the bed so she can get out."
I removed the cushions and started to pull out the mattress when my youngest daughter mentioned she noticed something funny looking. "Funny looking as in how funny," I asked.
"Just funny and wiggly," she replied.
"Oh great," I muttered and went to figure out which box we packed the flashlight in. I tried to peek down the side gaps around the mattress, but Angel had decided to settle herself just far enough away from the openings to get a clear view.
"What's going on," my mother asked when arriving and seeing the three of us snooping around the couch.
"We think the cat is giving birth ... under the couch," I told her.
"She's having them now," my mother asked. "And where?"
"I think I see another wiggly thing" my third daughter announced just then. My mother's questions answered.
The two younger girls kept us informed about "wiggly things" sightings. After three hours and careful opening of the mattress, for the girls to help retrieve the kittens and the mother cat, we discovered that Angel blessed us with four kittens that appeared to be tabby-like in markings.
I placed the kittens in a laundry basket lined with a baby blanket. This now became the first item we would move into the new place.
After a few weeks, the kittens opened their eyes and broadened their explorations. Two of them, however, decided to explore a bit too far one day and managed to slip out of the house at tender age of 4 weeks. One did not survive their week long adventure. We took the surviving one back home with intentions of nursing it back to health.
"Is this normal," I asked the veterinarian over the phone two weeks later while watching the young kitten look blankly at the dish of water while my oldest daughter kept dabbing the kitten's lips to get it to drink some of the liquid. Parts of the routine the instructed for us to do in helping the kitten relearn some things.
"Each case is individual. Should only be a couple of days to maybe around a week longer before it begins to catch on and remembers how to eat and drink but it was out on its own for a number of days. Just be patient and keep working with the kitten."
After two more weeks, the kitten did catch on to eating and drinking. It also became obvious the one kitten would not be like its remaining siblings.
She did not like walking on carpeting, lifting her paws high in the air as if walking across shards of glass versus soft material. She could go up the stairs but stumped on how to get back down. She would meow two times, as a cue for someone to rescue her. If we did not get the stairway, by the time she meowed a third time, she stretched out her front paws and did a belly-flop slide down the steps.
However one trait, that most set her apart from the others, was how she negotiated turns. In the old Tom & Jerry cartoons Tom inevitably would chase Jerry. Jerry would escape by retreating into his mouse hole; Tom never managed to stop in time. Tom's head sliding into the hole while his rump slapped up against the wall. This kitten reminded everyone of those cartoons.
She merrily chased her sisters as they played in the house but she could not turn. Something solid required for bouncing one side, or the other, of her pelvis off of; masterfully "throwing" her body into making a right or left turn that way.
About This Story's Author:
© 1999-2006 Carol Wells; Sick Kitty was adopted in 1992 by an older aged couple. At last report he adjusted well to their one-story dwelling and happily remains the center of attention.
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