Kittens!
So Callie went missing all day yesterday. She didn't come eat in the morning...she didn't come eat at night. We knew she had to be having her kittens are were seriously disappointed that she wasn't doing it at our house. Worse still, she wasn't anywhere where we could find her. ANYWHERE. We searched and searched. We called her name throughout the neighborhood morning, noon, and with a flashlight by night. We couldn't find her anywhere. We were worried that she might not have the best "mamma" instincts and leave them...or worse. And there are lots of stray cats, raccoons, and other vermin around that could cause harm to a defenseless little kitten.
This morning, as we were trying to skee-daddle out the door for church, she shows up...noticeably NOT pregnant. But no kittens in sight. sigh. So the girls and I decided to skip out on early church and try to follow her back to where ever she went. 15 minutes before we HAD to leave, I called Mimi out to follow her if she left so I could go brush my teeth, etc. Callie had hung around that whole hour before that soaking up the attention. Of course, I go in and she heads out...but the minute she went over to our neighbor's house and started sniffing at a non-screened square breathing hole in the crawl space, Mimi came running in to declare, "I know where she is, I know where the kittens are." But of course, when I get out there, there's no Callie to be seen, and a flashlight search of the crawlspace (done on the down-low since it was out neighbor's house and we didn't ask or notify them) yielded no cat or kitten sighting. So off to church we went.
Church rocked, as always, and I spent the whole time doing the "seriously happy dance" at a new wireless speaker that allows me to hear the service even in the fellowship area where the CMC serves. YEA!!!!!
Anyway, home again, and that afternoon Callie shows up again. SO this time we do follow her, and indeed, she did go through the hole under the neightbor's house. This time we did it right, and asked them if there was an entrance to the crawl space, and if we might go in and search for kittens. They obliged (they had been aware of our search the day before and could sympathize with the kids' impatience to see the kittens). Mimi went under their house...and NO CALLIE. But we SAW her go in there. So then she goes over to an addition to the crawlspace and through a small crack in the cinder block wall, she can see Callie and kittens. She screamed in delight, and the neighbor opened a separate door to that area, and we brought out Callie and her THREE kittens. We have relocated her to a large dog cage that is currently unused because the person borrowed it from wanted it back for some foster dogs she was getting, but then never called me back about it. I guess I'll relocate them again if I need to, but I suspect that she doesn't need it after all.
Here's a bad picture of Callie with the three kittens nursing. She has two black and white kittens and one solid blackish-gray one. They are hard to see next to their calico mamma.
This is a little better as you can see the three of them lined up.
This is the one Sari is calling "Lucy". Who knows if it's really a girl or not, but how do you explain that to a four year old? I told The Hubs that it is a bad sign that she's named one already.
This morning, as we were trying to skee-daddle out the door for church, she shows up...noticeably NOT pregnant. But no kittens in sight. sigh. So the girls and I decided to skip out on early church and try to follow her back to where ever she went. 15 minutes before we HAD to leave, I called Mimi out to follow her if she left so I could go brush my teeth, etc. Callie had hung around that whole hour before that soaking up the attention. Of course, I go in and she heads out...but the minute she went over to our neighbor's house and started sniffing at a non-screened square breathing hole in the crawl space, Mimi came running in to declare, "I know where she is, I know where the kittens are." But of course, when I get out there, there's no Callie to be seen, and a flashlight search of the crawlspace (done on the down-low since it was out neighbor's house and we didn't ask or notify them) yielded no cat or kitten sighting. So off to church we went.
Church rocked, as always, and I spent the whole time doing the "seriously happy dance" at a new wireless speaker that allows me to hear the service even in the fellowship area where the CMC serves. YEA!!!!!
Anyway, home again, and that afternoon Callie shows up again. SO this time we do follow her, and indeed, she did go through the hole under the neightbor's house. This time we did it right, and asked them if there was an entrance to the crawl space, and if we might go in and search for kittens. They obliged (they had been aware of our search the day before and could sympathize with the kids' impatience to see the kittens). Mimi went under their house...and NO CALLIE. But we SAW her go in there. So then she goes over to an addition to the crawlspace and through a small crack in the cinder block wall, she can see Callie and kittens. She screamed in delight, and the neighbor opened a separate door to that area, and we brought out Callie and her THREE kittens. We have relocated her to a large dog cage that is currently unused because the person borrowed it from wanted it back for some foster dogs she was getting, but then never called me back about it. I guess I'll relocate them again if I need to, but I suspect that she doesn't need it after all.
Here's a bad picture of Callie with the three kittens nursing. She has two black and white kittens and one solid blackish-gray one. They are hard to see next to their calico mamma.
This is a little better as you can see the three of them lined up.
This is the one Sari is calling "Lucy". Who knows if it's really a girl or not, but how do you explain that to a four year old? I told The Hubs that it is a bad sign that she's named one already.
Comments
Think there's a way we could sneak a kitten past Dana without him noticing!!! :-)