SacPaws.com

    One of the cat rescue tales that I've told several times is where I caught a kitten from a litter by hand.  It's not as easy as it sounds.
    There is a bank that is next to a mall where there was a mommy cat that had a litter of kittens.  At the time, these kittens were just over a month old and started eating on their own.  Where I place the food is next to a short, dense bush that is on the other side of the bank parking lot, so these guys know that they are protected and don't have to go far when they feel they are in danger.
    I feed at night so that other people can't see what I do because I don't want someone else getting the idea it would be a good idea to toss the cat who's no longer a kitten.  I've seen it before and it just gets me mad.
    Anyway, this one night, I had placed the plate of canned food at the opening of the bush and started to walk away.  I had only moved about twenty feet when I heard the litter of five come out and start scarfing down the plate.  I looked to my girlfriend who was helping me.  I decided that I wanted to see how close I could get to these guys.  I sat down on the curb that runs toward the bush and where the kittens were standing on to eat. 
    For a simple twenty feet, it took me about fifteen minutes to get close to them.  Each time I would move a few inches before they would look over at me and at that point I would freeze and wait till they returned to their food.
    I have to say that my butt was sore from sliding across the concrete and then slamming it down quickly whenever they looked at me.  Finally, I was within arms reach and there were only four kittens since one wasn't trusting me and went into hiding.
    I looked to my girlfriend to see what she might suggest that I do and she could only shrug.  I had two choices, I could "earn" the trust of the cats and just get up and walk away or attempt to grab one.  I knew that if I didn't attempt to grab one then I would regret it if something were to happen to them soon after.
    I rolled up my sleeve and prepared my arm to strike like a viper.  My girlfriend didn't even see this coming.  I snapped my arm out and got hold of a kitten and made sure I had it by the scruff of its neck.  My girlfriend quickly ran to the car to retrieve the carrier in the back.  We had parked in another parking lot because of not wanting attention. 
    The kitten was now sinking its teeth into my flesh along with his back claws.  I've gotten bitten and clawed before, so I've gotten somewhat used to the pain.  What I hadn't expected was this guttural growl and it wasn't coming from the kitten.  I looked over to the bush ans see mommy cat coming half way out with rage in her eyes.  In my minds eye I could see her running at me, up my leg, neutering me and then getting her baby out of my hand.
    Of course I ran away with the kitten still bitting me and blood running down my hand.  My girlfriend was struggling to get the carrier that was stuck in the back and so she sees me coming at the car with FEAR in my eyes.  Once the kitten was in the carrier it was fine.
    I swear I was looking in the rear view mirror for the mommy to come after me like Michael Meyers or something.
    In the end, we got four of the kittens.  Yes, I said four; that one timid kitten who hid wasn't caught but she provides some interesting tales to this day.
    I'll save those for another post.

     I remember being at a party one evening several years back and instead of enjoying the drinks and the company, I was more concerned with this mommy cat that had two or three kittens with her.  I first saw her peeking her head through a broken fence.  I called out to her and timidly she approached but didn’t allow herself to get too close.  The poor cat was thin and was looking for some food.  When I saw the kittens that were hanging back behind the broken fence panel, my heart went from cracking to shatter and melting.  I went numb when I saw the mother drinking from a filthy puddle in the parking lot; her kittens cautiously joined her thinking that she had found something worth eating. 

      I didn’t think of where the cat had come from because it was obvious that someone had once owned her and tossed her away probably because she was pregnant.  Luckily, I carried some cat some food in the trunk of my car.  Not many people I knew at the time, or even now for that matter carry cat kibble in their car.  I placed the food as far away from the parking lot and from people.  Once I backed away the mother and her kittens approached the food and eagerly ate.

      I didn’t want to leave that evening and it wasn’t because I was having a good time.  Eventually the cats ate all the food and returned to whatever was beyond the broken fence that they had come from.  I carried the cat food in my car because I had discovered a cat running around in the parking lot of the Cinedome Theaters on Greenback Lane.  I would go to a movie each Friday afternoon and feed that cat underneath a large tree.  Never did find out what happened to that cat before the theaters were revamped.

      I suppose at that point my eyes were opened to the world of neglected that was happening around me.  And with my eyes ‘opened’, I noticed that there were a lot of abandoned or feral felines in the apartment complex that I lived in back in 2000 through 2001.

      I recall that there were a couple of cats that just simply showed up at the front door of my home.  Of course as I would open the door or approach one from afar the cat would either run off or wait for me to place the food on the ground and move away.  I remember there was one white cat that showed up each evening and just wait for me to place the food outside the door on a regular basis.  One night I opened the door as I was about to go out for the evening and this cat was sitting there, waiting.  I quickly went inside to get the small bowl of kibble and come back out and set the food down.  The cat was comfortable enough to eat near me and allow me to watch him or her eat.  Well, on this particular night I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was another cat, a small one but a companion to my regular.  Or so I thought.  This other visitor at the top of the stairs turned out to be an opossum that had been tagging along for some food.

      Imagine my surprise as I turned to look at this cat saying, “Oh, you brought a friend with you?” and I see this opossum, drooling and looking up at me.  Yeah, I fell backward a little and cringed.  The poor opossum was now offended or scared by my reaction and walked down the stairs like a slinky and waited for me to move away.  

    Yes, I talk to the cats, whether they are feral, my friends or my own, who doesn’t?  The problem would be if the cats were talking back to me and I understood what they were saying. 

     Anyway, this being my first blog/post, I just wanted to introduce myself with the start of my adventures and how I got into what I do now with rescuing cats.