Gotta Tell Ya: New Family Members
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Gotta Tell Ya: New Family Members
People who dump pets in parks are ...
I didn't want to post this until today because I didn't want to make a sad post.
But instead, it's a happy one!
Preface: I live by a small park. It’s my view from my living room window. I love it, but it has a dark side too. For some reason, people think it's a great idea to drop off pets they do not want any longer to go live in the park.
So, on the morning of Friday the 13th, my husband said he heard a kitten crying. Wailing. He looked and couldn't locate anything. I went outside several times and couldn't find the kitten.
Later, I went out, and when the kitten heard something near, she would go quiet. I went and stood still, and sure enough, she started crying again. This time, I found her; she was wedged in my gutter. I had to take a piece of it off to get her out. We had heavy rains moving into the area, and the outcome would not have been good for her.
She could not go forward or backward. I had seen a pregnant mama cat hanging around a few weeks before, and I realized I had not seen the momma cat in at least a week. This had to be one of hers.
She was filthy and hungry, so I got some goat milk, fed her, and bathed her. I noticed after bathing her, her eyes went off in two different directions. We named her Mercury because she was a fast-moving mass and got her on a good feeding schedule, and she settled right in. I had to keep her in the basement for now (it’s not a bad place it is where my art studio is). But every time I went upstairs, I would hear her crying; come down to the basement, she would be lying with my oldest cat, Dexter (he's 14), and no crying.
I couldn't figure it out, and then, after two days, I realized it was coming from the crawlspace. There's an entrance in the basement. We opened the door, and my son went in. and he found a horror show in there.
Two filthy kittens were covered in blood and dirt, and one was having seizures from probable dehydration. One that looked like a little Siamese hissed and wouldn't leave her brother.
Mercury got out and ran for whatever reason, and that’s how she got stuck in my gutter.
I gave him some goat's milk through an eye dropper because it's all I had on hand and ordered some kitten formula to be delivered in an hour or so (Thank you, Shipt!). I named the little one Shakes (After Shakes the Clown), but it's been extended to Shakespeare. He remains half the size of his sisters, but he plays and eats, and I think he will be a great cat. The little Siamese-looking one is a girl who looks exactly like a cat I rescued 20 years ago with cerebellar hypoplasia; her name was Timmy. So, I am calling this one Timmy 2.0 or T2.
Shakes and T2 will live with my daughter when they are old enough, and I am keeping Mercury, the cockeyed goddess.
I painted all three on some vintage book pages. You can see them here: 3amGallery Store.
