Pearl, in Ann's arms, on her first tour of our house
It's been a big week here at Catnip Manor. Last week, I wrote about the stray cat, Pearl, and her kittens and our desire to bring them into safety. I am pleased to report that as of last night, Pearl and all four kittens are safely installed in a room we have prepared as a nursery.
To recap, we had noticed Pearl coming through our yard for some weeks. She was clearly malnourished and, we thought, pregnant. We began feeding her on our porch. Then, a couple weeks ago, she decided to trust us, became quite affectionate, and actually led us to her babies, who were nesting under an old trailer in a locked storage yard a couple doors down.
The storage yard
Pearl decided our house was her house and she would like to come in. Details below the orange yarn ball!
I began having my coffee with Pearl in the mornings, bringing her food and water. She was always very friendly -- starved for human contact, I thought. And food. Food! She was a nursing mom, after all! Those four kittens were clearly taking a lot of energy from Pearl. We thought we would give her some gushy food for kittens as well as kibble. She loved it.
Well, you get the picture of what mornings were like. Pearl was so happy on the porch. But how to get her kittens over? Ann had an inspiration. In the evening, we put gushy food on paper plates and put them under the gate of the storage yard. Sure enough, we got customers.
I tried slowly pulling the plate out, inch by inch, until I could snag a kitten and put it in a cat carrier. But the poor baby flipped out (and Mom wasn't too happy), so I released it. We repeated the evening feeding the following night (Monday).
Tuesday morning, when I went out to have breakfast with Pearl, she had two kittens with her. The kittens dove off the porch and took cover. Unfortunately, that morning was the morning the telephone company came to upgrade copper wires to fiber optic -- so there was a lot of noise and activity around the house and in the neighborhood. Not only that, but a neighbor across the street found evidence of raccoons hunting, a decapitated domestic duck that had been dragged over a fence and left in his drive. Eeek! Our resolve to get this family of cats into safety was firmer than ever.
But the good news is that said neighbor wants to adopt a kitten if there is a male in the litter. We were delighted by this!
We went back to the paper-plate-under-the-gate system. And Thursday night, Pearl came back to the porch with two kittens. We shut our cats in various rooms and popped the front door open a crack. Pearl came in and looked around approvingly. And for about five seconds, the two kittens came in, too. We talked to Pearl, told her that she needed to get all the kittens over -- and then they could all come in together.
And guess what I saw yesterday morning when I came downstairs? This was snapped through the window -- Pearl on a chest on the porch, on a Pootie Pad with all four kittens.
We shut the other cats in various rooms once again and left the front door open a crack. In this way, over the course of about an hour, we got three of the kittens in -- but unfortunately the shyest one (the fourth one we believe to be the runt), bolted before we could shut the door. A certain amount of comedy ensued as we scrambled around, catching the three kittens and getting them upstairs to the nursery. After Pearl spent some time with the kittens upstairs, we put her out and told her to please bring back the fourth baby. She just sat on the chest and looked concerned. We looked concerned right back. What to do, what to do... Tempting the kitten with food seemed the obvious answer.
By evening, we loaded up a paper plate and went back to the storage yard, momma cat following. Sure enough, the fourth baby came bouncing out and began to devour the food. I inched the plate out...and when the food was gone and the kitten was in reach, I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and quick-marched home.
Yes, I did get a few kitten bites yesterday -- I think I am okay but will go to Urgent Care today just to be sure. But all the babies are safe and warm and well fed.
We succeeded!
Oh, we met some people while on our hands and knees at the gate...people walking dogs were most considerate and crossed the street when they heard what we were doing. And one little boy was most interested. He said his mom had taken care of stray kittens before. I gave him my card and asked him to ask his mom to get in touch with us. He did better than that -- he brought her over. Anyway, the upshot is that they want a kitten, too. So two of the four will have homes.
In other news, we connected with the Spay and Save program of the Oregon Humane Society. We have a tentative appointment to have all five cats fixed at the end of the month. They will also help us get Pearl checked out and vaccinated.
You had better believe I will share more pictures as we get to know Pearl's babies better. The Catnip Chronicles will continue!
How you can help
Thank you for purchasing Pootie Pads last week. We got them all shipped on Monday but I was thwarted in sending e-card thank yous because we had our internet shut off Monday evening before the fiber optic change up occurred. But I trust every package arrived on time! We are still extending the sale of our Pootie Pads (extraordinarily potent, organic catnip pads for cats) for funds for Pearl. Consider treating your cats to some of our catnip -- or think ahead to the holidays for the purrfect gift for the cat owner in your life.
Pootie Pads come in three sizes. Fabric choices for original and petitie sizes are here - or let us choose for you.
Original: 23" x 17" $30 plus $5.60 shipping (regularly $35)
Petite: 13.5" x 9.5" ONE for $15 plus $5.60 shipping (regularly $18) OR TWO for $30 (regularly $35) plus $5.60 shipping
Play Size (let us choose for you): 8" x 4.5 Four for $30 plus $5.60 shipping (was $35)
We also have Pootie Pads for dogs -- filled with soothing organic lavender and thyme.
You can find the dog pads here.
Don't need a Pootie Pad? Donate directly to the Community Quilt Project using this PayPal button. It will help us help Pearl -- and keep our sewing going!
Thank you for your kind support!