It was raining hard last weekend and early Sunday morning, Michael heard something at the front door. He opened it only to find a wet kitty looking up at him. It was the same kitty that we had rescued from the oak tree just outside our balcony (see earlier post). We were getting ready for church, but couldn't just leave that little wet kitty outside. We went and got a towel, dried her off and brought her into the warm apartment as we finished getting ready for church. All we had was a few boiled eggs, so we warmed one up; cut it into bit size pieces and fed it to her.
It was still raining pretty hard so before leaving we fashioned a waterproof box and placed it facing the front door on our front porch, which was out of the rain and wind; put a towel in the box; put the kitty in the box and left for church. We left around 9:00 am and arrived home about 2:00 in the afternoon. It had stopped raining and as we walked up our stairs to our front door, there she was stretching a paw out of the box and yawning. We laughed and let her in for another boiled egg. What were we going to do with this kitty? We didn't really know. We let her stay in the apartment over night and put her out the following morning. The rain had stopped and we assumed she would go home (wherever that was).
On Monday night, Michael kept going to the front door and peeking out. At 11:30 that night, on the last "peek" there was the kitty and we let her in again. We talked about what we were going to do with this cat. I am not a cat person. On Tuesday, we talked more and bought a small bag of cat food and a small bag of kitty litter. If she was going to be in the apartment, "Visiting" I wanted to make sure she had a place to go. She took to the litter box right away. Michael let her stay in on Tuesday and things went from there...
Thursday was Veteran's Day and I had the day off. We ended up in Auburn, a small town approximately 26 miles north of our apartment up interstate 80. I had spent the week researching veterinary clinics in our area, only to discover that even an exam would cost nearly thirty dollars--add to that; vaccinations, rabies shot, testing for leukemia, Frontline for fleas and drops for mites in the ear and we would be out a couple hundred dollars; not to mention the going rate for spaying a cat--another hundred to hundred and ninety dollars.
Forget it!
But; we did want to (at the very least) find out the general overall heath of the kitty and, if need be, have her spayed. That is how we ended up in Auburn. I had found a non-profit spay and neuter clinic there that would exam the kitty for five dollars, spay her for thirty and administer all the other vaccinations at a very low cost. Michael had a softer heart for this animal than I did, and yet I was growing somewhat fond of her. I could tell Michael wanted to take care of this kitty and on Tuesday night he had asked me, "Do you want to keep this kitty?" I answered, "Yes, I suppose I do" and he smiled and said, "Okay".
We fashioned a carrier out of a plastic file crate, using an oriental tea tray for the lid and one of my stretching black belts to secure the lid to the crate. It was a half hour drive and she never meowed a single time, which amazed me. We arrived just as the clinic was opening and the lobby was already full. We told the lady at the front counter why we were there; that we knew nothing about this kitty, and that we really just wanted to have her examined and then decide where to go from there. While filling at the chart, she asked us what the kitty's name was and we looked at each other and said, "kitty" as that was what we had been calling her since she arrived last rainy Sunday morning on our front porch.
We had only been in the lobby for 5 minutes before we were called into the exam room. The doctor was a tall woman with a rather serious disposition. Of course, all the doctors working there do so on a volunteer basis, and must see hundreds of cats and dogs and also perform surgeries during their shifts. Personality is not a requirement when working with animals.
She looked at the kitty's teeth, checked her ears and felt her tummy. I asked how old she thought she was, and was told that the cat was approximately 10 months old. The Vet than asked Michael to hold the kitty's front paws and she check her "private" parts.
I asked the Vet, "can you tell if she has been spayed already?" The Vet smiled and said, "Actually, she has not been spayed because she is a he. You have a neutered male cat here."
Michael and I were thrilled! We had not wanted to put out the expense of spaying the cat nor go through the recovery process in our little apartment; so, needless to say, we were thrilled, indeed.
She then ran the scanner over the kitty and low and behold, the kitty had a microchip. We were told that any animal who had been neutered and micro chipped, would undoubtedly have already been vaccinated and had their rabies shot. We left there having to pay only for an exam, some Frontline and some ear drops. Of course, we also had the microchip number and the phone number to call to find out if the chip was registered.
To make a long story short, I spent quite sometime on the phone with the company. I was told that the original owner had given the cat to a "caregiver" but they were not sure what the status was. The owner indeed lived in our apartment complex, but we were not given the name or phone number; instead the company took our number and told us that she would call the original owner and have them call us.
On Friday, the owner called and left a message. She said that she no longer owned the cat; that she had given it to a neighbor. There is more to that story; but, I will spare the reader of the details and simply end this post by informing the reader that we now have a new member of the family. By the way, Michael has named him "Monkey".
Who would have thought that after just 6 months of marriage I would now be a mom to a monkey!
Well, here is our little "Monkey"
It was still raining pretty hard so before leaving we fashioned a waterproof box and placed it facing the front door on our front porch, which was out of the rain and wind; put a towel in the box; put the kitty in the box and left for church. We left around 9:00 am and arrived home about 2:00 in the afternoon. It had stopped raining and as we walked up our stairs to our front door, there she was stretching a paw out of the box and yawning. We laughed and let her in for another boiled egg. What were we going to do with this kitty? We didn't really know. We let her stay in the apartment over night and put her out the following morning. The rain had stopped and we assumed she would go home (wherever that was).
On Monday night, Michael kept going to the front door and peeking out. At 11:30 that night, on the last "peek" there was the kitty and we let her in again. We talked about what we were going to do with this cat. I am not a cat person. On Tuesday, we talked more and bought a small bag of cat food and a small bag of kitty litter. If she was going to be in the apartment, "Visiting" I wanted to make sure she had a place to go. She took to the litter box right away. Michael let her stay in on Tuesday and things went from there...
Thursday was Veteran's Day and I had the day off. We ended up in Auburn, a small town approximately 26 miles north of our apartment up interstate 80. I had spent the week researching veterinary clinics in our area, only to discover that even an exam would cost nearly thirty dollars--add to that; vaccinations, rabies shot, testing for leukemia, Frontline for fleas and drops for mites in the ear and we would be out a couple hundred dollars; not to mention the going rate for spaying a cat--another hundred to hundred and ninety dollars.
Forget it!
But; we did want to (at the very least) find out the general overall heath of the kitty and, if need be, have her spayed. That is how we ended up in Auburn. I had found a non-profit spay and neuter clinic there that would exam the kitty for five dollars, spay her for thirty and administer all the other vaccinations at a very low cost. Michael had a softer heart for this animal than I did, and yet I was growing somewhat fond of her. I could tell Michael wanted to take care of this kitty and on Tuesday night he had asked me, "Do you want to keep this kitty?" I answered, "Yes, I suppose I do" and he smiled and said, "Okay".
We fashioned a carrier out of a plastic file crate, using an oriental tea tray for the lid and one of my stretching black belts to secure the lid to the crate. It was a half hour drive and she never meowed a single time, which amazed me. We arrived just as the clinic was opening and the lobby was already full. We told the lady at the front counter why we were there; that we knew nothing about this kitty, and that we really just wanted to have her examined and then decide where to go from there. While filling at the chart, she asked us what the kitty's name was and we looked at each other and said, "kitty" as that was what we had been calling her since she arrived last rainy Sunday morning on our front porch.
We had only been in the lobby for 5 minutes before we were called into the exam room. The doctor was a tall woman with a rather serious disposition. Of course, all the doctors working there do so on a volunteer basis, and must see hundreds of cats and dogs and also perform surgeries during their shifts. Personality is not a requirement when working with animals.
She looked at the kitty's teeth, checked her ears and felt her tummy. I asked how old she thought she was, and was told that the cat was approximately 10 months old. The Vet than asked Michael to hold the kitty's front paws and she check her "private" parts.
I asked the Vet, "can you tell if she has been spayed already?" The Vet smiled and said, "Actually, she has not been spayed because she is a he. You have a neutered male cat here."
Michael and I were thrilled! We had not wanted to put out the expense of spaying the cat nor go through the recovery process in our little apartment; so, needless to say, we were thrilled, indeed.
She then ran the scanner over the kitty and low and behold, the kitty had a microchip. We were told that any animal who had been neutered and micro chipped, would undoubtedly have already been vaccinated and had their rabies shot. We left there having to pay only for an exam, some Frontline and some ear drops. Of course, we also had the microchip number and the phone number to call to find out if the chip was registered.
To make a long story short, I spent quite sometime on the phone with the company. I was told that the original owner had given the cat to a "caregiver" but they were not sure what the status was. The owner indeed lived in our apartment complex, but we were not given the name or phone number; instead the company took our number and told us that she would call the original owner and have them call us.
On Friday, the owner called and left a message. She said that she no longer owned the cat; that she had given it to a neighbor. There is more to that story; but, I will spare the reader of the details and simply end this post by informing the reader that we now have a new member of the family. By the way, Michael has named him "Monkey".
Who would have thought that after just 6 months of marriage I would now be a mom to a monkey!
Well, here is our little "Monkey"
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