I had only been home about 20 minutes when my neighbor called to let me know that she had just pulled in her driveway and she had seen a little cat dodge out from underneath my car and head down the hill. I met her at the bottom of my driveway, and listened as a kitten was crying. I tried to get it, but only spooked it....right into the creek. She and I stood down there for a little while hoping to get it out of the creek, but it was cold, so we gave up.....we were obviously dealing with a feral kitten. I came in and tried to get ready for bed, but knowing that kitten was down there in the creek and now wet and freezing bothered me to much. I grabbed Hunter's light up Halloween skull, since it was the only light I could find, and some turkey and headed down to the creek. I was able to coax her up out of the creek, but I couldn't get my hands on her. I ended up calling my other neighbor since she loves God's furry creatures as much as I do. She came down with flashlights and crawled around the freezing ground with me. Her son finally came up to the house and got a live trap and brought it down to us. It was a little small, so we were worried about how successful it would be. We set it up and moved back to the hill to keep watch. After she successfully snagged a few pieces of turkey without tripping the trap, she got comfortable and moved all the way in the trap to feast on the food. We got her! We were all cheering...by now it is midnight. We were able to get her out of the trap and look her over. She was definitely a feral and she was covered in oil where she had ridden home underneath my motor. I know she is from the University as we had seen feral cats every Friday night. I didn't get a picture of her at the time, but as you can see, she looks like a direct descendant of Aubie.
She was painfully thin and starving. She was scared and actually bit my neighbor. But I could see the potential in her. I thought I could probably hide her from Paul and he wouldn't ever know, but I decided to tell him the next morning in case he heard the cries coming from the basement. He was ready for us to go ahead and take her to the shelter before we became attached, but I knew she needed some TLC before she would be adoptable. It didn't take long before she was fine with people and I was able to take her in for a quick scan and combo testing. She passed all her vet tests with flying colors. Noelle was the most attached, and I really wanted her to be able to keep the kitty. After all, she had not asked for anything for Christmas besides a water park pass. However, things started looking a little grim for the kitty. Her stomach was expanding at an alarming rate which is a sign of a fatal disease called FIP. I made another trip to the vet and we decided to take the cheapest route and treat her for worms, and just pray it wasn't FIP. I checked the kitty poop everyday for worms only to find none. But she seemed to be stable, so I felt like it wasn't FIP. So we decided to let Noelle keep her as her Christmas gift....after all how do you give away a gift that it seems God himself sent our way?
Here is Noelle opening her gift. It was an ornament that looked exactly like the kitten she had now named Cheeto. There was also a collar in the box. This is her reaction when she realized the collar was for Cheeto and that she would now be her pet. Cheeto's stomach continued to grow and look very out of the ordinary. Our vet had said that she is about 6 months old so there was a "possibility" that she could be pregnant. I was hoping not, but I would rather that than something more serious. We were blessed to have a friend help us check for kittens. I am happy to report there will be no kittens to deal with. In fact everything looked great. From everything they said, it just appears that she has an eating disorder.....like the kind where you just eat to much. She is very petite for her age, so the big belly looks a little out of place, but I'll take it.
Sweet Cheeto is truly a little blessing for not just Noelle, but for me too. She has the same personality as my all time favorite cat, Toy. She loves to snuggle under the covers for a quick nap. She loves our 25 pound cat and is helping him to get the exercise he so desperately needs. This week, I had to say good bye to my 16 year old dog, and in the midst of cleaning up all his stuff, Cheeto was purring around my feet reminding me that God sends us what we need when we need it. When I was at Auburn, I made it a hobby to snatch feral cats and tame them. I didn't ever keep any of them. Our other cat was a feral from one of our rental properties that I grabbed along with his litter mates. We kept him and found homes for the others. I guess I was due to keep one from Auburn~Thank you God for Cheeto, I think I love her just as much as Noelle does!
She was painfully thin and starving. She was scared and actually bit my neighbor. But I could see the potential in her. I thought I could probably hide her from Paul and he wouldn't ever know, but I decided to tell him the next morning in case he heard the cries coming from the basement. He was ready for us to go ahead and take her to the shelter before we became attached, but I knew she needed some TLC before she would be adoptable. It didn't take long before she was fine with people and I was able to take her in for a quick scan and combo testing. She passed all her vet tests with flying colors. Noelle was the most attached, and I really wanted her to be able to keep the kitty. After all, she had not asked for anything for Christmas besides a water park pass. However, things started looking a little grim for the kitty. Her stomach was expanding at an alarming rate which is a sign of a fatal disease called FIP. I made another trip to the vet and we decided to take the cheapest route and treat her for worms, and just pray it wasn't FIP. I checked the kitty poop everyday for worms only to find none. But she seemed to be stable, so I felt like it wasn't FIP. So we decided to let Noelle keep her as her Christmas gift....after all how do you give away a gift that it seems God himself sent our way?
Here is Noelle opening her gift. It was an ornament that looked exactly like the kitten she had now named Cheeto. There was also a collar in the box. This is her reaction when she realized the collar was for Cheeto and that she would now be her pet. Cheeto's stomach continued to grow and look very out of the ordinary. Our vet had said that she is about 6 months old so there was a "possibility" that she could be pregnant. I was hoping not, but I would rather that than something more serious. We were blessed to have a friend help us check for kittens. I am happy to report there will be no kittens to deal with. In fact everything looked great. From everything they said, it just appears that she has an eating disorder.....like the kind where you just eat to much. She is very petite for her age, so the big belly looks a little out of place, but I'll take it.
Sweet Cheeto is truly a little blessing for not just Noelle, but for me too. She has the same personality as my all time favorite cat, Toy. She loves to snuggle under the covers for a quick nap. She loves our 25 pound cat and is helping him to get the exercise he so desperately needs. This week, I had to say good bye to my 16 year old dog, and in the midst of cleaning up all his stuff, Cheeto was purring around my feet reminding me that God sends us what we need when we need it. When I was at Auburn, I made it a hobby to snatch feral cats and tame them. I didn't ever keep any of them. Our other cat was a feral from one of our rental properties that I grabbed along with his litter mates. We kept him and found homes for the others. I guess I was due to keep one from Auburn~Thank you God for Cheeto, I think I love her just as much as Noelle does!
1 comment:
Love it! Tell noellemi love the name ;)
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