I introduced you in a previous blog, to our outside, garage cat, Kitty. Well, her story continues. As I mentioned before, every day Chuck would open the garage door and it was Kitty’s choice whether she explored the great outdoors or stayed inside just gazing out at the open space. Her decision was based solely on the outside temperature and the type of weather we were experiencing at the time. Her freedom time ranged from five minutes when her attitude was “Screw this idea. It’s too damn cold out there” to an hour or more of happy, “this is the life,” cat adventures. But she always returned to the comforts of her heated home where fresh water and an abundance of food were available at all times. She had us well trained.

However, one day in early January, Kitty did not return after her afternoon excursion. We were worried sick. Coyotes roam the property and tom cats prowl the area. A thousand ways of how she could meet her end went through our minds. But, five days later, much to our relief, the cat came back. We thought she was a goner, but the cat came back! If we had been a little more observant, we might have detected the smug look on her face.

Kitty had always been a hearty little eater but around the middle of February we just couldn’t keep her bowl full. “I swear that cat is eating enough for six,” commented Chuck. We were indeed very suspicious of our little girl. Had she had an affair on her five-day get away? Although she hadn’t packed any bags when she left, we strongly believed that she had brought back some baggage.

As time went on, it became apparent that some new accommodations would have to be made. The unused cat/dog house we had bought for her in the fall was moved into the garage with the idea that she might just use that for her nursery. We moved it in early so that she would get used to it sitting inside her domain plus we needed time to decorate it. A soft bed of straw was lovingly installed. The rest was up to Kitty.

Approximately two weeks before her expected date, her outside jaunts were curtailed. We had no plans on finding frozen little kittens in an outside spot chosen by Kitty. Well, last night the kittens arrived. Four of them – two grey kittens, one black kitten and one black and white with a bit of marmalade colouring thrown in for good measure. I would say our Kitty had a jolly good time with three gentlemen, Toms.

She gave birth in the dog house as we expected and I anxiously watched as they were being born. But Kitty didn’t seem to know what to do with them. Because they were getting deadly cold, we brought all of them, along with litter box, food, water, box filled with straw, etc. into the living room. We gently rubbed the little guys to get some life back into them and then placed the box of cats in front of the fireplace. We hoped for the best. But Kitty’s mother instincts had not yet kicked in. She would flop down in the box, land on her babies and they in turn would cry bloody murder. Rescuing them by scooping them out from under her and putting them on her belly became the routine for the next few hours. Of course, Chuck slept on the nearby couch and I slept on the floor right beside her. I know, we are idiots but what can I say. We love animals.

Well, it is now morning and Kitty seems to realize that these youngsters are her responsibility. Thank God because I’m too darn old for sleepless nights worrying about and looking after little ones. A decision has been made. There will be no future babies for Kitty. A trip to the vet will be on the agenda for her.

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