Needless to say, I have been basically... MIA here for about a month or so lol. dont ask me why.. But I have a story Ive been meaning to tell!! Its a long one, beware, but EXCITING! lol
The story of Bagheera:
On July 5th, as I was coming home from work a bit early, at about 1045 or so, I spotted a tiny little black fuzz ball running along the fence in the parking lot of my apt complex! I stopped.. contemplated whether or not to investigate, knowing I may end up with a stray kitten to deal with.... then, I reluctantly parked and got out.
::Back story:: My friend Beth has been telling me ALL spring/summer that shes DYING to find and rescue a litter of kittens. She has just been so certain that shes going to find some homeless kittens! But its getting toward the end of summer and still no kittens! So when I saw this little thing I KNEW I had to stop, & call her to come help.
back to the story..
so of course the little thing wanted NOTHING to do with me, and raced away from me, and crawled up UNDERNEATH a car!!! and proceeded to mew loudly every few minutes. I ran inside to get some cat food, and then called a few friends to help (Beth being one of them). as I was waiting for back up, I spotted his mamma. she was a VERY small, black, long-haired cat with yellow eyes. she has to be the smallest cat Ive ever seen, but Im almost positive she was an adult. she was afraid of me as well. I didnt want her taking the little baby away to grow up and make more babies though, so I had to keep spooking her, but not too much because she kept meowing back to the baby, and this was the only way we were going to get kitten out of the car.
eventually my friends arrived, and our voices spooked the kitten & the mamma, and both stopped meowing. so we moved about 20 feet away from the car so theyd feel safer but we could still watch. we waited for about an hour or so when we FINALLY saw some movement! one of my friends said she saw the kitten run out from under the car and over to the one next to it! we snuck over quietly but there was no sign of the baby! mamma cat came back eventually too and kitten started mewing again and then our suspicions were confirmed: he had crawled up underneath this car now! by this time we were desperate. we slid underneath the car to see if we could spot anything; nothing. we tried poking sticks up inside to scare the kitten out; nothing. we even pushed on the hood to shake it up and down; still nothing.
then me and one of my friends went inside the apartment for a minute and when we came back out my other friend said the kitten had plopped out of the car and she chased it across the parking lot and into this big mess of bushes! once it got in there it stopped meowing, and we had spooked mamma cat too much and was no where to be found. we tried the waiting around in silence trick again for a little while, but nothing was helping. by that time we'd been out in the hot sun for THREE HOURS and I was about ready to give up. but, as a last resort, I went in to the apt again and grabbed our mop to try and stick the handle in the bushes & scare the kitten out. we did this for a few minutes, with no result. But then all of a sudden, Beth looked up and saw a tiny black ball of fuzz sitting at the top of this tall old tree stump that was at the back of the massive thicket! I ran over, GRABBED the kitten by its tail/one back leg and pulled it out! Of course in return he grabbed me with his NEEDLE SHARP KITTEN CLAWS, but there was NO WAY I was letting go now!!!!! and my friends were quick to grab the cat kennel and we quickly locked him in.
SUCCESS!!!
We were all ecstatic! We knew the cats were most likely living on the other side of the fence, in the apts next to mine. So we drove over there to try and look for/capture mamma & any other kittens. Sure enough, we found the mom. But there was no way she was being captured. And there was no sign of any other kittens. So, exhausted, hot and sunburned, we left.
We took him to have my dad check him out, and he guessed that he was at least 3 1/2 months, even though he was so small (him mom was really small too after all). We gave him a quick bath, put on some advantage, and gave him his first set of shots. I dont know if the mom is feral or has a home or what, but Im pretty sure they, or at least the kitten, had been living outdoors its whole life. He was not only filthy, but covered in fleas, had round worms, runny eyes, and was extremely jumpy in the house. Just normal household sounds spooked him and he was terrified of humans.
Its been a little over a month since the big capture, and little Bagheera- Baghee (pronounced “Baggy”) for short, (named after the panther he so resembles in the Jungle Book) is now living with his new mamma, Beth. He has opened up a lot, but is still a little jumpy at times. He used to HATE dogs, and was scared out of his mind at the mere sight of one, but he and his new Beagle-brother now PLAY all the time, and hes no longer afraid of his (elderly) Weim-sister either. His new kitty sister on the other hand is taking a bit longer to warm up to him.. *g* But they have made a lot of progress, and can every so often be spotted wrestling. He has been wormed, was FIV & FELV negative and is totally healthy now. And as soon as he starts losing teeth we’ll know he’s 6 months, and neuter him. Happy ending!
Now PHOTOS!!!!!
First; album here: http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286272779
These are all from the first 3 days, when he was staying with me:
for the first few days he was only content when tucked in a jacket, a pocket or.. a hood lol
this was right after his bath
he loved to sleep in the bathtub! (or behind the toilet LOL)
SO TINY!
I took him to work with me the 2nd & 3rd day to help get him used to being held and different noises. on the 3rd day I actually got him to purr! Hed only purr in the comfort of his little cave bed though
the early stages of what is now one of his favourite activities- going CrAzY in the litter box!!!
yumyum wet food! now a days he wont touch the stuff- only eats dry!
MORE in next post!
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