Last weekend I noticed a tiny kitten out behind my office. I figured there was another litter, as happens every so often, and I may or may not be able to catch one. Upon investigation there was just one kitten, barely weaning age. It wouldn’t let me get close. On Wednesday I was determined to catch the little bugger. I made an attempt, then I made a couple other attempts with up to four people helping. The little squirt would shoot out of the bushes and into the parking lot, disappearing under cars. We had a small cat carrier from previous kitty encounters, so I put food inside it and was able to be patient enough to wait until it went in and quickly close the door with a long squeegee handle.
So it’s in the box and hisses when a hand comes near. Now I can see that it has a weepy eye, poor thing, and it’s so tiny!
It was late in the day when I caught it, so I borrowed a dog crate from my sister to hold it overnight at the office. Despite the hissing, I handled the kitten a bit, and it seemed to enjoy the contact even though it was scared. It had a few fleas so me scratching all the itchy spots obviously felt good. I put it in the bigger crate and gave it more food, which it devoured. I cleaned its face with a damp cloth and the eye improved immediately.
Thursday I went shopping with the intention of making this an office kitty. I got a flea comb and combed a bunch of dirt, flea poop and a few fleas off the baby over the course of the day. It was not very active and would just stay curled up in my lap. While shopping I bought a cheap plastic organizer that will be handy for other things, and a little towel.
Awwwww!
I suspected part of the reason the little tyke was not very active was because it was a little sickly, but then I realized that I had actually fed it too much at one time and it doesn’t know self-control just yet (my big cats at home are on a self-feeder and I just don’t think about portions). The portion theory was confirmed on Friday when the activity level increased dramatically.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed, the kitty began exploring the office under my close supervision. She played for the longest time around my co-worker’s camera and canvas bag. What a difference from the first photo, eh?
She is shaping up to be a real sweetie and I am totally smitten, of course. She weighs like NOTHING, so it’s really a drastic change to come home and handle my big ol’ cats. No firm decision has been made about keeping her as an office cat. I MUST figure out how to get her litter box trained or I’ll have to abandon that idea. She uses it fine in the crate, but has peed outside the crate twice when I’ve let her loose. I didn’t have any trouble getting my cats to use the box at about six weeks old, and I’m out of my area of expertise. I hate to leave her confined to the crate when I’m not there but I don’t know what else to do.
The Newz Room 