Kitty Wisdom - Excerpt

 

Ah, now we have “Ice Man,” which I randomly call him. He’s the sweetest little guy I ever adopted. Icee can’t get enough pets and scratches, and he rewards you with loud purring. I love my little Icee, the kitty I never intended to adopt. Shhh … don’t tell him that one. He would be so offended. “Not adopt moi? How could you suggest such a thing. Mom, it’s me, me, me!”

            I love telling Icee’s adoption story. I visited my son Cole and his partner Andrew. Andrew adores kitties, and he has a tuxedo kitty named Lucy. (I cat-sat Lucy.) Andrew wanted to adopt a pure black “void” kitty. We were at Cole’s house in Tuolumne City, and I agreed that Andrew should adopt a void. Plus, I secretly wanted to go look at the kittens. I thought it would be fun. Again, remember going to look at kittens and not adopt one is like being a diabetic in the candy store. You’re tempting your vice.

            Since we were still in the middle of the pandemic, we had to call around to see if we needed a viewing appointment. We were all a bit excited to adopt a void. The Angel’s Camp Humane Society turned out to be open and available to view cats. We piled into Cole’s Jeep and headed out for the 45 minute drive to Angel’s Camp. Now the length of the drive in this story matters, so please make note of it.

            So, off we go to Angel’s camp to visit the Humane Society. At this point, I want to emphasize the importance of adopting rescue kitties versus buying a pure bred. I know there is a segment of cat lovers who will never be convinced to rescue a kitty. However, I feel strongly that rescuing animals in an environment being overrun by strays saves lives. Pure-bred kittens will get adopted by diehard “purest,” as we’ll call them, and the average kitten could end up destroyed. I appreciate non-destroy shelters. All life, including pet lives, matter. People have a tendency to look at cats as non-human and expendable. That said, if you’ve invited a cat into your family then you know cats are like little humans. They have emotions – fear, happiness, anger, etc. And what I love best is you can see their emotional state in their ear reactions. Ears back and twitchy, mad. Ears perked and listening, someone’s home and they’re excited. Rescuing a kitty means giving a home to a soul who could otherwise be destroyed (and let’s say it like it is, killed not the new euphemism “un-alived”).

            The Humane Society house sat on the edge of town. We pulled into the gravel driveway and piled out. Now I had absolutely zero intention to adopt a cat. I had Slurpee, and I already had to scoop the poops and keep the fatty fed. I didn’t want to double that fun. So, another adoption wasn’t on my radar. I just wanted to look at the cuties and help Andrew find the perfect, little void kitten. Well, the first thing we saw in the front of the house where there is a cat house are two voids. Andrew got excited and wanted to visit the voids. We went inside, and my eye darted to a glass-enclosed room with six-week old kittens playing around in it. Oh no! So cute! A man sat inside dangling a colorful feathery cat toy for the kittens who batted it and jumped around.

            The front desk woman, an older gal, led us back to meet the voids. Andrew and Cole immediately went into the outside enclosure while I stayed behind and waited. Turns out the little voids were brothers and about six-months old. The host said she wouldn’t let one be adopted without the other even though she realized it might make the adoption difficult. Andrew and Cole pondered it as they asked to view the other available cats.

            The woman led us to an area where kittens were in traditional cages. Andrew spotted a cute tuxedo kitten named Pumpkin. I cooed over another gray kitten. At this point, Cole started telling me to adopt a second kitty to keep Slurpee company. He explained how important it is for Slurpee to have a companion. I didn’t feel certain about adopting a second cat and pushed back on the subject. Remember, we don’t impulse adopt. Since I had no intention to adopt another cat, I felt Cole’s encouragement to adopt a second kitty could result in a bad decision. Also, I had started dating Detlef, my fiancé, and I wondered what he would think about a second cat.

            Then we asked if we could hold the kittens, Pumpkin and the gray boy. The lady agreed, and she took the kittens to the viewing room so we could hold and play with them. Cole’s encouragement to adopt continued, and I started to think maybe he was right. It doesn’t help that the kittens are incredibly adorable. I liked the gray one, but he wasn’t interested in me. He wandered away, and I grab him back to hold. I felt his rejection, but darn what a cutie, and put him down. Then something remarkable happened. Pumpkin, the little tuxedo kitten, decided to make my shoe his bed. He wobbled over like kittens do and curled up on my shoe! Pumpkin made it known – I’m to be his human, his new cat mama. Well, I’m a sucker for a “shoe kitten”. Pumpkin’s insistence for attention won me over, especially when he purred so loudly and everyone could hear it. Now I’m done for – it’s over. All resistance crumbled. Purring, especially loud purring, is a cat’s superpower.

            “Are you sure I should do it?” I insecurely asked Cole.

            “Mom, yes!”

            How could I leave this sweet kitten who clearly didn’t want me to put him down? I texted Detlef, and he agreed I should do it. He said Cole was right. So, I decided to adopt Pumpkin. At the same time, Andrew and Cole took a huge leap of faith and opted to adopt the two voids together. Two cats at once is a big commitment, but they impressively did right by the kitties and refused to separate them. The host knew black cats are harder to adopt out, and two black cats together presented an even greater challenge. She happily chatted with Andrew, expressing her approval that both cats found a home together.

            I held Pumpkin the whole time while I filled out the paperwork and paid the adoption fees. Pumpkin, whose name would soon become Icee, purred in my arms. He didn’t squirm or try to escape. I was enchanted by him. Icee is the sweetest kitty I have ever adopted. I petted and scratched my new kitten behind his ears. In the meantime, Cole and Andrew filled out the same paperwork for the black kitty brothers. After completing and signing the papers, we were all new kitty parents ready to take our babies to their respective new homes.

           We piled back into the Jeep, with Andrew sitting in the backseat with the black kitties, who would be named Ink and Squid, loaded in a carrier. We drove back. I held Icee and soothed him during the ride. He mewed but not too badly. I wanted to rename him (Pumpkin didn’t suit him). After I explored various cold beverage names, Icee won. Slushie wouldn’t work. I never liked slushies but Icees tasted good (plus, Icee is an animal’s name, a polar bear). Hence, Icee got a new name.

           We drove along and oh no!

“What’s that smell!” I said, feeling a need to gag.

“Holy crap!” cried Andrew. “The cats pooped in their carrier!”

Now we all coughed and gagged.

“Roll down the window!” I moaned, covering my mouth and nose. “Oh! That’s just rank!”

Cole gagged, laughed, and rolled down the windows. It was November and cold outside. He opened the sunroof, too. All windows were now opened, and we cried from the stench and froze from the cold. The absolutely putrid smell of cat poop on steroids assaulted our nostrils, windows opened or not. I can honestly say I’ve never smelled anything so nasty in my life. Poor Icee just looked confused and snuggled in closer to me on my lap. I nearly vomited, and I wasn’t alone. Cole pulled over so we could at least get the poop out of the carrier. He covered his mouth, gagged and dumped it out. He got back in the car, and we cried from the horrific stink that lingered in the air. After all, the carrier couldn’t be washed out, and the blanket got covered in it, too.

“Drive faster,” I ordered my son. “I can’t take this much longer.”

No one in that car objected. Cole proceeded to drive as fast as he could on the 45-minute stretch of road. Remember how earlier in the chapter I emphasized the long drive. Yes, now you know why.

“What did they feed them?” Cole’s asked.

“Poop!” I replied, covering my nose and mouth.

“No kidding,” said Cole, who also covered his nose and mouth while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

My real guess is bad cat food. Yes, cat food and the quality of cat food affects their poop smell. I learned to invest in grain-free cat food to cut down on bad odors. It works, too. Regardless of whatever diet the Humane Society had those cats on, the smell absolutely suffocated us. I just wanted out of that car. My kitten mewed at this point and wanted out too. Poor Icee … his ride home was unpleasant.

We returned to Cole’s house, and I still had a two-hour drive back to Dixon. I hoped Icee would be all right on such a long drive. I expected the usual meowing. I loaded Icee in the carrier they had given us at the Humane Society and closed the lid. I didn’t want to drive with a kitten wandering freely around my car. I placed it on the passenger seat and drove off. Of course, he mewed and complained. I thought, Two hours of mewing … sigh. Fortunately, Icee only mewed for a bit. I soothed and comforted him with my voice. After about 20 minutes, he seemed to calm down and drift off to sleep, which was good given I still had an hour-and-a-half drive ahead of me.

Next, I thought about how to introduce Icee to Slurpee. I felt uncertain about how well Slurpee would react to another kitty in his territory. Andrew had advised me to put one in the bathroom and let them sit together with a door in-between them. So, when I got home and unloaded Icee, I took him into the main bathroom and put him inside. Then I encouraged Slurpee to meet him. For the next few hours, they touched paws underneath the bathroom door. Wow! So, cute watching little paws explore each other. I’m told you should give it a few days before you allow them to meet face to face, but I cheated and decided the paw play meant they might want to meet sooner.

I let Icee out of the carrier so he could wander around and adjust to his new surroundings. At six-weeks old, he seemed like an itty-bitty kitty. I worried about stepping on him or even cuddling him and accidently smothering him. He came out of the bathroom and Slurpee just stared at the little foreigner. He seemed more intrigued than threatened. They sized each other up. I think Slurpee hissed a little, but then softened toward his new little brother. Ah, good, I thought, I won’t have to break up a cat fight.

It didn’t take long before they both started playing and zooming around the house. I set up two litterboxes. It’s always best to try and give each cat his own box. I also put them on their feeding schedule. I don’t like to feed cats all wet food for two reasons. One, it can get expensive buying wet food; and two, kitties need some dry food to keep their teeth healthy. I set up a feeding station, and I designated individual cat dishes. Icee initially had diarrhea, which concerned me. Kittens can die from failure to thrive, so when they’re little you have to pay attention to weight loss.

The funniest moment came when Detlef and I ate breakfast at the dining room table. The kitty boxes sat in the area (hardwood, tile or laminate floors make the best locations for litter boxes), and I had yet to buy covers for them. We could see when the kitties did their business. I about fell on the floor laughing when Icee went to his box. He didn’t do the typical squat-and-go pose. He got up on his hind legs and stood up like a rabbit to go pooh. I have never seen a cat stand to go to the bathroom. Detlef and I marveled at his unique skill. I became aware of his diarrhea. I decided to not give him anymore wet food for a few days and see if it would improve. Instead, I gave him kitten dry food. The diarrhea lasted several days, but it did clear up. Always keep an eye on your kitty’s bathroom habits. As noted, kittens are fragile when they’re so little. You want to ensure your new baby stays healthy.

I allowed my cats to initially sleep in my bed – that is, until Detlef moved in. They didn’t get kicked out of the room solely because of Detlef’s arrival. They got kicked out for pouncing on us in the middle of the night. No one wants to be startled awake by a “puff” deciding your feet are cat toys. Icee loves feet and toes. He is our infamous “toe hunter,” who pounces on vulnerable toes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sitting on the kitchen chair, talking to Detlef, and trying to keep Icee off my shoes and socks. But, toes under blankets … now that’s a whole new level of excitement. If I moved my legs or feet, I could count on a kitten to bounce over and pounce! Ouch! Baby claws go right through blankets. Even clipped claws can be lethal weapons. While Icee enjoyed play time with my feet, I can’t say I liked it. I didn’t want to encourage this behavior, but in cat world it seems like most cats love this game (maybe not the toe part).

As a result, Icee and Slurpee got banished to the living room during sleep hours. In their defense, they didn’t stay at the bedroom door and meow all night to be let in. Once we put them out of our bedroom, they would freely roam the house. And that my friends is how Icee came to live with us…