Room for One More?...........

I have said this before, and I'll say it again......... "If I get to the pearly gates and find out that God is a cat, then I've got it made."

My husband went out on his usual walk through the park with Gracie this morning. And what did he hear? The loud, pitiful meowing of a kitten. Down towards the bayou he walked, and there was a teeny black kitten in the high grass near the water, meowing his little heart out. My husband picked him up and brought him home. "Guess who's coming to breakfast?"

Tiny, tiny black kitten, just barely over 2 pounds. Not a deep midnight-black like ShadowBaby, but a soft, charcoal black, with very subtle dark brown rings on both sides of his back. If you don't look closely enough, you don't even notice the perfectly-formed oval rings. Pale yellow-gold eyes, the teeniest little face and the biggest ears.

Of course, our three cats weren't exactly thrilled, but Gracie (the dog) was just fine with this morning's surprise guest. Gracie must know that a baby cat or dog must be handled gently because she's like a mother-hen to these helpless creatures.

My husband set up Gracie's puppy crate in the back screen-porch for the little kitten. I didn't have a litter box small enough for him, so I used a 9x13" baking pan, which of course I'll replace the next time I go to the supermarket. I tucked the litter pan into the back of the puppy crate, which is quite large, then made a little bed of soft towels for the kitten. I added dishes for food and water, and little cat-toys, and he was just as happy as could be. ("As happy as a clam," as my dad would say.)

Do we keep him? Do we need another cat? Of course we don't need another cat. I've already asked my cat-loving neighbor if she knows anyone who's looking for a sweet little kitten. V assured me that she will ask around.

We also called the local SPCA. There is no room at their inn. With this being kitten season, plus all the animals they took in from Louisiana because of the storms there, the shelter is filled to the brim and they now have a waiting list for taking in unwanted pets or strays.

I called our vet, who is also a friend of ours. And that's where the little kitten is right now... at the vet's office. He will do the necessary tests on this kitten to make sure he doesn't have anything that could harm our own cats, plus give him the required vaccinations. I also asked him to neuter and declaw the little kitten as long as he had him up there, but because he weighs less than three pounds, we'll have to wait on that.

So there we have it. A little kitten. My husband has named him "Mickey," both for Mickey Mouse (since he looks like a little black mouse with big ears) and for Mickey Mantle. Our little friend C is here with us for today and tomorrow, and she's been singing "Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey!"

C, of course, wants us to keep the kitten. When I left the house a little while ago to bring the kitten to the vet, C kissed his little nose and whispered in his ear "I think they're keeping you."

Which we probably will. My neighbor V knows lots of cat-lovers, but those cat-lovers already have cats. As do we. But this is what happens. And when you find a cat out in the tall grass near the bayou on a cloudy, rainy day, you just know that you've rescued this tiny creature from the thunder and rain and lightning, and if you have a cat-loving soul, you feel like a hero. And you find yourself asking this question: "How can I not keep this tiny baby?"

The thunder/rain/lightning have now stopped. We tried at noon today to drive out to Galveston with C. We were heading towards the IMAX theatre at Moody Gardens. We got as far as Texas City and the sky opened up..... so much rain that we couldn't see past the car in front of us and vehicles were starting to pull over to the side of the road. And Galveston, with one bridge going to and from the Island, is not where you want to be during a Texas-sized rainstorm.

We decided to turn around and head back towards home. We stopped at "Hot Wok" for lunch, then stopped at "Goodies Creamery" for ice cream. Then we went to the bookstore to look for books on wakeboarding, which is C's latest passion...... then onto the Hallmark store so C and my husband could pick out a puzzle to keep them busy on this cloudy evening. They love doing jigsaw puzzles..... it's their favorite thing to do together. Unless, of course, there was a boat and a wakeboard available. Then I'm sure C would be teaching my husband how to hold on tight and jump over the waves.

Mickey. Poor little Mickey. He's sitting right now at the vet's office in one of their cages, and wondering what happened to all of us. And I'm sure that my Rusty, AngelBoy and ShadowBaby are thinking right now that we've come to our senses and taken that kitten to a cat-less home.