Hero is too Strong a Word (Probably)

Wednesday morning I happened to see a cat coming out from the bushes right in front of the main entrance here at work. I didn’t think much of it, but I did notice it looked scrawny and (now that I think about it) moved like its back leg was injured. It went down towards the back parking lot which abuts a wooded area.

Thursday morning, one of my co-workers was coming in the front door and stopped to look at something on the sidewalk. From where I was sitting, I couldn’t figure out what it was until I got up and went to look; it was a kitten, probably a day old at best (its eyes weren’t even open) crawling around and mewling its little head off! I looked back in the bushes where I’d seen what I now knew to be the momma coming from the day before, and sure enough there was a little litter of kittens. Five total, including the little guy on the walk.

I picked up the wayward kitty and put it with its siblings, then called the county animal rescue. The guy I spoke to told me they don’t pick up cats (which is the same policy as the county where I live) and said it would be best just to leave the kittens alone; momma would come back and take care of them. By now I suspected momma was long gone, but hoped that I was wrong.

A female coworker (V) heard about them and came up to look. She said she would bring some food up later and try to get the momma to stick around the kittens until she could round them all up together and take them to Angels of Assisi or another organization around here. I told her I’d keep an eye out and let her know if I saw the momma come around, but by the end of the day I hadn’t seen a trace of her.

Friday morning (today) V came up to the front desk and asked if I’d seen any hint that the momma had been by. I hadn’t thought to look yet (I’d just gotten in myself) so we went out to see what we could see. V had put the kittens in a small box with some foam to try to help them stay warm, and put food and water out. The food was gone, but the little kittens didn’t look like they’d been cared for at all. In fact, we couldn’t even see any signs of life in them at all, at first.

I reached into the bushes and shook the box lightly, which got a small response from one of the kittens, but it wasn’t looking good for the others. V went into the bush from behind and tried to get to the box, and was able to pick up one of the kittens that were moving. She said it was ice cold and stiff, and would be dead soon. She couldn’t get to the box with the one kitten in her hand and she was reluctant to put it down knowing they needed warmth. She got out of the way and I went in pushing and shoving heavy, sharp branches out of the way (whimper) and finally got the box out.

Two more were moving, so V told me to put them in her arms so she could keep them warm. At first the other two appeared to be dead as they didn’t move at all, and rolled around stiffly when I move the box. But first one, then the other, started moving. All five were like little blocks of ice, but eventually we got them inside the warehouse and wrapped in some warm towels. I’m not much of a cat person, but I hate seeing helpless animals suffering.

V’s partner drove out here and got the kittens, saying she’d take them to a clinic in town to at least get them looked at and maybe fed. Later I got an email from V saying the kittens were in good hands, and had a new momma and new brothers and sisters. A happy ending to start the weekend!