About 10 weeks ago my wife came back from her afternoon walk down our lane and said that she could hear a bird making a strange cat like noise up a tree. For some reason I did not go on my usual morning walk the following day. She heard the same noise the following night. I then walked down the lane on the Saturday morning and heard a cat like noise in a tree. Obviously I stopped and looked. Peering out of the branches, at head height was a pair of bright blue eyes. They belonged to a tiny kitten. When I tried to get hold of it, it climbed further up the tree. All the time it was crying piteously. So, I walked the mile home and got some cat food and drove back in the car. As soon as I held out the food, the kitten walked on to my hand for it. I wrapped it up in a cloth and brought it home. It went straight to our cat's water bowl and drank. Then it went and sat on my wife's lap. Now our two cats have to have special food as they have urinary tract problems. This food is not suitable for kittens. So, we had to go to our neighbours along the road and borrow some suitable cat food for it. The field where I found the kitten was being harvested so there was the possibility that there might have been other kittens in the field and that they had been caught by the combine harvester. I went back down the lane and searched the hedgerow, no more kittens. So whether this one had been abandoned on its own or with a family I do not know. She was obviously not feral as she was far too hand friendly. We have had a feral kitten before who just could not be handled for weeks, until it got used to us. From her size, blue eyes and weight (760 grams) we reckon she was no more than 6 weeks old. Since then she has caused a few problems. She took some time to learn to use a litter tray and still has a tendency to go elsewhere at times. She also will not let our two neutered 5 year old males settle. She bounces up to them and leaps on them and instead of beating her up, they run away. So, of course she chases them. There is a problem with food. They are not allowed to eat hers and theirs is not good for her. She insists on pinching their food and of course they insist on trying hers. She also had tapeworms so we had to get some special kitten de-worming tablets from the Vets. Fortunately I have no problem getting tablets in cats. She also bites. She turns from being a purring bundle to a vicious scratching, biting monster in an instance. No idea why that is, except that it is possibly because she was taken from her mother at a too young age and had not been taught manners, the way a mother cat will. She will learn. We decided to call her Jemma, short for Jemimah Piddleduck, because of her urinary habits. Since then she has gained some weight, (1.97 grams now) and has had the first part of the injections against 'Flu. Parvo and Leukaemia. At the moment she is sitting on top of the PC which can be a problem as she has been known to stand on the Off button. She also likes to sleep on top of the fridge.
Awww what a little beauty Palustris .Looks like she was destined to find Mrs Palustris.. Lucky little Jemimah
Another Cat that will "own" you, Palustris!!! It's very hard not to reach and give a helping, surviving hand to animals and when you do rescue it it makes life "interesting" When I was working as Manager for a Company in Manchester,back in the 90's, I did a night inspection tour of the sites we had in the North West. At around midnight I stopped off at a site in Stockport where the Staff had found a small ball of black fur, a small only days old kitten. Nobody would take it and I ended up phoning my wife, at gone midnight, to see if she wanted a kitten and got a short answer...No!!!. Anyway, I ended up driving through the night to other sites in Carlisle and Preston etc with the kitten asleep on my shoulder and then ending up in the early morning back at the Manchester Office I tried persuading some people to take the kitten........with no success. It was so small it fitted in my Jacket chest pocket which is where it was when I drove home wondering how to explain the Kitten to my Wife. When I got home she was waiting and the first thing she said was "Where's the Kitten??, hand it over it'll want feeding." She'd known all along that I'd been bringing the Kitten home and had prepared a little bed for it!! She was a real animal lover, [well she loved me!!], and that kitten got better treatment than me and in fact ended up sleeping with our dog in the dog's basket who mothered it.
Aw, what a gorgeous bundle of mischief. She was obviously meant to be with you and I'm sure she'll soon knock you into shape in providing for her every need Well done to you and Mrs P for rescuing and adopting her
