My Kitty’s Tale

Once upon a time when life was orderly and calm, a phone call came which would change this family of mine forever.

“Hi,” I knew it was my husband from the caller id display on the phone.

“Hey, guess what I almost stepped on this morning,” Harley phones me from work whenever strange things occur, which is becoming more and more frequent, more like the ‘norm’, than not.

“I dunno, what did you almost step on?” I answered.

“A kitten! It looks like a newborn, like only a few hours old.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, I was walking into the supply room when out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something moving and when I looked down, I saw this little, squiggly creature scooting along the floor. I nearly stepped on it!” Oh, what a dreadful picture that conjured in my mind’s eye as I imagined my husband’s size 13 shoe squishing the little kitten to goop and wondering if he would have even noticed stepping on it.

“Well, should I come and get it?” Always the do-gooder when it comes to strays, what else could I do but offer to open our home to the little critter.

“NO!” Harley was adamant that he did not like cats and did not want a cat.

“So, what are you gonna do with it?”

“Well, nobody here wants it.” He was referring to his secretary and his two delivery drivers, one of the drivers offered to take the kitten to use it for target practice, the secretary simply said to throw it in the big dumpster out back,  “It’ll be dead in an hour.”  No kidding, those were the solutions offered!

“What?” I screamed! “I’m coming to get that little kitty!”

“No, you’re not, besides Rob has a call in to his ex-wife, he’s pretty sure that she’ll want it.”   Huh! That little kitty would have a better chance of survival being used as target practice than with Rob’s bird-brained wife.

“Hey, I forgot to ask you,” I changed the subject a little bit, “what color is the kitten?” This was important information since sometimes I have premonition dreams that actually come true. Really, I do!

About two months before this adventure, I had an outstanding, extremely vivid dream that woke me from my sleep. It was a short dream. I dreamed that I heard faint meowing outside the front door. I opened the door and there stood the sweetest-looking little orange and white kitten in the whole wide world. I looked down and told the kitten that it better go home because it’s getting dark and late and besides, my two Labs might confuse it for food.

Of course, kittens can’t talk, but in my dream we communicated telepathically and the kitten looked up at me and said, “But, this is my  home!”

“Oh! Okay!” I said happily. The dream ended and I awakened.

“So, what color is the kitten?” I asked yet again after Harley didn’t respond to me the first time.

“It’s kind of orange and white.”

“That’s it!” I shouted into the phone, “I’m coming to get that kitten, it’s mine!”

“Oh no you’re not, I don’t like cats and besides, what are you gonna do with the dogs? Vayda will eat it! You know how she likes to hunt.”

I protested. “That is the kitten I saw in my dream, the one that talked to me! It was a sign! I’m coming to get it!”

“Oh yeah?”  Harley challenged, “you had a dream about THIS kitten?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, did the kitten in your dream have a tail?”

“What?” I wasn’t ready for a stupid question like that. “What do you mean did the kitten in my dream have a tail?

“Did the kitten in your dream have a tail?”

“I dunno, besides, who cares and what does it matter?”

“Oh, well, it matters if you want to prove that THIS is the kitty from your dream.”

“C’mon,” I was tiring of this futile game we were playing,  “I don’t know if the kitty in my dream had a tail, I was too busy looking at its cute face.  Why, doesn’t this kitty have a tail?”

“Nope.  It doesn’t have a tail, but it doesn’t look like anything is wrong with it either, I’ve got another call coming in, gotta go.”

“Okay, bye.”  I quickly slipped on my shoes, grabbed my wallet and keys, an old towel and a small box, and raced to my husband’s office. When I pulled into the parking lot, there he was, loading a small box lined with one of our old green towels, into his vehicle. “Whew,” I thought, “I’m just in time!”

“Where are you going?” I asked him, afraid that he had promised the kitten to someone else.

“I was coming home.”

“Why?”

“To bring you the kitten. Nobody else wants it.”

I reached for the box and transferred it to my Jeep, staring at the little life-form struggling to survive. It was so tiny, the size of a newborn mouse, teeny, tiny!

“So, what are you gonna do with it now?” Harley suddenly acquired the attitude of an inquisitor.

“Well, I’m going to stop by the Veterinarian’s office to pick up a better box to keep it in so the dogs don’t eat it.”

“I don’t want you spending any money on a damn cat! If I find out that you had the Vet look at that cat, shit’s gonna hit the fan!”

What a threat. I wasn’t worried, I knew how to manage things so that Harley would not find out things which I did not want him to find out. Off to the Vet’s office went the little kitty and I.

Harley’s office is a mere five miles from our home and conveniently, our Veterinarian’s office is at mile number three on the route to Harley’s office. It was most convenient to stop in at the Vet’s office to purchase one of those cheap, cardboard pet carriers as well as buy a nursing bottle set, complete with two nipples and specialized ‘milk’ for infant kittens.

Bringing the kitten into the house was exciting as Buddy and Vayda, our two Labs,  expressed great desire to see what I was holding in my hands, perhaps a doggy treat? After telling them to sit, I carefully lowered my hands and held the kitty to their snouts, one at a time, so that everyone could get to know each other in a most primitive and identifiable manner, like when dogs want to sniff house-guests’ butts. I wanted the kitty to get a good whiff of them too, it would be important for her to bond with them….

– – – – I have work to do around here, my storytelling is going to have to wait for another day.  Meanwhile, meet Opie (that’s what we decided to name the little darlin’) on her 1st or 2nd day at home.  Here’s a short video on my youtube account : Opie’s 2nd Day