Fast Food Kitten — Sweetie Wildcat Arrives

Look at the photo below. See the downspout in front of the car? Now imagine a thunderstorm dumping heavy rain on this place — water is gushing out of the downspout. Visualize a tiny orange kitten hiding under the downspout, trying to get out of the rain. Her mother has been killed and she's all alone, scavenging for food scraps because she is starving. Our story starts here.   

On June 26, 2005, our neighbors, Chris and Leigh Ann, had stopped at a fast food restaurant on the way home from church. They were at the drive-through window when Chris spotted something out-of-place under the downspout near the front of the car. Chris told Leigh Ann what he was seeing, and she jumped out of the car, in the rain, and approached the downspout. A kitten ran across the parking lot and climbed a small tree. Chris parked the car and joined Leigh Ann at the tree. Chris was able to grab the kitten by the scruff and pull her off the tree. She was hissing, spitting, biting, and scratching. They took her to the car and put her the cargo area of the SUV. As they drove home, she ran around in the back of the SUV, trying to find an escape. A feral kitten, she had never been handled by humans. Leigh Ann started trying to tame the frightened little cat.

Ann and I had just returned from a vacation in the Jackson Hole - Yellowstone National Park area. It was the first vacation we had taken together in quite a while because we wouldn't leave our old cat Scooter alone. Scooter had passed away the previous month, after 23 years of wonderful companionship. On this Sunday, Chris and Leigh Ann stopped by on their way home after church. Chris came in but Leigh Ann had stayed in the car. I went out to say hello to Leigh Ann. 

When the tiny cat had calmed down enough to be held, Leigh Ann emerged from the car holding her cradled in her arms. She was wet and exhausted and she looked pitiful. Leigh Ann brought her into our home where Ann helped Leigh Ann dry her off. Ann remembers how small she was and that her tongue was hanging out. After she had been toweled dry, we could see that she was a very cute striped orange kitten.

Leigh Ann took her to a vet on Monday for a checkup. The vet said she was about seven weeks old. Leigh Ann knew how to tame feral cats and continued domesticating the kitten.

We went to see her several days later. She was adjusting to life with humans well, playing and purring. Chris and Leigh Ann were going on vacation the next weekend, so we agreed to take care of the little wild cat while they were away. Leigh Ann dropped the kitten by our home on Friday.

Strangely enough, we were cat-less for the first time in 23 years. For almost two months, our home had felt empty and lifeless. I had never been around a kitten — Scooter was nine when I met Ann and I had never associated with cats prior to meeting Scooter. Ann and I had planned to get two Siamese kittens late in the summer.

By the time Chris and Leigh Ann returned from their vacation, I wanted to keep this orphaned kitty (fortunately, Ann agreed).

The Sunday that the kitten was rescued from the parking lot was the day after the worst birthday I had ever had (that's another story). I felt that this little orphan, who had come to us through a most amazing set of circumstances, with a birthday gift to me. To this day, I have a special place in my heart for this cat and her rescuers, who saved her from a terrible situation — alone, seven weeks old, dodging cars in a fast food parking lot, and scavenging for something to eat.  We named her Sweetie Wildcat.

Sweetie was so small and quiet that we got her a collar and bell, so we could hear her when she was underfoot (we were concerned that we might step on her), and we could find her when she was out-of-sight exploring the house.

Having a kitten was fun when we were playing and a little stressful when she was climbing on furniture and exploring the house. I remember the first time we were sitting in the window seat in the bay window that overlooks our back yard. I was concerned that Sweetie might hurt herself if she fell off the seat. She quickly showed me how foolish I was by jumping about 3 feet off the seat onto the floor and landing on a full run. She was very fast, and I loved to call to her from the top of the stairs, just to see this little athlete dash up towards me.

I was amazed that Sweetie required no litter box training. She had never been in a house yet Leigh Ann said she immediately started using the litter box.

Young Sweetie would play with anything. One night soon after she arrived, I was in bed reading a magazine. Little Sweetie was running on the bed, jumping on anything that moved. I pulled a bingo card out of the magazine and teased Sweetie with it. She started batting it around. I folded it twice and tossed it across the room. Sweetie dove off the bed and attacked the folded card. Then, much to my surprise, she picked it up and ran towards the bed. She leaped onto the bed and dropped it beside me. I tossed it again and she retrieved. She retrieved it about a dozen times before she ran out of energy. (For a small kitten, jumping onto a bed is quite an impressive feat — it must take a lot of energy.) Here's a video of Sweetie playing with a plastic bag:

Sweetie has amazing athletic skills. I saw her running down our stairs, hang a claw in the carpet, spin around, unhook the claw in mid-air, land and turn around and continue running — in a split second. (I doubt that slow and uncoordinated cats last very long in the tough world of feral cats.)

After Sweetie had been with us about a week, we decided to let her sleep in the bed with us. In the middle of the night I was awakened by loud purring. (Sweetie had a very loud purr, even then.) As I awakened, I felt her licking my ear. Then she started sucking my ear lobe! She must have missed her mother. It was not conducive to good sleep, however, and Sweetie spent the next several months sleeping in our guest bedroom at night. Here's a video of her purring:

Sweetie learned how to ask for food in the kitchen very early. She still asks for food, five or six times a day — she eats an amazing amount of food (I wonder if she's still affected by scavenging in the fast food restaurant parking lot). Here's a video of her asking to be fed:

Adopting Sweetie forced us to revise our plans to add two Siamese kittens to our family in several months. We immediately began a search for some Siamese kittens that were the same age as Sweetie that were available immediately.

Two weeks later, Ann fell in love with a half Siamese-half Himalayan kitten and brought her home. We named her Blue Star. Sweetie was not pleased. I'll describe that meeting in another story.

Comments

[Sherry Decker]

Your stories are amazing. Such a tinder hearted man. That is the luckies kitten in the world to have found such a loving home.......
Cute too......

[Donna]

Oh, this is the best story ever! Your Sweetie is such a cutie. I can't wait to get the next installment of your story.

[Donna]

What's the latest on your baby cat?

[David]

(hope my wife doesn't see this: she's much more of a dog person than I am -- no dog can ever replace Ali, the Golden we had for 10 yrs.). I loved Sweetie: I think cats are old souls: Fennimore, our old 6-toed cat, used to bat us in the face if we raised our voices, and E.B. White (she's jet black), the current one, used to be a creap until she was hit by a car on Halloween several years ago, at which point she became the ultimate cuddler -- she snuggles right against me at night (the consequence of which has been several tick bites. Oh well).

[Myke]

David
If you have stories about Fennimore and/or E.B. White, please let me know. I'd like to post them on www.GreatPetStories.com, a web site that features great pet stories, pictures, and video.
Myke

[NOLADawn]

Such a sweet story and Sweetie is such a beauty!!

[Alexis Davids]

Bless you for coming into Sweetie's life when she needed you most.
I too rescued a feral kitten, about the same age as yours. She was very sick - eye infection, upper respiratory infection, the works - and had been abandoned by her mother. The vet told us not to keep our hopes up. But she survived and is thriving in our home. She even has a furry companion!
Where I am from, there is currently no funding for trap, neuter and release programs. It is because of people like you that the creatures who have no voice are given a second chance.

[Becky]

Great story to read. You are a very kind person to care of Sweetie so well. She's one lucky kitty.

[jason kenny]

stay in and keep the door shut