kitteh adoption

This post reminded me of my own kitteh (non) adoption story.

My SO is deathly allergic to cats. Enforced stays with cats (more than a day) result in breathing problems, then lung-filling-with fluid problems. I love cats, but I'm rather attached to my SO. So, no cats.

One lovely summer evening, we were watching TV when we heard a pitiful cry. It was a teeny little stray kitten who'd gotten separated from its mama, sitting right under the window. I made the mistake of going outside to see what I could do, and that was it. The kitten cried outside for a while before I broke down and put out a dish of water. Then we slunk out of the living room so we didn't have to hear sad little kitten cries.

In short order the kitten decided that our house was his house. We gave in and started feeding him and his family once we were sure they were indeed strays. But he eventually chased out his siblings and spent his time trying to get inside if we were in and snuggling up to me if I was outside.

This kitten was one of the homeliest cats I'd ever seen. He started out super scrawny (although he eventually filled out on kitten chow), with giant ears and double paws. That is, he had an extra "toe" on his front paws that stuck out like a thumb. That's what it looked like, but upon closer inspection, that "toe" had three toes, and the rest of each paw had a couple extra toes as well. I had the cutest mutant kitteh ever!

We racked our brains about what to do with the kitten once it got cold. Would it be cruel to keep him in the basement if the alternative was staying outside? He was going to get in trouble outside - our neighborhood had dogs, raccoons, and (a year or two later) coyotes, and he'd hop into random cars when people opened doors - he was that friendly/fearless.

That was my summer of stray cats. Everyone I knew who might have taken a cat had already done so, and a friend of mine was trying to place a whole litter. And our kitteh had to go to a good home, because we'd both completely fallen for him. But eventually, someone living upstairs (who was discovered one day lying on the front porch with the kitten on his lap, so we weren't the only suckers) did find a good home for him and arranged for the mama to be trapped and spayed.

I know he's in a good home, but I still miss our little mutant kitteh.