Stories of the Middle Kingdom

Rescue the Perishing

Sunday, I was gone almost all day. I got home at 5 p.m., and was putting my electric bike in my garage when I heard a faint crying sound. I stepped out of the garage, praying that the sound was coming from outside my garage. No, of course it was not outside, it was inside. I could not figure it out. It almost sounded cat-like, but my garage door had been completely closed for days, so there was no way a cat could enter.

I got closer to the source of the sound, and realized my sofa (being stored in my garage, stacked high to the ceiling, small pieces on top of big pieces) was crying. There were thick flannel sheets covering the sofa. I moved them back. The big seat cushions were haphazardly positioned, and I moved one. There was a newborn kitten, by itself, struggling to connect with someone or something. I freaked out, of course, as people do when helpless mammal blobs are unexpectedly found in enclosed spaces of theirs. I found a box, put a sheet in it, and put the kitten inside.

Soon after, I heard more noise. Two more newborns, still with their umbilical cords attached to a wad of placenta, were located in a different part of the sofa, wrapped up in the cords so that they had almost died from it. I untangled them then went upstairs to get scissors and call a friend (who told me not to cut the cord; who knows if that was right or not).

I went back down with a flashlight, and saw that way back in the back of the sofa cushions were two big beady eyes, no doubt attached to the momma cat. I tried to get to the cat, and she ran scared to the back of my garage in the midst of heavy boxes (she did not flee out of my garage which is what I would have liked). I looked to see where she jumped from and found the fourth and final newborn kitten. (I hope there were only four or else my garage is going to be stinking in a day or two.) Birth fluid was all over my sofa. :-(

Anyway, when looking for momma cat, I found a drain hole in my garage, which is probably how the cat got in the garage to have her babies. I stopped it up. I put the box of babies outside my garage (but still in a sheltered area), but the momma still wouldn’t come out. For HOURS she wouldn’t come out, but finally she did later that evening. Momma cat is no doubt traumatized by this whole thing. Me too. But I think the momma cat definitely has the harder recovery.

I had things planned for Sunday night, but apparently God wanted kittens to be born in my garage instead. Rescue the perishing, pray for the dying... rescuing homeless animals is not quite what I had in mind for my mission in life, but between feeding the homeless dog Bon-Bon and rescuing newborn kittens, I'm starting to see a pattern.

Mimi knows NONE of this story. Don't tell her. She's got quite a jealous streak. ;-)