And Then There Were Three….

The strays still come to our door. Spumoni seems to have a litter of kittens every summer. This year it even looked like she got pregnant twice, but the first time never produced kittens. Maybe the swollen belly was the result of illness or something. Poor thing has given birth three or four times now.

She had five kittens this last time. One of which we didn’t see for almost a week or two after the others showed up and according to Mom looked like it had a limp or bad limb. I nicknamed them Chico, Elmo, Fabio, Harpo, and Nemo (guess which one Nemo was :-P ). They were as always adorable. One of the neighborhood kids took a liking to one of them. We think she was the one who put a flea collar on it. At least I think it was a flea collar. Nice thought, but unless you can monitor it to adjust the collar as the kitten grows, it’s a hazard for the animal. They grow so fast. Once it looked snug, Mom had me catch it and cut it off.

We’ve had some issues trying to catch them this year. One, we didn’t always have a car we could use. Mom let the car battery die again and again this summer. Nana bought a second car off of a friend then decided to sell it so had it parked at our place some of that time…. But parking around here sucks so we couldn’t risk moving the car and not having a spot when we returned from the shelter. Two, Mom’s still recovering from the surgery pains…. internal scarring that takes forever to heal as it gets pulled and stretched over time. Not to mention back pains that makes it hard to drive even for short distances. And some mornings she is just too tired, either because pain is exhausting or she had a sleepless night. Finally (and here’s the biggie), Mom keeps overfeeding them so they’re not hungry enough to be lured into the carrier.

I caught four of the kittens, two one week and two the next week. We have to show I.D. at the shelter to prove residence. Well we’re apparently in the system because of it. One of the ladies at the shelter basically said “oh yeah, you’re here a lot” and suggested we get a trapping license. But then we’d need to put up notices to warn the neighbors in case their pets get caught I guess… And then there’s the stronger likelihood of catching other creatures. I do NOT want to find a skunk trapped in a cage. Also we’d have to find the traps.

Sadly, I did not catch Harpo who was always more skittish than the others. Unfortunately, he/she is getting bigger and bigger and more independent. I almost caught him/her. Half way into the carrier and I tried to close the door on it. Harpo squirmed out and jumped back into the screen door. Haven’t been able to lure him/her or Spumoni or Tom into the carrier or even close since.

Hopefully, we can catch them before cooler nights. Hopefully, Harpo isn’t a girl so at least there won’t be twice as many litters next summer. Hopefully, we can catch them before they are beyond saving. Or if we can’t catch them at all, hopefully, they find homes elsewhere or find lasting peace in their sleep. I’m tired of the added expense, even though we get them the cheaper stuff. I’m tired of the extra bugs drawn to the leftovers. I’m tired of the yard that has become the neighborhood litter box. It was never a well kept grass patch as I never watered, but it was safe to walk on before. Mostly, I’m tired of seeing their sad faces looking in as if they want to come in or want love and Mom and I feeling bad for whatever they’re enduring out there. It breaks my heart. Recently, the thought popped into my head. If only Spumoni had let us catch her in the beginning, maybe she would have been the new addition to the family instead of two of her babies. >.< I hope God helps me catch them soon.