One down... Six to go....

Okay... So I usually just shove the food plates (up to three now for mama and her babies to share) under a partially opened screen door so I don't have to go outside and they're right there to bring in when the kids finish. I TRY to do this quickly so Spumoni doesn't take a swipe at me or the kittens don't end up inside. Wednesday, I wasn't so quick at dinner time. Kumquat wound up on the wrong side of the door and while I tried shoving her back under (as I've done with others in the past) he/she was just too far in to  be scooched back under. I had to pick him/her up and for a moment I thought, of course I catch Kumquat now...when I don't know if the neighbor who wants him/her is awake or out or what. Kumquat squirmed some and I opened the door and put him/her outside so he/she could eat with the others. Ah well.

Yesterday (Thursday), Mom said we had to try and take the babies in soon. We've both been saying that for a couple weeks now. :-P But after I told her what had happened, I guess she really wanted to try. I called the shelter about available hours for drop off and walked to the neighbor's house to see when they were around and what was too late. Met the wife as the hubby was out at some fight thing. She seemed nice and I heard her tell the kids they "might get the kitty after all" as I was walking back home. :-)

Tonight (Friday), I planned to try and recreate the feeding trap from Wednesday. :-P But I ended up just grabbing a straw and partially opening the door to play with the kittens for a while until I could lure the right one under the door. Wow, can these babies squirm. I ended up having to put her in a shopping bag (reusable not plastic) or I'd have lost my hold on him/her. I scooped Kumquat up, dropped him/her into the bag, and put on shoes all as quick as I could. The other kittens and mama were outside still expecting dinner and not totally freaking that one of them was missing. Whew. So I successfully caught one and delivered him/her to their new home. Hubby and kids weren't there, they'd already left for pet supplies! :-D I hope all goes well for them. :-) But if not, at least hubby will be responsible and take it to the shelter if for some reason the family and kitten don't do well. Least I think he will as he had offered to help me catch the others to take to the shelter. Wife seemed nice. Seriously, these folks are the nicest neighbors I've met since living here. Too bad all the rude, noisy, and jerky ones are the ones that live in the closest houses and the nice ones are some houses away. Ah well.

Now the plan is to catch the whole family at breakfast feeding, using food to lure them into the carrier or inside where I can close the door and close off space to make it semi easier to catch by hand. Shelter is open 24/7 for drop offs. I hope we can catch them all, but at least the babies. Once they're all gone, I'll worry about catching Snickers. She has an owner, technically. But that useless mother and her children clearly don't deserve to be pet owners. Poor thing was rescued from a shelter only to be neglected by that family. Anywho!

I actually prayed for success in the catch Kumquat plan. I expected a lot more squirming and fight. He/she bit the husband when he tried to catch him/her before. I expected the kittens to get scared and scramble and the mama to cry and hiss and generally hate me. But they were just focused on getting their dinner when I got back. And then the fact that the family had already gone out to get supplies before I even delivered the kitten.... Praise God, I do believe tonight's prayer was answered. :-) I've also prayed the morning capture goes well.  God willing, Spumoni, Inkblot, Hazelnut, MiniMe, and Espresso will all be at the shelter and maybe even adopted next adoption day. Though, Lord knows, Mom and I would love to take in even just two of the kittens. As with Oreo and Pixie, when we need another, another will come.