The Storm

In the south the storms can be very dangerous and today is no different. It started late this afternoon. It's a good thing we cleared the wrap around deck furniture earlier. The rain and wind were ferocious, which reminds me I need to whitewash the rails and slates along the decking this next spring. After closing the shutters, we started a nice warm fire in the fireplace. This is when I began to hear an unfamiliar sound coming from the front deck. At first, I did not pay it much mind. Then, after several minutes of hearing the sound, I went to the front door opened it and the screen. There, sitting next to the house so the rain would not get her wet was what looked like an orange-tabby cat, completely soaked and shivering. She looked up at me as if to say "can I come in"?

As I approached her she meowed and came toward me. I picked her up and took her inside. I dried her off the best I could with the towels from the bathroom. Sure enough she was a long haired orange-tabby with the clear light and dark circular bands from her neck all the way down to the tip of her tail.

It didn't look as though she had eaten for several days so I went to the kitchen and warmed up some milk. I picked up a new dry towel and laid it down close to the fireplace and set the milk down right next to her. She seemed a little weak but began licking the milk right away.

When she finished it I bent down to pick her up and check for any identification she may have on and grabbed the dish. It was then I felt her little tummy and realized that she may soon be having kittens, but I wasn't sure.

The next day I made a couple of visits to friends and neighbors to see if anybody knew who owned this cat. Unfortunately, nobody knew about the cat but, many indicated that she was soon to have some kittens.

"Momma Kitty"

After a few days of feeding and cleaning I noticed that the cat's appetite had greatly increased. I also thought that if she was to stay with us it certainly should not be outside. This led me to the pet store several miles into town to buy some food and an indoor kitty litter box. While returning home, I picked up box and a special blanket that could be used for her bed.

At home, I thought that the best place for her bed would be in our bedroom closet where we could keep a good watch on her. Then I realized that if we where to keep her, we should have a name for her. I racked my brain trying to come up with a name that suited her. Unfortunately, it wasn't for several days later that a name finally sounded right.

I decided on Momma-Kitty. This seemed to be quite appropriate seeing that she was going to have some kittens soon.

Birth of the twins

It wasn't long before Mamma Kitty felt right at home. In the morning she would eat her breakfast then want out to do her business. She wouldn't stay out long before she wanted back in the house.

In the evening when we were sitting in our special chairs or sofa Mamma Kitty would climb up into our lap and want some special attention. She liked it when we would pet her and rub and scratch right under her chin. This would trigger a soft and calming purr.

At bedtime she would join us in the bedroom in the special box and blanket that was in the closet. Eventually, this became the regular routine.

About three or four weeks later we noticed that Mamma Kitty was moving a little slower and had gained weight. The routine remained the same except at night we would hear her making different noises, ones that we never had heard before.

Late one night we went to check on her and it looked like she was having some pain lying down. We crushed an aspirin in a spoon and added some warm milk thinking this may help if she was about to have her kittens. This seemed to help after awhile and she settled down and went sleep.

In the middle of the night we were awakened by some more sounds coming from the closet. When we went to check on Mamma Kitty we were surprised to see her licking and cleaning off two very small and cute baby kittens that looked exactly like her except one had long hair like Mama Kitty and the other had just a little shorter hair.

She stayed with the kittens for several hours. She wanted to make sure her kittens were cleaned and had learned how come to her when they needed to be fed.

Soon it was time for her to leave and get some food for herself. As she left the box, her kittens would cling together and curl up next to each other to keep warm. Their eyes would not be open for several days so they communicated with each other by making similar sounds to find each other.

Name the kittens

When Momma Kitty would return, they immediately would go to her to feed and sleep where they felt safe and secure.

As the days passed, they eventually opened their eyes even though they still could not see very far. When it came time for Mamma Kitty to give them a bath, one of the kittens seemed to really enjoy the licking and attention that Mamma Kitty provided. However the other kitten simply did not want anything to do with it. Instead, the kitten tried its best to get away from Mamma Kitty. Mamma Kitty would just lay her paw across the kitten and hold it down until she was done cleaning.

The kitten's eyes grew stronger day by day. This allowed them to roam around the box with a stronger sense of security even though their legs were not as steady as their eye sight.

We knew it would not be long before we would have to come up with some names for the two kittens. After several more weeks we clearly could tell that they had different personalities. One seemed to be rougher and had more energy than the other. We decided to name him Buzzy. While the other female kitten portrayed much less aggressiveness and more of a calming affect, we figured we would name her Fuzzy. As you will see later in the story these names would seem to suit them well.

First time out of the box

Fuzzy and Buzzy wasted no time in playing around and wrestling with each other while Mommy Kitty was away from the box. Buzzy would rear up on his hind legs and charge after Fuzzy. Fuzzy would roll over on her back and begin kicking Buzzy with her hind legs until Buzzy would stop and get off her.

This didn't last long before Buzzy became bored and decided to explore the edges of the box. He had seen Momma Kitty simple jump over the edge of the box with little to no effort. Buzzy thought that there must be something on the other side of the box that Momma Kitty really liked.

Soon Buzzy was making several attempts to scale the wall of the box but to no avail. Buzzy, if Momma Kitty wanted us out of this box don't you think...