This is a story about four little kittens who changed everything in a once-quiet family.
We received a call on July 24, 2017 that changed everything in our home and lives. Nothing has been the same since that call. We had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into. Looking back over the years, we wouldn’t change a minute of it.
The Call
July 24, 2017 started out like any other morning…morning animal chores, wash dishes, start laundry, start bread dough, make breakfast. Then the phone rang. When I answered I could tell the lady on the other end was desperate and running out of options. Before she said anything else, she asked if she was talking to someone from Save a Soul Animal Rescue.
I told her I was from Save a Soul, and I asked how I could help her. She said her beloved cat had four kittens two weeks ago. Momma cat went outside like she usually did and never came back home. The lady suspected coyotes had something to do with her disappearing. She said it had been a couple of days since momma cat went missing and she didn’t know what to do with the kittens.
We Can Help
I told her the rescue couldn’t take in domestic animals, but my family would be happy to help her with the babies. We set up a place to meet. Tabby called her best friend, Ariana, to see if she wanted to come with us to pick up the kittens.
While we waited for Ariana to get to the house the lady called again saying her car wouldn’t start. I asked her if it would be easier if we picked up the kittens from her house. She was overwhelmed with gratitude. So, Tabby, Ariana, and I hopped in the Jeep and headed out to pick up the kittens.
Before leaving the house I quickly called Doug to let him know about the kittens and to give him the address of the lady we were meeting. We’ve watched a lot of horror movies and, honestly, I was getting uneasy vibes about the situation. But I figured I was overreacting. (Scary Movie Logic #1 – Don’t listen to your gut – if you’re feeling uncomfortable about a situation, definitely go into an unfamiliar place to meet an unfamiliar person, especially when you have two teenagers with you.)
“I Got a Call from Somebody”
I also called Doug because I figured it was important to give him a heads up about the kittens rather than surprising him when he got home from work. There’s been more than a few times Tabby and I have surprised him saying “we got chicks!” as he’s walking through the front door. Or, waiting for him to go into the bathroom to discover the bathtub had been transformed into a chick brooder.
I started the conversation with, “I got a call from someone today for the rescue.” I’m pretty sure at that moment his heart skipped a beat, and he was actually thinking about hanging up. Usually when we get contacted for the rescue, we wait to tell him about it until he gets home from work. When I call him at work it means it’s probably a situation that will impact our time, energy, and finances in a huge way.
Reassurance
I told him about the kittens, and I reassured him that he didn’t have to worry because we were going to rehome the babies once they were weaned. I mean, really. How in the world could we keep four kittens on top of our two senior cats? He had nothing to worry about. There was no way it could be done. It was impossible.
Picking up the Kittens
We drove up to the lady’s house. She lived in a dilapidated trailer in the middle of a junkyard. She met us outside as we parked. We were told the kittens were inside her house and motioned towards the front door. She followed us as we entered her house. (Scary Movie Logic #2 through #4 – Go into a dilapidated trailer in the middle of a junkyard with nobody else around. Be the first to enter the trailer because what harm could it be if you don’t know who’s waiting for you inside the trailer. Lastly, the person who owns the trailer should always follow behind you as you enter the trailer.)
When we went into the trailer, cigarette smoke was so thick that we could barely see through it. The lady opened the bedroom door, and all four orphaned kittens were laying in the middle of the floor spread out on the carpet. (Scary Movie Logic #5 – Voluntarily enter into an unfamiliar person’s bedroom while being told they keep the tiny kittens in the closet.)
Tabby, Ariana, and I carefully picked up the kittens and put them in a carrier. As we were walking out, the lady gave us the leftover kitten food she fed the babies “a couple of times” and showed us the measuring spoon she used to feed them.
Before we got into the Jeep, I offered to bring the kittens back to her once they were weaned. (Scary Movie Logic #6 – Always volunteer to go back to a place that felt uncomfortable the first time you were there.) The Lady said she didn’t want them back because it would be too painful and a constant reminder that momma cat was gone.
Three Girls and a Boy
When Tabby, Ariana, and I got back to the house, we took the kittens out of the carrier. I made their bottles while Tabby and Ariana cleaned their crusty eyes. The poor babies were sneezing a lot, and one was wheezing. Thankfully after about an hour their sneezing and wheezing stopped.
We gave the babies their bottles. They were ravenous. Afterwards, we wiped them to stimulate them so they could urinate and have a bowel movement. Then we checked their genders. Three girls and a boy!
We were told that momma cat was a Siberian long hair, and it was unknown what the dad was. It was pretty apparent that the little boy was going to be long haired like his momma. The girls were short haired tabbies…two were tortoiseshells and one was tortoiseshell with stripes. Tabitha and Ariana gave everyone a name…Chunk, Lizzie, Paige, and Aspen.
The Heart Knows
We used to have a tortoiseshell cat named Jasmine. She was Doug’s cat, and she wouldn’t let anyone come between the two of them. He was devastated when she passed away and has always been drawn to torties because of her. When he saw that three of the kittens were tortoiseshells, they immediately had a grip on his heart. In our minds, we planned on rehoming the babies once they were weaned. In our hearts, we had decided we were keeping them all. Sometimes you have to let your heart decide what’s best.
The First Six Months
The babies were ravenous when we brought them home. After several feedings, they weren’t as ravenous, but they had healthy appetites. They learned to drink from bottles right away and it didn’t take long for them to finish their first canister of formula. After going through the canister so quickly, Doug started buying cases of formula every week.
The babies had to eat every four hours around the clock. Even though Tabby and I were sleep deprived for several weeks at the beginning, it was exciting to watch them grow and develop. From a very young age everyone had such unique personalities that haven’t changed even as they got older. Paige is independent and the leader of the group. Chunk is persistent and headstrong. Lizzie just wants to snuggle with everyone she meets. Aspen is the wild child!
For the first six months, we kept the kittens in a bedroom with the door closed because we weren’t sure how rough the older cats would be with them. We slowly let the two older cats have supervised contact with them. Gypsy, the oldest, accepted them right away. She loved snuggling and sharing blankets with them. Willow did not like them. It took her five YEARS to tolerate being in the same room as them. Even towards the end of her days, she never really got used to them, but she put up with them.
There’s Never A Dull Moment
When the kittens were big enough, we got everyone spayed and neutered. As soon as they were healed from their surgeries, we opened their bedroom door and let them have free run of the house. That’s when things got crazy. Imagine four kittens and two senior cats having unsupervised free run of the house together 24/7. Every night for months we heard nonstop crashing, banging, thumping, and shattering of knickknacks. The house was being redecorated and renovated as we slept. Even now after so many years, most nights are filled with the sounds of things getting knocked over and the sound of thunderous running across our single level house.
Kitten Mischief
It didn’t take long for the kittens to discover the curtains. Curtains are so much fun to climb!
They liked playing in the space between the upper kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. That’s where the special knickknacks (aka obstacles) were. When the obstacles got in their way, they got rid of them by pushing them off and watching them shatter on the ground. Apparently, it was especially fun to get rid of the obstacles at night because the whole family would wake up and come running.
They loved silk flowers and discovered the wreaths hanging on the wall make great hammocks for napping in.
The kittens decided they didn’t like the trim along the stair landing, so they removed some of it.
They also didn’t like the look of the carpet being in one piece throughout the house, so they scratched, tore, and chewed holes in it in several places to make it look better.
They thought blankets, clothes, and couches were much more comfortable after holes were chewed in them.
Couch stuffing was better on the floor than in the couch.
It was especially fun pulling fish out of the aquarium.
They discovered was fun to chase each other across the couch and leap over three cushions at a time, especially when someone was sitting or lying on it.
Water from the dish was much better splashed all over the floor. Because of the slippery floor, Gypsy would fall headfirst into what was left of the water in the dish. They thought it was fun to see her come out of the water confused and soaking wet.
The Cats vs. The Christmas Tree
Christmas trees were no match for four young cats. They took down a seven-foot tall decorated Christmas tree in less than ten minutes. The teamwork involved was actually pretty impressive.
The Carpet, The Black Light, & The Nightmares
Out of all of the renovations and remodeling the cats did, the most ambitious project was with the carpet. Between the young cats and the older ones, the ultimate pee war broke out. When the pee war started, I was constantly on my hands and knees searching for spots and cleaning the carpet.
One day, Tabby and I thought it would be a good idea to use a black light on the carpet to find the spots. Big mistake. Huge mistake. Oh, my goodness. The black light worked too well. We saw things nobody should ever have to see. I recommend never using a black light on carpet, especially if you have pets. It’s easier to sleep at night blissfully ignorant of what’s lurking on the carpet when you haven’t used a black light.
With the help of the black light, we confirmed that there was definitely a pee war happening and the carpet was taking direct hits. In most places it surprisingly wasn’t all that bad. The light mostly picked up soap residue in the carpet. The worst areas, the ones that still haunt me to this day, were on the basement stairs and at the top of the stair landing.
I really don’t like carpet to begin with. Especially light tan carpet when the outside of our home is surrounded by dust and dirt. That’s not a good combination. I had been wanting to replace the carpet throughout the house since we moved in, but it was always a low priority project. After seeing what the cats did to the carpet on the stairs and landing, removing the carpet became a high priority project. Thanks to their pee war, we now have laminate flooring on the top and bottom stair landings and painted wooden steps. It’s much, much better.
When A Cat Eats Ribbon
Despite being fed a high-quality diet, the younger cats liked to chew on, and eat, everything they saw. One day the unthinkable happened. Do you know what happens when a cat eats ribbon? This is what happens when a cat eats ribbon…
The ribbon comes out halfway in the litter box. Then the unnamed longhaired black male cat gets freaked out. He runs into the living room with the four-inch piece of ribbon covered in poop hanging out of him. That freaks him out even more, so he scoots his butt across the carpet. This leaves a three-foot long smudge on the carpet. No matter how many times he runs around in circles and bounces off walls trying to get away from it, he can’t get away from it. You stop eating lunch to tackle the cat in order to pull the ribbon out of him. Then you throw up your lunch because the smell and look of the poop ribbon is so unbelievably nasty. Then you have to buy a carpet cleaner because no amount of scrubbing would remove the three-foot long smudge from the carpet.
That’s what happens when the cat eats ribbon.
Life is About Adventure
Those were just a few of the adventures the young cats had during their first year of life. For them life was, and still is, all about exploring and finding new opportunities for adventure around every corner.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened to them if I hadn’t answered the lady’s call. Would they still be together? Would they be happy and playful? Would they be feral and just trying to survive?
Answering the call that day changed their lives and ours. They’ve only been in our family for a few years, but it feels like they’ve been in our hearts forever. Life with young cats is always unpredictable. But even with their destructive, rambunctious, and mischievous behavior we love them so much. They are so affectionate, and the house would feel empty without their antics. They always keep us laughing and wondering what they’ll be up to next.
Trying to stay one step ahead of a kitten is hard. When you’ve got four plotting their next move, you don’t stand a chance.