"Adopt, don't shop"
https://x.com/Yoda4ever/status/1774893750138896420
@Right_in_Virginia I decided a couple of years ago to start feeding a colony of stray,abandoned,and feral cats that were living behind a shopping center. Partly because I like cats,and and partly because I need to have a reason to get off my fat ass and move around every day.
On occasion,I will capture one that is sick or injured,and take them to the vet. Seems like they all end up living with me after the vet is done with them. Most of them I found homes for,but a few are now my tame house and shop cats.
One died last summer from a snake bite to the throat. I found her laying in the floor in a back bedroom,but no evidence of a snake,so that means the dead cat and at least one other cat were "ratpacking" a poisonous snake,and when the snake struck at one of them,the other one nailed the snake.
That was just background for what is below.
So,I go there this afternoon to feed them,and for some reason none are in sight or come out of hiding when I call,so I start looking around.
Didn't see any of the cats,but what I DID spot was a new-born kitten half-hidden in tall grass that was so young and tiny her eyes hadn't opened yet,and so scared she didn't make a sound when I picked her up to take her to the nearby vet for a health check up,and to have them bottle feed her until she is old enough for me to take her home.
Sooooo,I walk into the vets office with this tiny creature in the palm of my hand and when the girl at the desk asks me can she help me,I told her "No,but you can help this little creature".
She took one look and immediately declared "That is my new kitten".
When I told her I didn't mind paying to have the kitten feed and taken care of until her eyes opened,she told me "Don't worry about it. We will take care of it here until I can take it home with me."
See,sometimes things REALLY DO work out.
Still haven't figured out where the rest of the cats were,though. I am GUESSING that someone fed them earlier,so they were off somewhere,hiding and sleeping it off. That happens occasionally.
Still,it was a good day for everybody.
Well,maybe not for the young cat that gave birth to her. If I don't see her tomorrow,I doubt I will ever see her again. Sometimes foxes get one. Especially a young cat that tries to defend her litter. Older,more experienced cats know to grab one in her mouth and climb a tree until the fox goes away.
