My newest beloved creature, Miss Mudd, is a perfect example of this Working For The Better!
I was on an evening walk sometime in February, with the cold night weather typical of the PNW. Even though it was dark, there were still people out and about walking themselves or their dogs, and I among them. Out of the darkness, though, I suddenly started hearing an animal crying out...and it was so frantic, I could hear it through my headphones. Nobody else seemed to hear it, which confused me because it was LOUD.
I was the only one around who stopped and looked and found the source - a tiny, frail looking black kitten. Shivering and barely hiding, huddled under a bench near the front door of a house. I could tell they didn't want me close, but at the same time the more I Talked To Them, the less afraid they became and the more urgently the kitten tried to get me to Open The (strangers) Door.
I actually knocked, at that point assuming she wouldn't ever be doing that unless she lived there.
And at first it was so...funny? Just. Imagine opening your door at night to this random Gender Ambigious Person wearing a "#1 Dad" baseball cap (CLEARLY NOT A FATHER) and almost all black otherwise - gesturing down at a tiny kitten sitting on your front porch, saying "Uh...hi? I think this little dude wants inside, they've been crying at your door for while now...?"
Despite all of this they told me something like...
"No, this isn't ours, it's been hanging around for a while now and we keep trying and failing to catch it...we keep meaning to bring it to the humane society but we haven't been able to get it."
And at that exact moment Mudd ran Into Their House like it WAS, in fact, Hers.
Whether she was theirs or was a stray, at that point I knew enough to know she wasn't (and wouldn't be) getting the care she needed there (she was...tiny, fit in both hands too easily, and not as afraid of ME as she should be for a "feral" kitten. I suspect they felt bad for her but weren't able to figure out what to do.)
I offered to take her with me, since my partner volunteers at our local shelter, and we've had foster kittens many times over. We had (and have in general) the supplies necessary for Random Acts Of Kitten. They happily agreed to this, rounded her up for me (with almost no effort), and then passed her off just like that.
It was then I realized I had:
1. a squirming kitten held carefully in my hands, scruffed to ensure I wouldn't lose hold (and thus potentially LOSE her)
2. No immediate way to grab my phone to call my wife to be picked up, let alone what was going on
But, it started as a walk...and home was about a mile away...so I walked home with this tiny little screaming baby.
She hated it. I also hated it. I was soooo scared. I have never experienced anything like that before, that sudden awareness of...Complete responsibility for something so small and weak??? (Not to mention I was also High. Which Did Not Help,)
Even so, I spent all of that time thinking about what to do, trying not to panic, and trying to soothe her by talking to her softly. She didn't stop squirming or grumbling or crying - but she didn't once lash out, or even hiss or swipe. She was just tired, and scared, and ready to not have to struggle anymore, and that broke my heart as much as it filled me with determination to make sure she wouldn't have to.
I got her home and I stayed with her for almost all of that first night, and the night after, and she made herself at home in our house and in my heart. This is one of the pics I took, from the first few nights...she ate A LOT and drank her water and pretty much just conked out. She didn't want to be touched, let alone handled, and wasn't very comfortable with Anyone that wasn't a cat...at least at first.
When we took her to the humane society here, I gave her up to them so she could get her first rounds of medical stuff done + get safely altered without needing to pay out of pocket for all of it. I then adopted her from them for the flat kitten price. A lot of places will let you do this, if you let them know you're willing to provide ongoing care, just aren't able to handle the larger vet bills up front!
But through this we learned she wasn't the roughly....maybe 5 to 6 weeks old we thought she was, based on size (at roughly 3-ish pounds or less when I brought her in).
She was already 4 MONTHS old.
And less than 3 and a half lbs!!
(Pics via my wife visiting miss mudd at the shelter, during his volunteer hours when I couldn't see her yet 🥺)
Sometimes...the Cat Distribution System is less like being granted a baby by a stork, and an awful lot more like catching the wee ones that can, and do, fall through the cracks. You can love a critter with all your might, but it can't make up for the actual nurturing and patience and care that rearing healthy kittens (let alone Anything) demands.
It isn't even always your fault, or something you have Any Control Over.
Anyways, long ass ramble aside, here is Miss Mudd now 8 whole months old !!! She loves her new brothers, and loves to play "chase the hose water". She is still small but relatively well adjusted, all things considered, and is discovering the joys of "scream at my moms until one of them pets me to sleep in my big big bed" ❤️ She's come a long way.
Sometimes life grants you a cat not because you Deserve The Cat More, or because its Pre Ordained Or Whatever else
Sometimes, you're just the only one who hears them crying out for help, and the only one willing to walk the extra mile or two to get that help for them.
Bonus pic for whoever read all of this. She used to sleep like this in this cat bed, back when she still fit into it... we all wish to experience this level of carefree sleep...
