We're Expecting a Little Boy!

A little kitty boy, that is! The husband and I have decided to expand our cat family by adding a little boy kitten to our home. We really hadn't planned on adding a third cat to our home because one of our cats is old and has some kidney problems. Stress isn't good for her, but I think we're prepared for what's to come. Our other girl has feline herpes and stress can trigger a flare up. Both of them are in good health (for them) and I think they'll do fine. However, after reading this little guy's rescue story and seeing his pictures, I knew he had to come live with us.

Here's the story his rescue mom posted on July 1st on the cat message board I read. The "bridge" she is referring to is the Rainbow Bridge.

[quote]OMG! Just did a dramatic rescue...was almost a "bridge report"

Tonight my hub, daughter and I were at the pool for my daughter's swim team practice. An hour into the session, a HUGE thunderstorm broke out so we all quickly packed up and headed home.

We were at an intersection and the water was rushing down the streets all the way to the curb. We stopped at a red light and out of the corner of my eye I saw a small kitten come out of the rushing water and grab the back tire of the suburban in front of us and climb into the wheel well! I immediately yelled at my hub, "Get out and tell them not to drive, there's a kitten on their tire!"

He ran out and stopped them and then I turned on my flashers as he looked at the tire. Now, dh is not one to ever "get involved" and he "gave up" about 5 seconds into it. I told my daughter to stay in the car and I went out. I ended up more or less sitting in the running filthy water and called the kitty and looked. It took about a minute and I saw it so I just reached in blindly, hoping for the best, grabbed and pulled him out. He responded with a lusty cry of protest.

Another car had pulled over and a young man said he was so glad we'd seen the kitten too as he'd had to circle into the parking lot and knew he'd probably be too late to save him. I said that I'd take the kitten and we loaded him up, wrapped him in my daugher's swim towel and headed home.

I called my neighbor, the cat breeder and asked if he could bunk at her house for the night. She had a cage prepared for him by the time we got there. We gave him the once over and noted no fleas or apparent diseases. He's a boy, about 10 weeks old and a plain brown tabby with an ENORMOUS low "boy voice" for his small size. He's now settled in with a cushy bed, litter tray, food and water. She'll call a friend in the morning about taking a "new barn cat" and I said I'd pay for his neuter if she will. I cannot take any more cats for myself.

Anyway, I'm soooooooo glad we were able to save the kit's life. I would have been traumatized for MONTHS had the light changed and the car moved. Now I just hope his new "forever home" is just a phone call away.

Thanks for listening....[/quote]

We've been exchanging messages for the past week and I've been working on the husband to say yes to adding him to our home. I've stressed and worried over what the new kitten will do to our girls and how they'll respond and whether or not I want to put them through the stress of adjusting to a new kitty. I've worried about kitten-proofing my house and how much more stuff (clutter!!) we have now than we had 5 years ago when we added our last kitty. I've stressed over the fate of this little guy if we didn't adopt him. So much stuff to consider and think through. Mainly, though, I had to win over the husband, no easy task! I finally got him to commit and say yes this morning, after having numerous discussions about the kitty.

He'll be coming home on Tuesday. The lady who has him lives about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth, so we'll be meeting Tuesday morning to make the trade off. He's already had his second deworming treatment and had his first kitten shots. He's been cleared of all the bad kitty diseases (feline leukemia, FIV, and heartworms) by the vet and is estimated to be 8-10 weeks old. He's too little to be snipped, so he'll have that done when he's 6 mos. old. He's been eating well and has already gained 1/2 pound. His fur is getting softer since he's getting healthier. He did have some flea bites, but he's been de-flead. He also was a bit anemic, probably from the flea bites, but he's gotten a B12 shot for that and is expected to recover on his own just fine. He's been introduced to the mom cats at the cattery and did very well with them. When I spoke with his rescue mom this morning to make arrangements for the meet up, she mentioned that the lady who's keeping him had moved him to a bigger area with a cat tree and he was going crazy with it! Guess DH is going to have to get busy making a cat tree for our house.

He needs a name, too. He's currently called Percy, but that will change. Originally, he was being called Stormy. I like "people" names for the most part. We already have Callie and Hannah Grace, so nothing that sounds similar. If you have suggestions, leave them in the comments. Look for updates on Tuesday about his homecoming! I'm sure there'll be TONS of pics in the coming weeks and months of him, his antics, as well as with my other 2 kitty girls.