Tiny Kitten Secures Her Home
Well, I was going to write about how yesterday we got to find out just how unprepared we were for nine hours without electricity. Can you say "matches" anyone? But instead, I'm going to write about what happened a few hours ago at a pet store in Dublin. Totally by "chance" but experiences like this make me wonder sometimes just how much of life, really is "chance." This is what happened:
My husband and our house-mate are starting a jewelry making business, for which they need supplies. We had all driven up to Dublin, which is a very crowded city and difficult to park in. Husband had expected to go running into a shop while we circled the block in the land rover, but there just happened to be a parking spot in front of a nearby pet store. The menfolk went on to the jewelry supply place and I went in to ask the prices on the bulk bags of cat litter, cat food and other items I saw in the window. The store owner turned out to be very nice and specialized in large sized orders and we proceeded to look up the bulk costs of a lot of items that are expensive for me to buy down here in the countryside. This kept me in the shop, much longer than I might have stayed otherwise.
Just as we were about to finish up, a delicate young women came into the store, picked up a bag of tiny cat toys and asked if there were any kittens for sale. No, the shop owner explained that is was illegal for pet shops in Ireland to sell puppies of kittens anymore. Instead of the expected reaction, the young women nearly burst into tears and said,
"but my husband and I found a tiny kitten yesterday wondering on the street, and we can't keep it and we don't know what to do?"
She squeezed the plastic bag of cat toys in her hand as she spoke...she was very upset and it was almost heartbreaking to hear her voice.
The shop owner just stared at her, and I asked her why she couldn't keep the kitten (since she obviously was already in love with it) and she said,
"but I live in an apartment and we can't let it outside"...
After making sure that there were no rules against cats in her apartment complex, I explained that you didn't have to keep cats outside, you could keep them inside all the time and they make wonderful indoor pets. She looked at me in shock and repeated after me;
"You can keep them inside, really, REALLY!" and hands started bouncing the bag of cat balls still clutched in her hands.
Delighted to know she might really be able to raise the kitten, she admitted that she knew absolutely nothing about cats. In Ireland, I have run into many people who really don't know that cats can be indoor pets. They are considered farm animals, needed to catch mice, but dirty creatures that catch their own food. Until recently, many farmers didn't even feed their barn-cats, in the mistaken belief that they wouldn't hunt mice if they were fed. Farm-wives might have one cat that was allowed into the kitchen for short periods of time, but even "Old Tom" got tossed out after a few hours. And, because so many of the rural cats live underfed and unhealthy lives; they become skinny, unhealthy and dirty little creatures. Not their fault, but that's what their reputation becomes. I suspect this young women had grown up in the countryside, because she wasn't even sure what a kitten could eat and had never heard of a cat litter tray. She mentioned that the kitten (from her description about six weeks old or less) kept trying to scratch the floor, but she didn't know why.
So, we did a quick list of "kitten care 101" on a scrap of paper. If this had been a normal pet store, she could have bought all the supplies at once. I saw the store owner looking embarrassed when I asked about things like bags of litter (he only does 20 kilo sizes) but I was able to describe how to make a make-shift cat pan, kitten food dish, etc., etc..and I spied a small bag of high-nutrient cat food in a small bag which I picked up and handed to her. I also suggested she take the kitten to the vet next week to get it checked for worms and find out about vaccinations etc. I gave her my e-mail address and I hope she really does write and sends me an update on her new babies progress. When we left the store she was busy paying for the tiny cat toys and bag of kitten food. And asking directions to the nearby supermarket that carries cat litter...
My husband came in on the tail end of this experience and said it the car, "That was just so GOOD, I mean it was just good.."
And that pretty much sums up how I feel about it too...
And that was todays Disaster Cat Adventure Story...Stay Tuned for More...
Disaster Cat