Listen up All you Hip Cats.

We've got kittens. Yes, you heard that right, kittens, in addition to Mr. Mistofelees & Barley Mow.

How, you're wondering, did we end up with 4 less than 1 lb, month old kittens?

It's an interesting story that includes a big of the history of how our house was built. OK, maybe it doesn't.

We have this big back porch see, and like any nearly 100 year old house, the corner of the floor was rotting & falling in. So J did a temporary repair, one like all temporary repairs we do that ends up lasting twice as long as a repair is meant to. Well in lifting up the sagging corner of the porch he exposed an interesting construction detail. The stone porch columns are hollow. The side & angled floor support fit very neatly into an opening in the column, theoretically blocking the gap into the hollow column. Notice I said "theoretically" and since the angled support has long since rotten and the side supports are on their way out, there is a nice big gap into a little hidey hole. All of this is nicely hidden to those on the topside when the floor boards are in place.

after pulling off the floor boards

It was last Tuesday, while at HOUSE that J called. "Guess what. Calico [a neighborhood alley cat] is hiding in the porch column. Don't tell L." Ah, so that's why she was hanging around in the yard so much recently. She'd found herself a nice sheltered spot. Here I had been thinking she and Fat Black [the other alley cat] were living under the upturned canoes in the back.

Come Friday we're returning from doing who knows what & all of a sudden L yells out "hey! Kittens!". Woops, hadn't thought about that possibility. I'd always thought that Calico was an abandoned pet and fixed since we've never had kittens in the neighborhood before. Well sure enough there was a little orange tabby face sticking it's head out, then a little black face. The orange seemed to have a little eye crust but to be otherwise healthy. We knew Calico was still hanging around, we'd see her sitting in the sun near the fire pit waiting for us to get off the porch.

Fast forward to Saturday's rain storm. It's 9, 10 o'clock at night & storming big time. J looks at me & utters those famous last words. "do you think the kittens will be OK". Man, don't say things like that to me because you know I'll get all maternal. I was terribly conflicted. We can't have any more cats, I don't want to hurt Calico by taking her kittens but I know they need to be caught & fixed. Judging from their size I knew that this was the perfect time to catch them & civilize them while they were still small. So J & I head out to the porch, in the pouring rain with a flash light & the cat carrier. The floor boards come off, the rotting beam gets ripped out & I stick my nose into the hidey hole to count faces. J was the one to reach in, as my arms aren't long enough, puling out 4 tiny little kittens.

L-R: Little Black, Chessie, Hissy Fit & Colonel Mustard

In the past few days they have gone from lethargic, dehydrated & gunky eyed to active, squirming, wrestling, eating machines. We're keeping them separated from the big boys until D can run tests & check them over, setting them up with a kitty condo in the old dog carrier. Their personalities are already beginning to show & their names reflect it.

Little Black: Named after his obvious father Fat Black. He wavers between love & hate very quickly. You can't take it personally when he turns & hisses at you while you are petting him, when only a minute earlier he was purring.

Chessie: Named after the Railroad mascot because she looks just like it when sleeping. She's the sweet, calm & quiet one & L's favorite. She's happy to be petted & snuggled but you have to keep an eye out and make sure she eats enough.

Hissy Fit: The litters runt with a big personality. She was the first to start complaining about living in the smaller cat carrier, the first to climb the door on the dog carrier, the first to walk out of the carrier on her own & the loudest most demanding of the bunch.

Colonel Mustard: He's destined to be a lazy house cat. He's the biggest of the kittens, eats the most and generally shoves his way to the front of everything. He's very playful if not a bit on the clutzy side.

We're currently trying not to get too attached, although J has already given the sad look about not being able to keep "at least 1". L has been a fantastic help, playing with them, watching them while I clean the litter, giving them food & most of all laughing at their endless antics. She especially love Chessie and will spend extra time snuggling & petting her while the other three run around like, well, kittens.

So if anyone in the WI-IL area is looking for a kitten, contact me. We want them to have good loving homes. They will be completely checked out and have any needed first shots before going to their families.