Karnak Street Kats

Spring had come and with it a couple of tabby kittens who regularly ate on our front porch. Knowing that our time was limited before the kittens would be sexually mature, I set about trying to entice them into the house. One, a young male it turned out, was easy, but the other kitten was far wilder and less trusting. Time passed, but at last one night, the young cat walked through the propped open front door. I closed it behind her. After a wild chase, I cornered her in one bathroom. There I was able to get her into a carrier and then into a large cage that I had acquired for just such wild ones.

She really was wild with a crazy look in her eyes and a nasty temper. The cage had two shelves, and she always retreated to the top one when anyone approached. The morning after her capture, I called my veterinarian to make an appointment for her to get her shots and be spayed. He had an opening in three days which I made for the cat I named Gertrude.

Gertrude was a petite brown and black tabby with a beautiful face, but eyes that spoke of a lurking insanity. She was only half grown and not fat at all. I tried talking to her to calm her down, but she simply hissed at me.

One day passed uneventfully, but Gertrude seemed to be getting more and more unhappy. I hoped she was not sick. When I got up the next morning, Gertrude was lying in her litter box. I fussed at her for sleeping there when she had clean, carpeted shelves to sleep on. I wanted to clean her box, so I opened the cage and shooed her off the box. The day before she had retreated with no problem. Today, she met me with a baleful gaze and a menacing hiss. I persisted. She glared, but finally retreated to an upper shelf.

I stared at the litter box. There in one corner something moved. Two somethings. Gertrude had had kittens! I did not disturb them. Kittens. I had to get something for them to stay in.

I went to the garage and got an old litter box that we no longer used. I washed and dried it, then lined the box with some soft rags and returned to Gertrude's cage. Again, I had to shoo Gertrude away from her kittens. She retreated grudgingly once more. I placed the box next to the litter box and carefully transferred the two kittens to it. I wondered if Gertrude would attack me when I handled the kittens. She did not.

I did a quick inspection, but did not remove them from the cage. One was almost twice as big as the other. The large one was tabby striped just like its mother, the other was solid black, except for a tiny spot of white on its neck. The black one was so small, I was worried.

I called my veterinarian and spoke to this assistant, Ann (All names have been changed...). I explained that I needed to cancel Gertrude's appointment. Ann asked me why. I had to explain, that the cat had had kittens. Ann dissolved in laughter.

"You didn't notice she was pregnant?" she giggled.

"No," I admitted. "She looked too young, and she wasn't fat."

"I see," Ann said.

I was a little defensive. "Hey, one of my friends was over last night, and she thought the cat might be too young to spay."

"Well, I'll tell Dr. Carter and cancel the appointment."

I did have another question. "Ann, what's the schedule now. How soon can I get Gertrude spayed?"

"You have to wait two weeks after the kittens are weaned. They should be weaned at six weeks, and you'll have to separate her from them."

"That means it'll be two months before I can bring her in."

"That's right," Ann said and giggled.

I thanked her and hung up. I went back to check on Gertrude. She had moved the kittens out of the clean box and back into her litter box.

"Gertrude, you idiot." I said. I shooed her away from the litter box and moved the kittens back. At least, I would be able to handle these and make them tame, unlike their mother. That's exactly what happened. Leia and Yoda are now part of our family and not wild at all. Gertrude is another matter.