"He prayeth well who loveth well both man and bird and beast"

We've been planning to write about the zoo in which we live.  Recent developments, however, have inspired us to focus in on the newest addition.  Rather than a wide introduction, we jump right into the tiny details.

Last night, while going to look for pet mice at the local pet store (don't ask), we ran into a little girl carrying around a bundle of rags.  Because I (B) am a nosy parker curious, I inquired about the bundle's contents.  It was a kitten, a tiny kitten.  2 days old we thought.  The family had found it in their backyard, with no sign of the mother.  They waited and waited, hoping that the mother would come back and retrieve it, but nothing happened.  They called every shelter/vet office they could think of, and no one would take it.  We offered to take the kitten.

Which brings us to now...after taking her into a 24-hour emergency vet to have her checked over, we gave ourselves a review on bottle feeding.  We've been sleeping in shifts, feeding every 2-3 hours.  Oh, and did we mentioned that newborn kittens aren't able to eliminate their own waste?  We've been massaging that out every shift too.  No bigger than a hamster, she still has her umbilical cord attached to her tummy.  Eyes and ears will open up within the next 1-2 weeks.

The bad news that we're bracing ourselves for is that she may have something terminally wrong with her (mother cats can sense this early on and are known to abandon the kittens that won't survive).  But so far, she is slurping down her food and getting stronger/louder every hour.  And it's worth it.  So SO worth it.  If she is to die, better to go with a full belly and warm box than to slip slowly away outside, left to the elements.

We hope to give this life a measure of dignity, no matter how long it lasts.  But there is a fight in her, a drive towards life that we will nurture as best we can.  We are fortunate in our ability to care for her, and blessed beyond measure to have a part in working against the fallen state of nature (red in tooth and claw).  Pardon our lack of pragmatism but we find it hard not to melt into sentimentalism while caring for such a little one.

T & B