FABULOUS FELINE FRIDAY - GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY!

The Kissing Kitty

Molly and her sister Corky and brother Sebastian are the last kittens I will raise from birth to death. It will be ten years ago next May that they entered my life.

Their mom was Teddi, one of the ferals who lived on the property at our old house. She was almost the adoption success story of success stories, because over four years of knowing her and adopting her kittens, she became a friend and was finally willing to voluntarily jump in my lap and let me stroke her there on the back patio. I decided one morning that I would bring her inside that evening - I needed to set things up to do that - only she never appeared that night. The next morning as I drove out the driveway, I happened to glance at the curb, and there she was. We lived on a busy street that little kitties shouldn’t have ever tried to cross, and had lost all the other ferals to that @#$#@! traffic. So Teddi did come inside, but not as intended. Her urn sits with the other kitties who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

But that happened after she gave me the Trio. Two weeks after I brought them inside, she finally let me catch her and take her to Fix Nation. It was like she planned it - except for the accident.

The Trio: Sebastian (left front), Corky (right) Molly (rear)

Anyway, the way you adopt a feral kitten and turn it domestic involves timing. You need to catch them the week their mom weans them, which is about six weeks. What we would do is put out a Have-A-Heart trap with food once we had put out wet food for them for a day or two and they had gotten used to the idea of looking for it. Interestingly with these three, I caught one, brought it in and transferred it to a cat carrier, put the trap out and caught the next, and then the last. It was like they all “knew the drill.”

At that point, it’s necessary to acclimate them and lower their fear level. I would put a small bowl of food, a bowl of water and a small litter box in the carrier, then put them in the bathroom. That’s because if they get out while being fed at this point, there’s no place in that room where they could hide that I couldn’t retrieve them. Keep things quiet, let them get used to the sounds and smells in the house, feed them and “kitty talk” them so they get used to things. After about a week, I felt they were ready.

I opened the cage for the smallest, the little tortie. There she was, as far back in the carrier as she could get,with her front paws raised and them at me: “Don’t you dare! I’m tough! I’ll fix you!” I put on the heavy leather glove I called “The Domesticator”, reached in and grabbed her. I brought her out, held her in the glove and began stroking her and talking “kitten talk” to her. It took about 15 minutes for her to relax, and another five minutes to curl up in the palm of the glove and let me rub her belly. She had “crossed over.”

Her sister and brother followed.

Corky and Sebastian

I then put them in the large dog carrier where they were all together. Jurate and I would come in the bathroom several times a day, let them out to sniff around and investigate the room, and to play with them. By the end of the third week, they were ready to come out of the bathroom and meet the rest of the clan and explore their new world.

I wasn’t sure about adopting them out. They really liked us, they hung out with us, and Molly started coming in the writing office when I was there and getting up on the desk with me. She was very affectionate. The other two were also obviously happy to be with us.

Molly and Corky

And then the whole thing with their mom happened, and I decided they would stay with us.

The three of them are very different. Corky is diffident and independent. She likes to hang around, but just out of reach; she exhibits that feral independence. Sebastian is like his brothers, the late Ginger and Cary: a big guy who makes his presence known, and taking his space anywhere, particularly on my lap anytime he wants. Molly was and is the smallest - people think she’s younger than she is because of her size.

Molly has become the cat with whom I have the closest relationship of any feline I have ever known. She sleeps every night on the pillow by my ear, purring me to sleep, or on a cooler night she will crawl under the covers and curl up in a little ball in the crook of my arm. During the day she’s always around. She’s the kissing kitty. She runs into the office, jumps on my lap, then leaps up and puts her paws around my neck, leans in and licks my cheek. It’s as close to a human kiss as I have ever gotten from a cat. She loves to sit in my lap while I’m writing, as the photos show.

I suspect she will be my last little girl.

You can support That’s Another Fine Mess with your paid subscription, which is only $7/month or $70/year, saving you $14.

Unfortunately, comments for Fabulous Feline Friday will have to be limited to paid subscribers, because I’m not interested in subjecting any of you to the Trolls, now that they have found the site exists. Fortunately they are cheapskates and won’t pay for the opportunity to be idiots.