Meet Mercy

First off, I just want to thank you all for your support and prayers. Knowing I have such great friends in rough times makes a world of difference.

Now, in happier news. Well, different news anyway. There are a ton of feral cats that live in my neighborhood. We've given some of them nicknames-- there's 'One-Ear' 'Black Cat' and 'Scruffy' and 'Orangey.' For the most part they go about their business and we go about ours. On Tuesday morning, I left my house and saw a tiny kitten (clearly stray) under a tree in our front yard. Of course, I attempted to catch it to no avail. However, I did see where the little kitten lived and it was awful --under a step surrounded by beer bottles and rubbish. So sad. This bothered me all day long. Poor kitten!

When I got home from work, I spent 30 minutes carrying on to Peter how sad I was that I wasn't able to catch the kitten. The poor kitten destined to live the life of a feral cat. It's particularly sad because stray kittens under about 9-12 weeks are usually able to adapt to humans before becoming feral. Peter took pity on me and said he'd go look to see if the kitten. As if it would still be sitting under the tree. Well, she was!!! So I spent the next 45 minutes trying to catch her, stealthy following her down the block and finally was able to catch her by the tail (much to her chagrin). I carried her inside and set her up in our guest bathroom with the basics (food, water, litter). I gave her a few minutes then gave her a bath -- again this poor kitten was so traumatized. We took her to the vet the next day, and learned she was in good health with no diseases, and is about 8 weeks old.

Naturally, what I didn't consider is I'd end up with a third cat. An idea I'm not crazy about!!! I think that makes me a crazy cat lady. I desperately pleaded with Alina and my mom to take her but they neither one of them was even slightly interested in a new kitten and I couldn't bring myself to take her to the humane society. Of course, now I've bonded with her-- kittens are adorable.

We call her Mercy after the hospital my mom was in-- so meet Mercy my newest cat. Older cats Noël and Toby are not pleased, but they are starting to adjust. The age gap is big -- N & T are 13 and 12, making them grouchy old ladies!