Roaming In the neighborhood - Cat Rescue Story
by Shelly Koonce
(Lake Charles, La, USA)
My two daughters are big cat lovers. My youngest daughter is like a cat magnetic she can walk outside and cats roaming the neighborhood flock to her. Of course when she sees a stray she has already adopted it by feeding it and bingo the next day we are new cat owners. There are so many cats she adopted and the mother ended up getting pregnant and yes, having their babies in our house.
The first time it happened, we were planning to move to another city and the neighborhood was not safe. So we ended up bringing them to a local animal shelter. We did not want to give them away, but the neighborhood was not safe enough in our opinion so we did what we thought was best. As we left them I was crying my eyes out, as well as my girls. When my husband handed them to a worker at the shelter I heard her asking why were we leaving them when she saw us crying.
This moment was my worst ever. I didn't want to leave them, but knew I had to do what was best for them. Hearing that worker reply that way broke my heart even more. After this moment I told my daughters we would not have any more animals is our house. NO MORE STRAYS!!
Well, of course if there is a first time yes there is a second time. Two strays roaming in the neighborhood found my daughter and we became new parents. The female cat is a fluffy black tabby cat and her side kick pure black male cat that had a habit of nursing on her. He definitely was not a kitten to still be nursing. They had no collars, no tags, homeless. And my daughter's heart belonging to the stray made it her business to adopt these two cats.
After my husband
and I would fall asleep around 10:30pm our girls were outside feeding them tuna! That kept them coming back. Until one night my husband woke up and found our girls at the doors feeding these cats!!! I don't know who was more surprised. So they kept this their little secret. They knew how I felt about another animal in the house. Well when it was my turn to catch them in the act, they were definitely surprise, I was furious!!! That was their first defense, "but she doesn't come in the house, moma." She's pregnant! That was the cherry on my cake for me!!! What happened to no more cats in the house?!
I WAS FURIOUS!!! Both cats were not entering our house... so the female cat became our domestic cat. The girls and my husband became attached instantly to her and we had another cat in our house!!! And she was already pregnant!!!! What was God telling me? My husband didn't want to see her having her babies outside and other wild animals eat them...he didn't want to take that chance. Neither did I! I love animals, and they all deserve a chance to live!
So when the time came, she gave birth to 6 beautiful kittens...3 girls and 3 boys. Each being a twin of the other. It was something to see a cat having contractions and trying to walk around the house trying to find a corner to have her babies. She gave birth in me and my husband's bedroom. This was my girls new patient so they were going to be the one's to calm her and help her deliver the babies. And they did!
They not only saved the mother, and her side kick...but they saved 6 beautiful kittens. Pure black girl and boy Black and white girl and boy Tiger Pattern girl and boy, Lucy, Phoebe
Boys: Tiger, L.j., Yoda