Kittens

Today I felt like the grinch, when his heart grew three sizes in one day. This is not in regards to Christmas thank you very much, but with regards to Kittens.

It all began about two months ago. One day in October, my mom informed me via phone conversation that there was a stray cat that had been loitering around our house lately, and my dad/Benny had been feeding her. A short while later, this kitty was discovered to be pregnant, and very soon after that she indeed had five adorable kittens. This feline family lived in our garage with a nice blanket bed, space heater, litter box, water- anything a cat could want really. My mom said that they were just staying with us until they were weaned, and then we would have to give them away- either to a farm, or an animal shelter. Now, I am the person in my family who likes animals the least. I never have really been a huge lover of any type of animal besides frogs. Cats, happen to be on my top two least favorite animals list due to their creepy stalkish tendencies. When I was younger, I baby-sat for a family with a very aggressive child, who accidentally abused his kitty with too much fun and love. The family had an old couch, which had a large hole in the back. The back faced the walk-way that led from the living room to the kitchen. Now, this kitty hid in the hole, and when I walked past he jumped out and attacked me claws out, which nearly startled me to death. In my fear, anger, and bewilderment I shut the kitty in the laundry room to prevent further incident. Ever since this day, I have had bad dreams about cats sneaking up and mauling me on street corners. That is one reason I don't like cats. Basically, I feel like you can't trust them. However, these dear kittens are a different story.

Momma Cat had five kittens, all slightly different colors. We gave two away, and were left with three. Two grey girls, and an orange tabby boy. I named the girls Olivia and Sophie, and the boy Earnest. They spent the holidays with our family, and really started to grow on me. Sophie when to live with my cousins to be a mouse catcher, but the other two kittens were unable to find homes. So today Becca and I dropped them off at the animal shelter. Initially, I was very excited to have these potential full grown cats far away from our house. But the closer we got to the shelter, the more my heart began to ache. I can still hear their little "mew"ing noises, and see their curious little eyes darting about. We handed them over to the nice people in charge, told them their names, and tried to sum up all our love and adoration for the kittens in a few words. Then, it was done. Becca signed them over, and we left.  Actually, we first went through and looked at all the animals before leaving. This only added to our heartbreak, to see all the poor doggies that didn't have people to call their own. Dogs are also on the top two animals I dislike most list, but as we looked at them they all began to cry, which is something I can't resist apparently. I almost wanted to adopt them all. I still do in theory, but really I just want other people to adopt them all. Luckily, the kittens shouldn't have to stay there long. The ladies at the shelter said that it is "Kitten Season" and considering how cute Olivia and Earnest are they should be gone within the week. I hope they go to a good home that will love them and cuddle them like I never could. Also, I hope that little boys don't abuse them and turn them into the scary greasy type cats that still haunt my dreams.

I'm interested to see how long my heart remains enlarged with regards to household pets. I still won't watch movies featuring them as the stars no matter how good the rating, and I still only tolerate our family pets, but on the inside I like them more. Or I acknowledge them as creatures having personalities, and needs, and capabilities to love therefore requiring the love of humans as one of their necessities of life.