Well, that happened.
Jul. 15th, 2017 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyI want to insert something here. I am, I'm told, actually pretty smart. I don't usually say this, because there's no reason to, but other people sometimes tell me that. Never know how to respond, but they do. (At least nowadays, they say it in a good way. When I was a kid, they said it in order to criticize me for not doing my schoolwork.)
But I'm the one saying it now, and I'm saying it so you know not to judge me too harshly for the events in this story.
I was walking home from the grocery store, laden down with two very heavy bags (among other things, each had a six-pack of snapple), when I saw my chance to nab one of the two tortie kittens I've been worried about. Not the sicker one, the friendlier one!
Turns out this kitten is friendly enough so long as you don't act like you're trying to snatch her. This is unsurprising - apparently, two of her five siblings got picked up in just this way. (A third died. You can see why I want to TNR Mama.) So I waited until she was very close, and then I grabbed her nape. Well, kittens will settle when you do that, but she wouldn't let me hold her close, and I had no way to pick up my groceries!
As luck would have it, a family was walking towards me right then. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers, and had no hesitation whatsoever in asking them to help me with my bags if they were going my way. They dropped me off at the corner and I ran home, stashed the kitten in the front entryway, and ran back to grab my bags and the antibiotics from my neighbor.
Naturally, after having been isolated for five minutes in a strange place, the kitten decided that I must be her best friend. I've encountered this before when rehoming semi-feral kittens. If you'll excuse the armchair psychology, I figure it's some sort of Stockholm thing. They're away from everything they know, but you're familiar and you haven't actually hurt them, so you must be a friend! She purred up a storm and let me hold her properly to put her in a larger room with food. (FOOD!) There was medicine on the food, which is the important thing, but not what she cared about. (That medicine is crucially important - this kitty's eyes are better, but she's sniffling. Sniffles + eye troubles = bad news for kittens.)
Then I got a little overawed with my own mad skillz, and decided to get her sister. Guess what I forgot? Yes, I forgot to bring a carrier. Like I said, I'm usually smarter than this, so don't judge me! Her sister's eye is much worse, and looking at it, I'm not sure that there isn't any permanent damage. But at least it's only one eye. This kitten was not so friendly, and smart enough to avoid me after my first attempt, so I had to enlist the man who's been feeding her. Smart kitty - she wanted the food, but she was wary of approaching any human with me still right there! He wasn't clear on what I meant by grabbing her neck either, but between the two of us I eventually did manage to grab her nape and lug her home, so now she's ensconced with her sister. (This was the third not-so-smart move on my part. I should've isolated her for half an hour first, and then had her warm up to me before putting her in with family. Well, I don't care that much.)
I'm tentatively calling the one with the bad eye Kid Blink, so I guess that makes the other one Nellie Bly.
But I'm the one saying it now, and I'm saying it so you know not to judge me too harshly for the events in this story.
I was walking home from the grocery store, laden down with two very heavy bags (among other things, each had a six-pack of snapple), when I saw my chance to nab one of the two tortie kittens I've been worried about. Not the sicker one, the friendlier one!
Turns out this kitten is friendly enough so long as you don't act like you're trying to snatch her. This is unsurprising - apparently, two of her five siblings got picked up in just this way. (A third died. You can see why I want to TNR Mama.) So I waited until she was very close, and then I grabbed her nape. Well, kittens will settle when you do that, but she wouldn't let me hold her close, and I had no way to pick up my groceries!
As luck would have it, a family was walking towards me right then. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers, and had no hesitation whatsoever in asking them to help me with my bags if they were going my way. They dropped me off at the corner and I ran home, stashed the kitten in the front entryway, and ran back to grab my bags and the antibiotics from my neighbor.
Naturally, after having been isolated for five minutes in a strange place, the kitten decided that I must be her best friend. I've encountered this before when rehoming semi-feral kittens. If you'll excuse the armchair psychology, I figure it's some sort of Stockholm thing. They're away from everything they know, but you're familiar and you haven't actually hurt them, so you must be a friend! She purred up a storm and let me hold her properly to put her in a larger room with food. (FOOD!) There was medicine on the food, which is the important thing, but not what she cared about. (That medicine is crucially important - this kitty's eyes are better, but she's sniffling. Sniffles + eye troubles = bad news for kittens.)
Then I got a little overawed with my own mad skillz, and decided to get her sister. Guess what I forgot? Yes, I forgot to bring a carrier. Like I said, I'm usually smarter than this, so don't judge me! Her sister's eye is much worse, and looking at it, I'm not sure that there isn't any permanent damage. But at least it's only one eye. This kitten was not so friendly, and smart enough to avoid me after my first attempt, so I had to enlist the man who's been feeding her. Smart kitty - she wanted the food, but she was wary of approaching any human with me still right there! He wasn't clear on what I meant by grabbing her neck either, but between the two of us I eventually did manage to grab her nape and lug her home, so now she's ensconced with her sister. (This was the third not-so-smart move on my part. I should've isolated her for half an hour first, and then had her warm up to me before putting her in with family. Well, I don't care that much.)
I'm tentatively calling the one with the bad eye Kid Blink, so I guess that makes the other one Nellie Bly.
no subject
Date: 2017-07-16 12:58 am (UTC)(joking-but-not-really)
no subject
Date: 2017-07-16 03:12 am (UTC)*pets the kittens* Especially the friendly one, Ms. Nellie Super Reporter Bly. :D
no subject
Date: 2017-07-16 03:18 am (UTC)Well, it's a long commute anyway :)