2008-09-01

My Pal Foot Foot

One thing we noticed when we moved here (a year ago today) was a colony of feral cats that roamed the property. We'd been in the place about a week when we saw a litter of kittens poking around our backyard. They were cute as the dickens, but of course wouldn't let either of us go anywhere near them.

By this spring, we only saw a couple of what looked to be adolescent cats. I silently hoped that their siblings also made it through the winter, or perhaps got scooped up and brought to the MSPCA.

Mama Cat dropped another litter not too long ago. We started seeing the kittens around the area, sleeping in a fuzzy pile near the yard or romping through the grass. But one of them seemed a little braver than the others. She started venturing into the yard by herself, and wouldn't run away when I came outside. She'd back up a few steps, and then start mewling at me.

The houseboy began leaving little piles of Kitten Chow near the house. We knew that she and her siblings had recently been weaned; Mama Cat had been swiping them off whenever they tried to nurse.

Over this past weekend, I started sitting with this little blotchy kitten in the yard. She actually got as far as sniffing my hand before darting away. But before long, she was rubbing up against my legs. She'd never actually let me pet her, but we'd have little conversations, she'd coyly roll around in the driveway and pretend to be more interested in a twig, but when I'd make like I was going back into the house, she'd barrel after me, mewing up a storm. Yesterday, we left to go to NH for the afternoon.

She was sitting in the driveway looking at me.

I told her, "You have some thinking to do, my friend. You can come into the house, and we will take care of you, but once you're INSIDE, you're not going back OUT. You will be a housecat, and all of your needs will be met, but there will be no more rolling around in the driveway like a blowsy, slatternly whore. I hope you'll make the right decision, because I hate to think that you won't make it through the winter."

She came inside this morning.

Of course I had, and HAVE, my concerns about taking in a feral kitten. But this little one didn't strike me as being especially feral. She seemed to instinctively understand that we would do her no harm, and I daresay she pretty much PICKED US to take care of her. I was prepared for her to spend the next several days isolated in the office while we "tamed her." She came in the door at around 9 o'clock this morning. By noon she had total run of the house:

She's incredibly affectionate with us already. She climbs all over me, lets me pick her up and carry her all over the house. She's a very pretty little cat, mostly dark brown with peanut-butter-colored markings. We call her "Foot Foot," after the song by The Shaggs.

I carry her around singing: "Where will Foot Foot go? What will Foot Foot do?" She is remarkably tolerant of this.

She snoozed on my chest as I was watching VH1 Classic, and I thought, "This is EXACTLY what I needed." I don't know...I just feel like I got a present. Here's this dumb little cat who COMPLETELY trusts me. Holy shit.

Of course, we know that she's got to go to the vet's, and anything could happen. But she seems to be in good health as far as we can see. She's spent most of today playing or sleeping on the couch. We definitely got her inside and more or less acclimated at the right time...a couple more weeks and I think it would have been a lost cause.

The houseboy asked her what she thought of Ultravox and she just blinked at him. Good kitty.

And here is the song that inspired her name. Bring it, haterz. I fuckin' LOVE The Shaggs.

lisamcc at 2:39 p.m.

5 comments so far
mumma
2008-09-01 19:40:06
What a little cutie pie...of course, you realize that a house cat will live a loooooooooooong time. Look at Sam...but I know she'll give you guys a lot of pleasure and fun. Can't wait to for her to meet "Granma and Papa." Talk to you later...
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Tina
2008-09-02 23:24:27
Gorgeous meow meow, kitty kitty! Can't wait to meet her fuzzy face!
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vikkitikkitavi
2008-09-03 15:47:37
What a cutie! I love torties, their coloring is so beautiful. There is one that comes on our front porch and eats from our stray cat food bowl, but I haven't been able to get near her. Ferals can be hard to litter box train, but since you got a female, it shouldn't be too bad. Good luck!
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Houseboy
2008-09-03 16:45:43
She went straight to the litter box, and hasn't had an "accident" yet. It's really the only thing in the apartment that is anything like the loose soil they like to go in, since we don't have houseplants or any kind of shag carpeting.
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LisaMcC
2008-09-03 21:21:53
Yeah, she figured out the litter box thing straightaway. I think I might rename her "Mensa."
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