Mittens

I have wanted a cat my entire life.  We didn't have an indoor cat growing up due to the potential scratching, hairballs, and excessive fur on everything, and I never wanted an outdoor cat.  I kid you not when I say that my mom used to say, "When you grow up maybe you will marry a man who let's you have a cat at your house."  I had a lot of waiting to do.  Fast forward approximately 15 years, and...I married a self-proclaimed cat hater.  Robert's family owned a cat or two while he was growing up, but all I know is that one of them couldn't be litter trained and that ruined his perception of cats.

The day we moved to North Carolina (June 1, 2012) we saw a litter of kittens in our parking lot.  We soon found out that they lived in our water runoff drain in the parking lot.  How sad/adorable is that?  I feel like a a Disney cartoon totally could have starred this little furballs.  We would see the cats periodically, and it was fun to watch them grow up, but I always felt badly for them especially during extreme weather conditions.

In the fall of 2013 we started seeing a particularly cute grey cat sitting on our porch and our front door mat.  I think she was scoping us out.  I remember Robert texting me a picture of her and me replying with, "Can we have her?" to which Robert said, "If she's still here next December."  More than a year to wait???  A few days later (October 21, 2013) Robert and I were taking one of our traditional evening walks through the neighborhood, and we came across the same grey cat again.  She was eating a potato chip in the parking lot.  She was so hungry and focused on eating the potato chip that she didn't even notice us sneak up on her.  Robert scooped her up, even though I begged him not to, knowing that the instant I held her I wouldn't be able to give her up.  We decided to take her in and just feed her a bit - stupid, stupid, stupid.  We just so happened to have a can of tuna on hand which is hot since I hate fish.  We put it down on a plate for her and she scarfed it down.  I started weeping while watching her eat.  Just thinking about feeding her and then throwing her back out broke my heart.  I asked Robert if we could name her anyway, and he said yes, we should name her Mittens.  She is grey with white paws.  Robert decided we should let her stay with us until we could take her to the vet to get checked out.

Our first picture of Mittens

October 22 was actually my last day at my former job, so it was super easy to take Mittens to the vet the next days since I was jobless.  We took her in, and the vet was shocked with how healthy she was.  She's a feral cat.  Maybe you're like me, and you're not quite sure the difference between stray and feral.  Stray: grew up in a house, family ditched the cat on the side of the road.  Feral: born in the wild, never been owned by a human.  So Mittens is a feral cat.  The vet said she has perfect teeth, eyes, ears, and nose.  The pads of her paws were in remarkable shape for being used to walking on hot asphalt and rocks and sticks in the woods.  Her fur was shiny and not matted.  Her digestive system seemed good.  No fleas, ticks, or worms, but we got her a de-worming pill just in case.  Rabies/tetanus shot?  Got that too.  Trimmed her nails.  We left knowing that this was a cat for good.  I firmly believe that Mittens was God's gift to me to keep me company during the coming weeks of unemployment.  She kept me company and kept me from getting bored out of my mind.  A couple of weeks after getting her we got her spayed.   She was so pitiful.  She licked her wound too much, and it got infected which meant she had to get an antibiotic shot and was forced to wear the cone of shame for a week.  The first time we put the cone on her she literally cried a real kitty cat tear and it fell onto the blanket beneath her.  Broke my heart.

She was so embarrassed, but she rocked that accessory with style

Since then, Mittens has mesmerized us with her general cuteness.  Some of her favorite things include her kitty teaser (a fuzzy pink toy with a jingle bell inside), her laser, dental treats, anything pink or purple, looking at her reflection in windows and mirrors, having her ears/lips/cheeks/chin scratched, being brushed, laying in the sun, and attacking our feet under blankets.  Her least favorite things include being picked up, having her belly scratched, when we turn on the lights after it's been dark for a long time, the vacuum cleaner, having her nails done, and closed doors.  And after a few short days Robert officially loved her.  He loves her so much he even built her a scratching post/perch.

However, on Valentine's Day or sweet Mittens ran away while the door was open for a bit.  I was devastated.  We searched high and low.  The positive is that she was born in the wild and grew up in it for a year and a half so she knows the neighbor and forest like the back of her paw.  She knows the safe places and the places the avoid.  Unfortunately, because of all of that she wasn't that anxious to get home.  I was heartbroken.  The fact that it had just snowed the day before didn't help.  Thinking about her being so cold was terrifying.  I will say that this experience made me love Robert more than ever.  Robert willingly stayed up until the wee hours of the night every night that she was gone.  Knowing that  cats are nocturnal, we figured nighttime was the best time to try and catch her.  We sat out her favorite things on our porch: her food, the litter box, her favorite blanket, a toy.  We sat out our shoes and a hoodie so she could find our scent.  We went on hikes for hours on end - just trying to find her.  I can say that I found a part of the woods I had never seen before, and it would have been very serene had it not been for our given situation.  We saw her a couple of times which was both encouraging and very frustrating.  She'd come up on the porch, but the second we'd move to get her she'd run away.  Her food attracted plenty of other feral cats as wells as possums.  The most terrifying night was the night that she was on our porch and then a coyote chased her into the woods.  Later that night we heard some terrible noises coming from the woods, and then we didn't see her for two whole days.  When she reappeared we experienced such a rush of relief.  She had been gone for six days when one of our friends came up to our sliding glass door and said that he had found Mittens.  Robert was in his night class, so I went out with Adam to go see her.  Unfortunately, the cat he had found was one of Mittens' siblings, but when we got close to that cat she ran away and stumbled upon Mittens which terrified her and made her run across her path. "That's Mittens!"  I got super pumped.  It was totally exhilarating.  She went to hide under some cars.  Adam and I walked slowly toward her.  We crouched down to be less intimidating.  I was saying her name and Adam was meowing.  She was starting to walk closer to us when one our neighbors pulled into the parking lot and started saying things like, "You don't want to do that.  You'll make the stray cat want to come home with you."  Little did he know that that was exactly what we were trying to do.  He left, and I got Mittens to let me pet her.  I asked Adam what to do, and he said to just pick her up like normal.  Unfortunately, I had always been too petrified to pick her up.  Robert always did it.  I knew that I had to just do it.  I scooped her up and got very excited, but Adam reminded me that we weren't home yet and there was still time to blow it.  I got her inside, confirmed that it was her and she was healthy, and then Adam went on his way.  I'm going to be honest - I bawled like a baby.  I FaceTimed Mom and Dad.  They were very happy as well.  I didn't tell Robert because I wanted it to be a surprise when he got home from school  Well...

I am pleased to say that she was in perfect shape when she returned.  We made sure to go to PetSmart ASAP so we could get her a nametag with my phone number on it.  It's been smooth sailing since then.

On Wednesday Mittens will be moving to Missouri.  It's her greatest adventure yet.  Mom and Dad will care for her until Robert graduates.  She's very excited to live with her grandparents and is looking forward to getting spoiled.