Kitten

A cat literally walked into our arms two nights ago. We've wanted to adopt two cats since we moved into our duplex so this represented a bit of an early surprise for us.

We arrived home from the gym at 00:10 on Thursday. Remembering our landlord's encounter with a friendly kitten earlier in the day, we walked to the end of the driveway in search of it. Finding nothing, we walked back to where we had left our gym bags on the front walk. We continued talking as we walked toward the front door when we thought we heard a mew. We stopped, and I walked back toward our garage, calling out to any potential kitten. Mew. Mew. Was the sound coming from our backyard? I opened the gate and out trotted a kitten, maybe four months old. Dawn and I stood still as it walked around us, peering into the bushes, sitting on it's haunches. We whispered to it, and it padded to us. Dawn picked it up and held it, and we scratched it's white coat. It ground it's nose into Dawn's arm for warmth.

Dawn took the cat inside and I went off in search of cat litter and a litter box. Wal-Mart: closed. Where in the world to find cat litter after midnight? I began heading toward a 24-hour pharmacy in our old neighborhood. After a few blocks, I passed an all-night emergency pet clinic. Doubling back, I parked, walked into the security entrance, and got the information I needed from the attendants on duty. About 45 minutes later, I returned home from a closer 24-hour pharmacy with the litter and box.

After putting out water, cat food, and litter in the box, I searched for lost cat ads in the local zip code at five online sites, posting a found cat ad at each. I searched for what to do when you find a stray cat. It had no collar, it was healthy, friendly and not feral. We determined it was either lost or abandoned. The lack of collar indicated the latter.

It was about 3AM when we finally fell asleep. My first bit of late-night parenting. The kitten climbed into bed and slept between us.

It's been several days since posting the ads (including the Sacramento Bee and Craigslist) and flyers on our street. No word yet, so we're beginning to gear up for adopting the kitten, which includes a visit to the vet next week.