Serena
As I’m leaning back in my chair typing this, I have a tiny bit of fluff named Serena lying asleep on my belly.
Yesterday afternoon, when I got home from work, Derek and his brother were about to go work on their aunt’s dead truck, and Derek was wondering if we could find anyone to adopt a lost kitten he’d run across on his mail route that day.
She’d been alone in the sun next to a shrub, crying. Having no way to help her any further while on his mail route in an unairconditioned truck, Derek moved her into the shade underneath the shrub. Of course, there were “Awwww”s all around (except for Allen, who finds pets pointless)
After he described this to us, he and Allen went off to fix Aunt Essie’s truck, with Derek saying that he still wanted to go back and see if she were still there and alive, and if so, try to figure out something to do with her.
While they were gone, I did a number of things around the house, and had a fun phone conversation with irishbeard about his day at work yesterday. I mentioned the kitten Derek had found, and after more of the requisite “awww”s from both of us, we talked about out pet histories, and the animals Ed has been moving to and from the planes, and how he always tries to put them at ease.
A couple of hours later, as I was finishing up folding a load of laundry, I heard the door open, and in came Derek and Allen, and Derek had the kitten, wrapped in a towel.
She was bedraggled and absolutely filthy, but underneath was an adorable little calico. She had barely moved from the spot where Derek had left her hours earlier, though he said that when he woke her, she stood up and meowed and tried to walk around as much as her little legs would allow.
Now, I’m a big softie. Animals in general get to me, but little baby animals turn me into a big puddle of sentimental goo.
And I went for this one, hook, line, and sinker. I immediately took her from Derek and began getting her some milk (which, though newborn kittens aren’t really supposed to have cow’s milk, it was all we had), and getting her to lick some from my fingertips, and eventually from the small bowl I had it in.
I cleared off a space on my desk next to my computer monitor, and put out a small blanket for her, and she curled up in the blanket next to my keyboard, and I watched her as she slept all evening. I love the words “serene” and “serenity,” and as I saw how peacefully she slept now that she was safe, and had some food, I decided to name her Serena. When the time came, I made up a little box for her, and when we went to bed, we set the box between our pillows, in case she needed us during the night.
This morning, Derek fed her before going to work. When I got up, I went to PetSmart, and consulted with a “cat lady” there about what I should do with her. Then, later, after I had given Serena her first bath, our pseudo-niece Tory, who is a vet tech, came by and brought some kitten formula and syringes to feed her with. Tory also gave her a good going over, and after consulting by phone with the vet she works with, determined that she needed some antibiotics for some places on her skin and an eye infection.
Tory went back to her clinic, and returned with the medicine a little bit ago. Now Serena is napping in her new box (she's moved to the box from my belly during the time I've been writing this), with a little bowl of formula, warm blankets, a tiny litter box for her to experiment with, and a whole new lease on life.
I don’t know if we’ll wind up keeping her long-term. I spoke with the cat lady at PetSmart about placing her with a no-kill / no-declaw rescue society, but it may be a while before that happens, since they have a waiting list of cats to take in.
Whether we keep her permanently or not, just getting through the next couple of weeks with her is going to be a challenge. She’s so malnourished that she needs to eat every two or three hours. Derek and I both work during the day, and I’m also going to be housesitting next week, so I won’t even be staying at home. I can’t take her with me to the housesitting gig, since I’m keeping two dogs there. And I’m pretty sure I don’t need to take her to work with me.
So, we have some thinking to do about how to make this work.
But I’m glad she’s with us right now, rather than under that shrub.
Serena, As She Was Found
Yesterday afternoon, when I got home from work, Derek and his brother were about to go work on their aunt’s dead truck, and Derek was wondering if we could find anyone to adopt a lost kitten he’d run across on his mail route that day.
She’d been alone in the sun next to a shrub, crying. Having no way to help her any further while on his mail route in an unairconditioned truck, Derek moved her into the shade underneath the shrub. Of course, there were “Awwww”s all around (except for Allen, who finds pets pointless)
After he described this to us, he and Allen went off to fix Aunt Essie’s truck, with Derek saying that he still wanted to go back and see if she were still there and alive, and if so, try to figure out something to do with her.
While they were gone, I did a number of things around the house, and had a fun phone conversation with irishbeard about his day at work yesterday. I mentioned the kitten Derek had found, and after more of the requisite “awww”s from both of us, we talked about out pet histories, and the animals Ed has been moving to and from the planes, and how he always tries to put them at ease.
A couple of hours later, as I was finishing up folding a load of laundry, I heard the door open, and in came Derek and Allen, and Derek had the kitten, wrapped in a towel.
She was bedraggled and absolutely filthy, but underneath was an adorable little calico. She had barely moved from the spot where Derek had left her hours earlier, though he said that when he woke her, she stood up and meowed and tried to walk around as much as her little legs would allow.
Now, I’m a big softie. Animals in general get to me, but little baby animals turn me into a big puddle of sentimental goo.
And I went for this one, hook, line, and sinker. I immediately took her from Derek and began getting her some milk (which, though newborn kittens aren’t really supposed to have cow’s milk, it was all we had), and getting her to lick some from my fingertips, and eventually from the small bowl I had it in.
I cleared off a space on my desk next to my computer monitor, and put out a small blanket for her, and she curled up in the blanket next to my keyboard, and I watched her as she slept all evening. I love the words “serene” and “serenity,” and as I saw how peacefully she slept now that she was safe, and had some food, I decided to name her Serena. When the time came, I made up a little box for her, and when we went to bed, we set the box between our pillows, in case she needed us during the night.
This morning, Derek fed her before going to work. When I got up, I went to PetSmart, and consulted with a “cat lady” there about what I should do with her. Then, later, after I had given Serena her first bath, our pseudo-niece Tory, who is a vet tech, came by and brought some kitten formula and syringes to feed her with. Tory also gave her a good going over, and after consulting by phone with the vet she works with, determined that she needed some antibiotics for some places on her skin and an eye infection.
Tory went back to her clinic, and returned with the medicine a little bit ago. Now Serena is napping in her new box (she's moved to the box from my belly during the time I've been writing this), with a little bowl of formula, warm blankets, a tiny litter box for her to experiment with, and a whole new lease on life.
I don’t know if we’ll wind up keeping her long-term. I spoke with the cat lady at PetSmart about placing her with a no-kill / no-declaw rescue society, but it may be a while before that happens, since they have a waiting list of cats to take in.
Whether we keep her permanently or not, just getting through the next couple of weeks with her is going to be a challenge. She’s so malnourished that she needs to eat every two or three hours. Derek and I both work during the day, and I’m also going to be housesitting next week, so I won’t even be staying at home. I can’t take her with me to the housesitting gig, since I’m keeping two dogs there. And I’m pretty sure I don’t need to take her to work with me.
So, we have some thinking to do about how to make this work.
But I’m glad she’s with us right now, rather than under that shrub.
Serena, As She Was Found