I can't have a third cat. I really can't have a third cat

[healingmirth]

So I had a meeting yesterday, at the nonprofit in the middle of the Neighborhood of Feral Cats, and because the Executive Director knows I like and care about cats, our conversations often start with him saying, "hey did you see [something about a local cat]?"

Yesterday, the news was that some random black cat had had a litter of kittens behind one of their buildings, but she'd moved them by the time he thought to show me. So we carry on our merry way to the project site, but on the way around the corner there's. That's not a bird, right? You hear that noise, right? That is definitely a kitten, and a kitten who's mad about something. Which leads to me peeling off from our conversation, walking up a flight of stairs, and finding a LITTLE BITTY BABY CAT, fully stuck inside a drawer of a desk that is inexplicably being stored on their second story porch.

Cue me spending the next three hours setting it up to hopefully survive until momma cat comes back to it - a bit of cat milk sorta-nursed off a paper towel (because of course I randomly had cat milk in the trunk of my car), a hunt for spare towels or sweatshirts to keep the drawer warm if we left it open, in case mom was still nearby; my leaving to drive home only to veer off at the nearest Petco and return with actual kitten formula and a bottle.

I can't have another cat, really, and the best case scenario would be reuniting her with the litter, so with ample warnings to pretty much every dude on the property, I headed home. I told everyone in charge that if she was still alone in the morning, to call me, and I'd try to handle it.

Cue me, worrying all evening that I'd made the wrong decision, and resenting that the resident dudes weren't magically texting me kitten updates. Cue me, fully awake at 4am, convinced I'd made the wrong decision. Cue me, driving back up their this morning, armed with cat carrier, etc., despite lack of updates from Dudes in Charge.

Kitten was still there, natch. Still SUPER MAD about being hungry and alone. A+ instincts for going towards the big warm body to try to nurse, which ended with both of us covered in kitten formula while I tried to hold the bottle somewhere he'd actually suckle.

And I literally can't count the number of dudes - and they're all dudes, it's a residential treatment program - who, upon walking past me with an armful of fire-siren-like wailing kitten, said "oh, I thought I heard something yesterday/last night/this morning."

Sweet merciful Christ, dudes.

So I took the kitten like I said I would, since I was no way in hell trusting them to keep it alive, not that anyone offered, and immediately called my mother and said I'd done a stupid thing, which is what we usually say when we've agreed to be helpful.

I then called three more shelters, and my vet, again, looking for advice or someone who was set up to foster an unweaned kitten. I finally literally walked in to the local humane society, which netted me the contact information of a shelter that might, and did, take her.

The shelter staff all had the appropriate OH WHAT A SWEET BABY KITTY reaction I'd been looking for, and also while I was there, put off a woman who'd stopped by, like, on her break, to see if they had any kittens. Some of our local rescue organizations have some epically labrynthine applications that annoy me, but if you don't have time to even look at their application, lady, then no, you don't have time to adopt a pet.

ANYway. It's been about twelve hours since I dropped the kitten off, and I'm a little sad about it, but only a little. I very much can't have a third cat, and the existing two cats were very helpful in pointing out why, when I got home.

Also, vet who is not my usual vet, thank God - fuck you, wanting a defenseless animal to be safe doesn't need to be my "maternal instinct kicking in."

---

So yeah, hi.

I'm still around, mostly. Stuff's been weird, in general. IDK. There's a lot that I'm basically writing off until new years resolution time, and I'm real glad I canceled my signup for Hockey Holidays, even if I had prompts and pairings in my requests that would have made for great fic. Managing Yuletide is going to be enough of a challenge without splitting my energy, and I have missed fully a week+ of my mini-wrimo commitment, after a really good start, sigh.