Surprise!

I was having a rough day this morning after getting back from dropping a very messy Bella off at daycare. (I thought the child was eating her breakfast, but actually, she was wiping it down her legs and in her hair. !!! Daycare wouldn't let me change her, but my nerves were shot.)

I got out of the car with a running mental list of all I need to accomplish today ... but then I heard a bunch of tiny mewls. Just the tinniest, sharpest little baby cries. I could recognize that sound from a mile way. Kittens! But where?

I tracked the noise to our boat, which sits in our driveway. The neighborhood cats enjoy sitting under the boat in the summer, so I figured that's where the litter was hanging out. But they weren't UNDER the boat. They were IN the boat.


The mama cat apparently snuck each individual kitten up under the tarp we use to cover the boat. The only loose area was up at the hull, but the litter is way at the back. What an industrious mom! I loosened the tarp to take pictures ... plus animal control will need to get in there when they come to pick up the litter.

Yes, I called animal control. I love a baby as much as the next person, but this is not the first litter for the mama cat. She's had at least 5 litters since our neighbors brought her home. It may seem cruel, but the neighbors refuse to take care of her or get her fixed ... and we threatened to call animal control after the last litter.

Our other neighbors (Kurt and Veronica) have been feeding this cat as well as many of her offspring that are still hanging around the neighborhood, plus all the tomcats that come around when she and her daughters go into heat. But they are deployed (one to Afghanistan and one to Germany) so the burden of care for these cats will fall to us. (Side note: The cats weren't born in the boat -- our neighbor's house sitter saw them on his porch a few days ago.)

I may take a community to raise a child, but it shouldn't to raise your cat! But those babies sure are precious. I'm hoping CARA will come through and save them. At least then they'll all find a great home. Unfortunately, this is kitten season and I know CARA has kittens out the wazoo. Anyone want to sponsor some kitty spaying?!