Kittens, Kittens, Everywhere

So, Kittenworld (aka my bathroom) will have a new inhabitant again soon, probably. You may or may not remember that I mentioned a while back that Mickey's mother had had another kitten, and the the two of them are frequently to be found hanging around in my driveway, where I've been feeding them a bit. Being completely unable to accommodate another kitten, I've spent the last four months or so telling myself that this one would be fine, that she's taking much better care of him (or possibly her, I don't know) than she did the last one. But the poor thing always has runny eyes, and that seems to be getting worse. Plus, it's starting to get really cold out there... So I finally heaved a heavy sigh, admitted to myself that the poor thing would probably need some warmth and veterinary care if it were going have a good chance of surviving the winter, and called the vet to make an appointment. That was on Thursday, and the earliest they could get me in without difficulties was Monday morning. Which I figured was fine, because the kitty'd been more or less OK this long, so how likely was it to get into major difficulty in the next few days? Since I see them pretty much every day, and since the kitten's now gotten to the point where it's comfortable enough with me to let me pick it up, I figured I'd bring it in sometime on Sunday and keep it in the bathroom overnight. Except that I've since realized that the poor critter is in worse shape than I thought. Not only are his eyes runny, but he's got a bit of the inner eyelid showing, too, and his nose is all snotty. The vet being closed now, he's still going to have to wait until Mon. for his appointment, but I figured it'd be better to bring him inside and keep him well-fed and warm.

So, I went out and got some extra cat dishes and cat food, and set up a makeshift litterbox, and made all the other kitten-quarantining preparations I've become so very familiar with. Then I put on some old clothes, figuring I'd change out of them after handling him so as to reduce the danger of infecting the other cats. And then I went outside, to where I'd seen him just a few minutes before... and he'd disappeared. Sigh. Well, I'm sure he'll show up again, tomorrow, if not later today. He always does. I am a little worried, though, because he and his mom didn't finish the food I left out for them. I'm hoping it's because they found something else to eat this morning, and not because they're both deathly ill. We'll see how it goes.

And before you ask, no, I am not keeping this one. I think Mickey proved pretty definitively that I have all the cats I can handle. Not to mention all the cats my cats can handle. No, as soon as this one's healthy, he's going to the shelter. Unless anybody out there wants a kitten now? He (or she) is a cute little gray thing, maybe about five months old, and I'm sure he'd appreciate a good home.