A Home for Puff

It was late winter when I left some food out for a wild cat darting around our woods. Within a month of me leaving the food out, she was purring and letting me pet her and generally hanging out on the porch, washing herself. She wasn't wild, she was just a stray. She was a pretty thing, and someone had obviously loved her before she became homeless.

And then one day she appeared at the door with two tiny kittens. Two little powder puffs.

I was horrified.

Within a week, one of them had permanently disappeared. And a couple weeks after that, the mother cat, who had been a very good mom  -- inexplicably -- rejected her remaining kitten. It was terrible. She would hiss and growl at him and not let him near her. Maybe the little guy was getting bigger and she saw him as a rival for her food. Maybe she was sick. I just don't know. She then left.

We became the little kitten's new parents and he bonded with us and wanted to play and be let in the house. Such a cutie.

But we already have 4 indoor cats in the house and four is plenty. I know. They told me with their eyes.

So, yesterday, I took the kitten, which we nicknamed "Puff," to the vet. It was the first time he was ever inside anywhere!

He was very good at the vet, but a little scared. At one point he crawled on my shoulder to the back of my neck and gave me a bath, purring away. He is a sweetie, what can I say?

He got a clean bill of health. The vet was also able to tell me that he was a he. I didn't know for sure. Puff is very fluffy down there, you see.

And then we drove Puff to the far side of Manchester to meet the woman who had written that she "would love to have a kitten" on her Craigslist ad.

We gave her Puff and the vet paperwork and Puff's little brush and away they went last night. Puff will be safe and loved and not have to be afraid of thunder, fast cars or foxes.

It was bittersweet.

The mama cat has come back. She needs to be trapped and have that TNR thing done.

We will miss Puff very much.