Nona and the Kitten

Nona said she would like to tell this story....

Two Wednesday afternoons ago, Mum and I were outside playing.  I chased the ball, raced around with it in my mouth (my mum calls it prancing), and rolled in the leaves.  Then Mum asked, "What kind of bird is making that sound?  It's not like any bird I've heard before."  Mum kept looking around for a bird but there weren't any.  Next, she looked over the fence to the other side of the yard trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.  Then she walked that way, and I ran that way, and the next thing you know, we saw a tiny kitten.

I want you to know I keep a clean yard.  No squirrels, no birds, no cats, no other animals come into my yard and get to stay there if I'm outside.  I chase them away.  So when I saw that kitten on the other side of the fence, I was at the gate ready to run through as Mum opened it.  I was eager to meet that cat and take care of it so it wouldn't come into my yard.  But she wouldn't let me go through the gate.

All I could do was watch what was going on.  She went inside by the other door (and left me outside!) and was in there for a while, probably talking to my pop.  She came back out with a dish of wet cat food that my human sister keeps here for when her cats visit.  That kitten ate and ate and ate.

After it finished eating the kitten hid in the bushes again but Mum squatted and encouraged it to come out.  She took it inside--leaving me behind again!--to show my pop and see what he thought.  They decided it was too young to be outside alone and guessed its mom was a feral cat.  They put it in our breezeway with a little bed and a litter box and Mum contacted a bunch of cat rescue places but no one wanted the kitten.  They said they were all full.  One of the places said not to bother leaving it outside for its mom to come because it was already weaned.  Then my mum contacted several people she thought might want a kitty, but they didn't.  The next night it was too cold for it to stay in the breezeway so they brought it into the house--MY house, which I already share with two cats when they visit!

My human sister and her two cats came on Sunday to stay for four days and she decided she would adopt the kitten.  It was itchy and scratching so they gave it a Dawn bath and saw that it had fleas.  My mum puts flea treatment on me so I don't have to get a Dawn bath.  My sister or my mum combs the kitten with a flea comb several times a day, searching for fleas.  My sister will take it away this coming Wednesday.  Hooray!

This is what the kitten looks like.  Mum doesn't love cats but she said if it had been a grey or a grey tabby, she might have wanted to keep it.  I'm glad it's neither of those colors!   I want Mum to myself again.

Nancy here.  Everything Nona wrote is true.  She fiercely defends her yard and chases any animal she sees in it.  (If she caught one I suspect it would be the death of it.)  What she didn't tell you is that when inside the house, she has amazing restraint and forbearance with the cats.  As much as she can, she either avoids or ignores them.  (It's almost like children using inside voices and outside voices.)  Even though the kitten won't be here except for visits it has the best chance of all three cats of persuading Nona that cats could possibly become friends when indoors.

We're calling the kitten It because we can't tell whether it's a female or a male.  The vet couldn't tell from photos but after it visits the vet on Monday, we'll know and then my daughter will give it a name.

What a busy time it's been at our house this past week.

--Nancy and Nona

Airedale Bedhead

I smile every morning when Nona greets me.  It's because of her bedhead muzzle and beard.  They are always askew after a night's sleep, or even a nap.
She has no clue my smile borders on laughter at her appearance.  Even if she knew, I think she would join in.  Airedales love to make their people laugh. 

After breakfast, I brush her muzzle and beard, neatening it so she looks tidy.  But it only lasts a little while--until she starts to play.  And then we do it all over again later in the day.

There are a million reasons to love an Airedale and this mess of a muzzle and beard is one of them!

--Nancy.