Favor for Neighbor - Day 165 - Daily Haiku

Favor for neighbor
taking care of new kittens
it's love at first sight
;-)

Okay, confession time, anyone who has known me for longer than a minute or two knows that, when it comes to animals, I basically have no brains, am the ultimate softy, and would adopt them ALL if I had the proper fencing and the means.

Point in fact, we had a lovely stray dog turn up on our block a few days ago, that looked like mostly black lab, with an absolutely gorgeous, shiny black coat. Marek and I saw "her" (he decided it was a female) on our way home one night, and we stopped the car to check "her"out.

The dog seemed to be a young adult, was not afraid of the car, approached when I rolled the window down to talk to it, and walked in front of the car, tail wagging.

So even though we didn't get out and actually try to befriend it, it seemed pretty obvious that it was used to people, and not inclined to be aggressive.

Marek though it might belong to a neighbor, but I had never seen it before, and I was concerned because it had no collar, a pronounced limp, and was favoring one of its back paws.

I called my next door neighbor, whose family has lived here for generations and knows everyone around here, and when I said I'd seen a possible stray, she immediately said, "You mean the black dog?"

Like me, the dog's gorgeous coat had caught her eye, and the unusual color of black, which might sound a bit odd, but it is simply a beautiful dog. No, she hadn't seen it before either, and no, she had no idea who it belonged to, but she thought it had probably been dumped.

Which, unfortunately, is not uncommon in our area. Not to mention all over the damned country.

Ultimately, my neighbor suggested that I call the local animal shelter, which I had already decide to do, though I hated the idea. But a stray dog is a hungry dog, and although our neighborhood is dog friendly, a stray dog is a threat to livestock and small domestic animals.

And even though our area is replete with lots of small game, a dog with a bum back paw is not the ablest of hunters; and, frankly, I hate the thought of any pet dog just dumped in an unknown area.

So I called the White County shelter, which takes only dogs, and does their damnedest to find them all forever homes.

And I talked with a nice gentleman who assured me that, since he had to come to our area anyway, he's do his best to pick up the dog quickly.

Which is why, when I arrived back home toward evening, I was initially bummed, feeling that I'd done the dog a disservice by calling them; and was then very surprised, as I approached our neighbor's house, that I was greeted by the same dog, lying by the side of the road.

And I slowed my car, as I had before, but when I lowered my window, the dog shied away, tucked its' tail between its legs, and moved away.

Which made me sad, as evidently, someone had been unkind or cruel to the dog in the interim, in the brief hours since I had seen the dog the night before.

But this time, unmistakably, I saw that the dog was not only male, but intact, which is to say unneutered. Which may have a lot to do with why he was dumped by his previous owner.

The following day the dog was gone, and I have not seen it again. My assumption is that the dog was picked up, but I won't know that until I call the shelter Monday morning.

So what will I do Monday morning? No, I won't adopt the dog. We already have a neutered male dog, and what I want is a female Newfoundland. I'm not in the market for an unknown male who may or may not be cat friendly.

There is no way that I would put my cats in danger in that way.

I will, however, offer to photograph the dog for their website, as I've worked with rescues before, and I know the kind of photographs needed to show the dog's virtues off in the best way possible.

I can vouch that, when given the opportunity to be aggressive, he opted to be friendly, and I feel strongly that, given the proper foster home, he could be an awesome companion for some lucky person.

Which brings me to our neighbor's cats, and guinea pig. A few months back, his grandson, Noah, aged six, asked me if he could have one of our guinea pigs. And I told him that if it was okay with his grandfather, it was okay with me.

So Noah went to work on his grandpa, and a few days later, surprise surprise, he had secured permission to get a guinea pig. After confirming it with his grandfather, I decided that, since guinea pigs are far happier with a companion, I would give them two sisters, one guinea pig for each grandchild: one for Noah, and one for his little sister. Score.

So his grandfather made the guinea pigs an awesome cage, with a door on top, pretty much escape proof, and they came to get the guinea pigs a day or two later. I gave them some starter food and hay, a water bottle and a list of instructions, and knew they were in good hands.

A few days later, I visited and they showed me the guinea pigs, with loads of straw in the bottom of their cage, to burrow in in the cold, with the cage inside their covered shed, and all's right in the world.

In late spring, February? March? I noticed that the guinea pig cage had been moved outside the shed, that they no longer had straw to burrow in, and I was concerned, as it was supposed to freeze that night.

Even more, their cage is stout wire, but there was no hidey hole for them, no box to hide in, no visual shelter from the threats outside, which in our neighborhood include hawks, owls, foxes, bobcats, stray dogs and the occasional coyote, so the girls undoubtedly felt "exposed" at all times.

Worse, I meant to say something to our neighbor, but didn't get him when I initially called, and then got busy . . . and let the ball drop. And when one girl started failing, and simply not thriving, he didn't call to consult with me . . . she simply faltered, and ultimately died. Which, quite likely, might have been avoided.

So a few days ago he called and asked if I'd be willing to care for the remaining guinea pig, and the cat and her new kittens, while he is away for a few days. And of course I said yes.

So the plan is, tomorrow, I'll bring them one of our spare water bottles, since he has the guinea pig drinking out of a small bowl, which is not to best way for them to obtain enough water.

I'll also bring her some kind of hidey hole, even if it is simply an upended basket, so that she doesn't feel so constantly exposed, as I suspect that her sister may simply have been scared to death.

That isn't unusual among guinea pigs, especially when kept outside.

The woman from whom I got our three Silver Fox rabbit does, told me that that is what killed her breeding buck, as an owl roosted directly above the rabbit hutches, and he was quite literally scared to death.

Evidently the does are made of stronger stuff, as is our buck, Bucky, as we have owls calling here all the time, and they haven't even slowed him down a whit. ;-)

As for the cat, I was initially concerned that the momma cat wouldn't come to me, as it had been a while since I had visited, but no worries; she came immediately upon my arrival, kittens in tow, and I fed and watered them without a hitch.

Momma cat likes to be petted, and as she ate, I picked up first one kitten, then the other, and began the socialization they will need to be adopted at a later date.

She has two kittens, the more forward of the two, a little orange tabby, appears to be male, as most orange tabbies are, and meows as soon as he is picked up. Very cute, very squirmy, very vocal. Friendly, not particularly shy, but wants to be with mom, which at roughly 2 1/2 - 3 weeks of age, is exactly as it should be.

Kitten number two is more longhair tortoiseshell, like mom, and when I first picked her up, tried to hiss and failed, which was hilarious. She opened her mouth to hiss . . . clearly not thrilled initially to be picked up . . . but when she opened her mouth to hiss, nothing came out. Also very devoted to mom.

For her part, mom was fairly unconcerned as I picked up and petted her offspring, so she clearly remembered my earlier visits, and considered me to be no threat. Which was clearly reinforced by my feeding her and giving her fresh water.

Mom is tiny, very skinny, and has been since the first time I saw her, which is probably why she had only two kittens, or at least two that lived.

I did inform my neighbor, when he took her in, that we have a Humane Society that helps with spay and neuter costs, but he clearly didn't take that information to heart. Because. Kittens.

In any case, when our neighbor returns, knowing that he's not thrilled with being a cat owner in the first place, I'll make the offer for the cat and her kittens to be our barn kitties. If he takes me up on it . . . cool. If he doesn't . . . also cool. Completely his choice.

I would like to see her spayed, and not constantly breeding, as she is so tiny I'm not inclined to think it will help her health any, and may be highly detrimental. Time will tell.

In the meantime . . . kittens!!!
;-)

I'll upload some new photos tomorrow.

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