Kitten

A minute, shrill meow rouses my attention. I pause my music, push my seat back, and look out the back window in my room and find a horrific sight:

A kitten lays on its side, a bloody gash in its chest; eyes closed and mouth slightly opened, it lies perfectly still.

Right below my window there is a gray cat with a black kitten in its mouth. The newborn squirms in the older animal's mouth, clearly in distress.

Unsure of what to do, I bang on the window and scare the cat away. It runs into the backyard. When I reach the back door of the house, I see the cat running across the high, wooden gate with the kitten in its mouth. I bang against the door once more and the cat jumps over the gate to a neighbor's yard.

Time to face death.

My mom had informed me, while I was in Prague, that the female cat that lives around the area gave birth to a litter of kittens. The other day she asked me if I wanted to see them, and I did - vaguely - from far away. Today I got closer than I thought I would, but I wish I hadn't, under the circumstances. She told me there were five newborns and I had just seen two. Time to find out what happened to the others.

Amidst the little scene of carnage, I found only one other kitten who was, thankfully, alive. I placed him (not sure what its gender was) inside a shoebox lined with paper towels and cloth towels, then placed him in the side room of our house. Google searches told me to place a hot water bottle next to the kitten, which I did after wondering how to create a makeshift one. Apparently I can't accomplish a simple task in an emergency without consulting the experts; hopefully I don't find myself stranded on an island.

The poor kitten was a bit dirty, so I assumed he had been abandoned. At any rate, his mom wasn't around and I wasn't about to leave him in an unsafe area. My mom and I tried feeding him some milk but he wouldn't eat; thankfully, he was able to sleep comfortably and for a good amount of time.

Then, later in the day, I saw the mother with another kitten. I rushed to get the one inside the house out there, back with his mother, so he could be where he needed to be. The mother ran off as I reached her and knocked over the kitten she had with her. I placed both kittens in the shoebox and hid it where they originally were and waited for the mother to return to her babies.

After some time, I found her nursing both of them. The one I had momentarily rescued was much more active than before, walking around even. In fact, when I placed him in the shoebox with his sibling, he was trying to get out and explore.

The joy I had when I saw the mom caring for the two kittens was overwhelming. All was right with the world.

There was one more scare later in the day when I heard another yelp and found mother and offspring out of sight. I eventually found them at the house next door, but the kitten I aided earlier was atop a window sill! His mom was on the floor, sitting behind a trash can, hissing at me. Why would you put your baby where he could fall? Sure, there was a wooden board that helped him stay aloft but I feared he'd walk over the edge. I'm sure he's smarter than that, but accidents can happen. Lifting him up, I placed him on the ground near his mom. I couldn't see his sibling, so I got worried yet again, but there was naught I could do.

Again I went to check up on them and found them nestled by her stomach, drinking their mother's milk. Joy yet again.

This is the first time death has come at me straight on. One dead kitten and another about to be killed. I can't help but shudder. I can't shake off the thought that some hours ago, those two kittens were alive and well. I can't help but wish this didn't have to happen.

Yet it does and it will, for such is life. For just a few moments, I tried to combat it by helping this wide-eyed kitten survive without its mom for a while. I guess that's all you can hope for; survive for a while, and make the best of it.