A Lesson

We are feeding Mary's feral colony near the Sac City Animal Shelter while she is gone for a long weekend. When we arrived today there was a homeless man sitting on a wall near the colony. I made sure we locked the car because my purse was to be left in the car.

As I filled the food bowls and Alex filled the water dishes, he approached us. I presumed he would be asking for a handout. He carried a cracked, bathroom-style trash can. Strange. Alex called me over.

He showed me the trash can and these precious babies, five of them, were in the can. He had been waiting for the people who feed the cats. He told us he had seen somebody dump them off because the shelter was closed. He said he would be glad to care for them, but he "didn't have the resources", and asked if we would take them. We did, of course, and brought them home.

I picked up some kitten formula and a bottle and we will keep them in our bathroom until they can be transferred to the orphan kitten people -- maybe tomorrow or maybe the day after. We are hoping they will all make it through the night. The alarm will be set to waken us every four hours to feed them.

Had this very kind man who made me feel so apprehensive not collected them into his trash can and waited for us to arrive, they would all have surely died. I think they have a good chance now. Based on our past experience with hand-fed cats, they are going to make somebody wonderful companions.