The yards behind my husband's office building contain a small feral cat colony. I work in his office most weekends, holding workshops, or just painting and often step out back to feed the cats and observe them.
Minky was born into the colony in early August. Her mom is a beautiful medium haired tabby, and I had known she was expecting. I didn't see the kittens until late August, when the mom let them out of hiding to play. From the start I realized that Minky was much smaller than the other three kittens and on Labour Day weekend I saw that she was separated from the others and also had a bad eye infection. I was able to corner her and bring her home. She was barely walking, just "toddling" around. I purchased kitten formula, made her a home in the cat carrier, and stayed up the first night with her, feeding her every 2 hours. By 2 a.m. she was purring every time I picked her up.
Minky spent her first few days with us living in the carrier, until she was a little more steady on her feet. Her eye cleared up with antibiotics and soon she began to develop that rounded tummy look that healthy kittens have. I graduated her to the bathroom for living quarters; our own cat, Bailey was extremely upset that this "thing" had invaded her house. Minky found plenty of things to do in the bathroom, we gave her lots of toys, and basically she spent most of the days being carried around by myself and the kids.
In mid September I went to the cottage for a week of painting. I took Minky with me, and this is where she learned to climb and jump. She also learned how to use her teeth, and I was really glad I had packed socks for myself as she took great pleasure in attacking my ankles. At the end of the week, we returned home.
Two days later, Minky's new "mom" picked her up from me and took her first for a check-up at the vet, then to her new home. Minky is healthy, has another cat for company, and a mom that is giving her lots of love and attention. She is an affectionate kitten, I think the handling at such an early age may have helped, and she has a much better chance at life now.
Today, I went back to the cat colony and saw Minky's siblings. I will try, as I do with all the new kittens, to get them to trust me (bringing canned tuna helps) and maybe I will be able to get them out of there before the weather turns cold.
 
 

October 1, 2000