Bye, Bye, Muffins

[First day, first bowl of milk, chicken stock, olive oil, and cat food. Look at those hip bones and that frozen tail!]

[Second day and he can't get enough petting and crawling all over us, especially Rivers]

Today was a tough day. I had to trick my little friend, Muffins the cat, into a cat carrier and send him off to the Humane Society.

He showed up here about a week ago, super skinny and with the tip of his tail frozen flat. He wanted to be petted, and couldn't stop shivering. He warmed up after a little warm food.

He ate about 5 bowls of bacon fat, olive oil, chicken stock, milk, and kibble that day before he started to slow down. He spent the whole afternoon glued to the spot where the food bowl was, staring at the door. Every time we came out with another bowl of food, he'd purr so hard he looked like he was shivering all over again.

That night we found out that he was living under the office, but the following night was slated to drop below 20 degrees and he didn't seem strong enough to survive it. I made him a bed in the tool shed with a light bulb for warmth. He wasn't so sure about it so I put the food bowl next to it, smeared it with bacon fat and convinced him to give it a try for about 10 seconds. Some time in the middle of the very cold night he decided it wasn't so bad after all and I found him curled up in the bed under the lamp in the morning.

There was brief talk about letting him stay. He's gorgeous, extremely personable, and would be perfect for keeping mice out of my yarn and cloth stash. But, sense prevailed. He seemed to have worms, needs to be neutered, and needs his vaccinations at the very least. I don't have money for that, and we have a policy preventing us from bringing more cats on the land anyhow. They really mess with the natural balance in a place like this. We decided that he had to go to the Humane Society. I really, really wish he could stay with me.

He stayed in his heat-lamp box bed day and night for about 5 days before we could borrow a cat carrier from our friend. When it arrived, we only had two days to get him used to it and lessen the trauma of the whole trip.

That night, we put the new carrier next to his existing bed and put some food in it so he'd explore the carrier when he was safely alone. It worked. The kibble was gone in the morning.

The next night, I took away his bed and replaced it with the cat carrier, hand feeding him burger meat inside of it to give him the idea that it was an OK place. He slept in it that night. Yes! This was going to be easy!

And, it really was. As Hécate drove up, I walked out with a piece of burger, lured him into the cat carrier and closed the door. He wasn't happy, but our familiarity with each other helped him to stay calm. I sat in the car with him for half an hour before they left, calming him as much as I could before the scary drive.

I have to say, he looks so much better than he did a week ago. He's put on a lot of weight and turned into a beautiful cat shape, even with his slightly distended belly. It's nothing a little wormer can't fix!

I was sad that I couldn't go with them but today was the final swap of materials. My weaving contract is well and truly over with everything I didn't own returned for good.

[He's not happy at the moment, but he'll have a much happier life adopted into someone's home]

They tell me that he travelled without much noise and was fairly calm when they arrived at the Humane Society. They took him in and told us that he didn't have a belly distended from worms. He's pregnant. And female.

I'm glad that the kittens will be born in a good environment and have the care they need. I'm going to miss my kitty.