Monday, July 29, 2013

and then there is Yoda.


I know this blog is suppose to be about alpacas, but lately our lives have been revolving around kittens (okay, my life. Brian is far less concerned about the fuzzy little buggers.)

The count for kittens under the house is now at thirteen. Actually it has always been that high, I just finally managed to get them all out in the open for an accurate count.

Plus one in the house.

Yes, there is a kitten in the house, on purpose. In the open, not hiding under the floor boards. For a two to three week period, the momma cats developed a nasty habit of scattering kittens everywhere; under hay bales, under car parts, in between  irrigation pipes. Which is fine except that the kittens, now having to wait until their mothers came around to feed them, would start yelling at the top of their little kitten lungs for a meal. It was very distracting.

I finally started gathering kittens up and stuffing them back under the house where their mothers were hanging out. (Here cat, you lost this!) This plan was working rather well until we came across the last lost kitten. When I went to fetch him from under the hay, I discovered that he was not in great health. His eyes were swollen shut and he was just bones and fluff.  Stuffing him back under the house would probably just mean a slow death.  I challenge anyone to  condemn a kitten to a slow death. Even the most hard-hearted villain would have a hard time doing so.

So he came into the house so I could clean him up, feed him and make him well. While I was washing out his swollen eyes, Brian made a comment: "He looks just like Yoda. Hi Yoda!"

Crap.

Well now he has a name, we have to keep him. So Yoda, weighing in at a whooping 12 ounces, became a member of the family.

Now two weeks later he has more than doubled his weight. His eyes are looking good and he has gained enough confidence to lie on his back and play with Molly's nose. Molly for her part, has agreed not to eat him.  Even Daisy will play with him on occasion, but only when the mode hits her and on her terms. (which usually involve her flipping Yoda onto his back with her nose, then stomping on his belly.)

Even Dot has gotten in on the Yoda bandwagon. When she comes to get the dogs for doggy daycare, Yoda goes with her. Can't have him spending all day by himself, after all.

One of these days, I'm going to get back to writing about the alpacas, I promise.