The Best Part, Sort Of (July Photos, Day 3)

 

If I may borrow from Mr. Charles Dickens for a moment . . . it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. 

Today, while I was sitting with Granny at her house, Billy was taking care of things here at home.  It was during the routine yard chores that he found an abandoned litter of newborn kittens, with no mama cat in sight.  Unfortunately, one little baby was already dead, and one was obviously terminally ill, but the third and final one seemed viable. 

Billy’s first plan of attack was to get Sable, our mama cat, to adopt the stranger baby, so he introduced them.  Apparently it worked for a short while, and the baby was able to nurse, but then Sable wanted nothing more to do with the tiny thing.  Animals are like that sometimes—probably more often than not.

But the little baby was hungry and scared and crying loudly.  Since we live sort of in the country, a defenseless kitten calling attention to itself like that is asking to be a meal for something, so Billy put the little thing into a box and brought it inside for protection.  By the time I got home, he had realized that the kitten wouldn’t drink anything.  He said there was some fake cat milk you could buy (who knew?) but it was already late and he didn’t know where to get it.  I called the all-night vet and they said we could get some at Wal-Mart.  Say what you will about Wally World, but when you need some fake feline food at almost eleven o’clock at night, it’s nice to know they’re there. 

Unfortunately, even with special fake milk, the baby still wouldn’t eat, and was getting too cold without a mama to snuggle up to.  We bundled her up and took her to the aforementioned vet, but there was nothing they could do for her. 

Though the story had a sad ending, seeing Billy so very concerned with a stray animal caused my mama heart to swell with pride.  At almost twenty-one, he often tries my patience, and there are lots of things we don’t see eye to eye on, but when I see this kind of love, I know that inside, he’s still the sweet little boy that I knew so many years ago.  And, more important, it renews my faith that he will once again be that sweet person, even on the outside.