Mama MissKitty Madness

Ah, MissKitty. I can't tell you how much I respect this little girl. When she first came to my front yard, she was starving to death. You could see all her bones, and she appeared to be frantic to find food and water in the cold, dry environment of the high desert.

I began putting out bowls of dog food and water, which she promptly gobbled up. She was eating so much food, but continuing to starve. So, I bought some cat food and began leaving a little more food in the yard.

I put the food as far away from the house as possible, thinking she was just a neighborhood cat hanging around because I was feeding her. We have a large front yard, so I would put the food and water at the far edge of the yard. When the ants got in it, I took out a plastic liner for plants to act as a mote.

As I look at her curled up next me while I write this, my heart breaks a little to think that I was trying to keep her away. I feel especially bad knowing what I now know. After a few days of feeding what I thought of as "the kitty," I realized that she had be nursing. That same day, I found her nursing those kitties: six of them!

This is the first photo I ever took of
MissKitty. I had just decided to
keep her.

No wonder she had still been starving on the piddly amount of food I left for her! That amount of food was only enough for one cat, not seven! Soon after that, I began leaving out much more food, but decided to bring it to the back yard, where the kittens were staying.

I also spotted her hefting rabbits that were larger than she was over my six-foot fence. All six kittens were perfectly healthy. She completely sacrificed her own well-being for that of her babies. I know that much of that has to do with instinct, but I've heard of cats that do the opposite.

This is right before she got spayed.
She still tried to nurse after being spayed,
so I had to separate them until she healed.
Even after two weeks of healing, she tried to nurse.

Some mama cats kill the weakest kittens, or even half the litter. Some will keep enough food to survive while letting a couple of the kittens starve. Not mama MissKitty. She kept even her smallest kittens as healthy as can be. I can't help but feel tremendous respect for her, instincts or not.

MissKitty reaches for the phone.

MissKitty still loves to hang out with her kittens.
Cheetah is on the left, and Gracie on the right.

Can you believe that sweet little face?

This photo was taken just a couple of days ago.
She still loves to groom all her babies, and play with them.

A little LOLCat I created that pokes fun at my dancing ability

MissKitty loves to stick her tongue out.

This is an early photo of me holding her.

This one pokes fun at my dad's computer literacy. :)

This is when she was recovering from spay surgery.
I bought this super-cushy bed to set on the couch next to me