STELLA!

Saturday was the start of Popcorn selling for our local Cub Scouts, so Taylor and I started around 10am with the plan of getting all over Roseland (a cornfield is bigger than the town - check google maps - so we knew we could do the whole town in a day or less, depending on how chatty our fellow residents are). We were forced to call it quits around noon due to the weather...and a little surprise. We had a few more houses we wanted to hit on the way home, but as we were walking up to the 3rd house from home, an adorable little kitten was wondering up to us, crying her little heart out. The lady who lives at that house, "D", told us she's a stray (the kitten, not the lady), but none of the stray cats would claim her. D said that her little dog was trying to mother the kitty a little, but there were a couple of problems - #1 the dog is a boy and #2 D caught him trying to bury the kitty like a bone! D went on to tell me that if I wanted to take kitty off her hands, she would really appreciate it. As I'm opening my mouth to tell her that as much as I'd like to, we just can't take a cat (neither Jeremy nor I really like cats all that much, and Landon is slightly allergic), my darling Taylor looks at me and says, "Mom, we can't just leave her! She's too small!"

So, I agreed to take her, but was very firm when telling Taylor that we would only keep her until we can find another home for her. So, we brought her home. My sis-in-law had studied to be a vet, and although she hadn't finished school, she still knows a lot about animals. So, we called her with the hopes that she might add our new found kitten to her collection of rescued pets. She can't take little kitty because I think her husband would possibly file for divorce. Not that I can blame the guy. Six months ago, they had 4 dogs, a frog, and 4 cats. Since then, 2 dogs have had to be put down and they were able to give 1 cat away to their cable guy, but the other 3 cats (all females) mark his clothes when they're in heat. He has actually been VERY patient with the many rescued animals that have come into their home, but he's ready to be done with it all.

So, this little black kitten, with a bald spot above her left eye, that we're not going to get attached to and decide to keep, is staying with us for a little while. I bottle feed her every 4-6 hours, she has her own bed - the pet carrier we bought for our smaller dog - that is padded with some extra fabric I'll never use and an old stuffed bunny. She has a brand new food dish (we're starting to introduce her to solids), brush, and toy. And as soon as I can make a trip into town, she'll have her very own, brand new litter box. She also has two boys who just adore her and want to spend all of their free time playing with her and showering her with their attention.

Her name is Stella...

but we're not going to keep her.