Mouse

It’s all Hubs’ fault, really.

A week ago Tuesday he came home and said, “There is a mouse in the front seat in a cookie box. Wanna see?”

The girls and I had an appointment in The City and I was in a dither, trying to get everything done.

“In a minute,” I answered. And ran off to do something else.

Ten minutes later, I came downstairs.

“Mom, you should really take a look at this mouse,” DD#1 said.

If it was a mouse, it was making a lot of noise. I peeked in. It was a tiny gray kitten. One eye was kind of gunky. And it was HUNGRY.

“I’m going to get evaporated milk,” Hubs announced. And off he went. DD#1 began looking up the care of orphan kittens on the ‘Net.

In walks a friend of DD#1. She has raised an orphan. “You need kitten formula,” she states and names a local chain store that would carry that sort of thing. DD#1 gets Hubs on the phone and advises him while I herd DD#1, DD#2, and friend to the car.

Later that evening, friend persuades her mother to pick her up at our house instead of having me drive her home. Friend’s mom has more good advice and says to friend, “Your father would disown us if we brought home another cat. And you’re leaving for college in a couple of weeks.”

Because of her size and her color (and we’re only assuming the kitten is female), the kids named her Mouse. To their credit, they have been taking care of her, with DD#1 doing the night shift. Mouse is gaining weight and her eye has cleared up. She tries to leap out of her box and loves to explore on the beds, the couches, and the floor. The dog is very protective of her and very gentle—which is a Good Thing as the dog’s nose is about the size of Mouse’s face. The Other Cat hisses. The Other Cat also has Feline Leukemia Virus and is an excellent hunter of small animals, so we try to keep the two separate in any case. The kids are looking for a home for Mouse, although she is not weaned yet. Personally, I think we’re now a two-cat family, but the jury is still out. It’s kind of cute to see her nestled in the lap of DS#2, who can hide her with his hand.

I took some pictures and will post them when they’re ready.