MEET ZOOM...Our Newest Feline

In October I was walking out of Interfaith Caring Ministries Resale Shop on Bay Area Boulevard in Webster when a man came running after me. "Ma'am, could you do me a favor and drop this kitten off someplace?" I turned around and saw this tiny bundle of fur in his hand and "he/she" was obviously sick. Both eyes looked bad, but the right eye looked horrible. They were runny and red and the right eye had a white coating. He claimed to have found it behind the shopping center. I couldn't walk away. Instead I took the kitten and drove straight to my Veterinarian's office. I must have been wearing my Crazy Cat Lady sign that day or certainly the man would have chased down someone else.

She weighed only 13 ounces and was dehydrated. (Oh yes, it was determined "he/she" was a she.) She had an upper respiratory infection and a scratched cornea on her right eye which allowed the infection to get in. I was told there was a good possibility she'd lose her eye in which case they'd operate and sew the lid closed. So, I left with oral antibiotics, ointment for her eyes, and a package from Science Diet with kitten food.

We already had five indoor cats and a feral cat that's lived in our shed for seven years. I knew we didn't really need another cat. When I brought her in the house even my son said, "Mom, I'm not going to say anything about this one...she obviously needs a home." So, he helped me get her settled in the extra bedroom. After she had a drink and plenty to eat she went to sleep in a the cat bed. She hardly got up that first day, but after that she obviously started feeling better.

She ran all over the room and my husband soon named her Zoom. I wasn't sure how he was going to like me bringing home yet another cat, but she quickly won him over. Actually, he's now in the running for Crazy Neighborhood Cat Man. He's almost as bad as me.

She grew stronger every day and then got sick again. One day she stopped eating and felt very warm. Sure enough, the infection was back. They told me that's not unusual with kittens because of their immature immune systems. After another round of medication she was OK. Amazingly her eye cleared up.

Here she is in her cat bed. Poor baby must think it's her mother. She runs to that bed and sucks on the side while purring. This totally confuses our dog, Sophie, who hears the noise and assumes there must be food nearby that she's missing out on.


I hate to sound like Bob Barker, but please spay and neuter your pets. We have had all of our animals fixed (except for Zoom who's still too young) including MaMa (our feral) who we caught with a humane trap, had her spayed, and then released her back into the yard. That's called TNR...Trap, Neuter and Release in cat circles. For those who don't know, a feral cat is a cat that has had no human contact while a kitten and is untamed. Usually they're the kitten of a domestic cat that was dumped or abandoned. (I'll write more about MaMa at a later date.) Below is a picture of MaMa in the shed. If you'd like to learn more about ferals I would recommend reading An Unlikely Cat Lady by Nina Malkin.

Personally, I'd like to see all the humans that dump animals spayed or neutered too. They certainly don't need to be reproducing any more like themselves.

OK...I'm off my soapbox for today. Thanks for listening to something near and dear to my heart.