New (Temporary) Addition to Our Household

Saturday morning I received a text from my friend K.

Last night we found a 6-inch-long kitten behind the bar at the train station. We took him home, but I am allergic to cats and we have a puppy already. What do I do??

Sucker that I am, I told K. to bring the little cat over to our house, that we would figure out a solution.

For the better part of the day, K., Rico and I picked fleas off the poor thing, cleaned out its sooty ears with Q-tips, dusted it with flea powder, fed it chicken and canned kitten food, gave it clean water and a soft bed, and held the little thing as it slept in a way I imagine it had never slept before in its life thus far as a survivor.

The kitten is black and white, and basically all ears. It is severely malnourished, just skin and bones really, but quite spunky and certainly street-smart.

Pria and Parceiro were not at all thrilled with the new addition to our household. Pria puffed herself out and raised up all of the hair on her haunches so that she looked like a Ridgeback. Both of the boys hissed and swatted at the newcomer, though he wasn't at all intimidated by the larger cats, and just sat looking at them with his ears flattened.

For now, between the fleas and the worms and the reaction of our boys, we are keeping the new kitten isolated on the verandah. We are concerned that he is still so small that, if left alone with Pria and Parceiro, they might actually kill him...

We are looking for a good home for this little kitten. We already have several people that seem interested, which is a great thing, because we absolutely cannot have 3 cats in our flat, and the longer we raise the kitten, the harder it will be to give him away...

And no, I've not forgotten about my Hugh Marlboro update. I am still waiting on a critical meeting tomorrow before I post the story in its entirety.