Susan, that gave me tingles all over. I tend to agree that Jill has picked out a new furry friend for you.

Follow Jill's message Susan...you know in your heart that that is what it is. I say follow it. (((Susan)))

Follow it honey- You know what your heart says.

Trish

Susan, It sure seems like a message from Jill, the animal lover she was ( is ). Hugs to you.

Linda

Susan. It does seem like you may not even have a decision in this. I can't see you turning away from this kitten. So all you need to do is let it happen. If it was meant to be it'll be there tonight. I'll be thinking about you this evening and wondering so you'll have to post when you get back from work.

Is there a chance that the kitten would be accepted by your other cat or will you place it in the newly refurbished space in the barn? Boy am I getting ahead of myself here?

I always get cats when I least expect them. One came from a shelter, one I found under a parked car, one followed us home on Halloween, and one my daughter got from a friend.The Universe has a message for you. Don't ignore it.

Aw! A library cat! Have you read Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Dewey is the perfect name :)

I say lure the kitten back by discreetly leaving a can of food outside!

All your encouragement makes me feel better about this. There are times when I question whether I have enough energy for this. I haven't felt 100% since I had that problem with joint pain just before Christmas, and losing Mickey has tired me out.

LOL re Dewey! Sounds like a book I should read. But our library doesn't use the Dewey Decimal System; we use Library of Congress Call Numbers. Somehow, "Congress" doesn't sound like a name a cat would ever respond to. :-)

Is there a chance that the kitten would be accepted by your other cat or will you place it in the newly refurbished space in the barn?

What I'll do is put a litter box, etc., in the barn today, and if I end up coming home with the kitten at 10:00 p.m., I'll put her in there for the night. I know from past experience that introducing a new cat to the household works best if you can keep them separated (but within smelling distance) from the other cats for a couple of weeks. So I guess I'd recommission the downstairs bathroom for that purpose. Anyway, that's the present plan.

Thanks for the nice responses, everyone!

PS: Lisa, re the can of food......the campus has quite a few skunk residents. That's one black & white longhair I'm not bringing home! :-)

Awww, poor little thing if she's been there since before Christmas!! Is she very thin, or do you think someone is feeding her? I wonder if the man who saw her took her home with him?

She wasn't terribly thin, and the security guard told me last night that a woman who works in the nursing building sets out food for the many feral cats on campus. He said skunks and foxes also eat it, and sometimes the foxes prey on the cats. So I'm not eager to leave the kitten there.

The man who first saw her last night said he lives in an apartment with a strictly enforced "No Pets" rule. But the last time I saw the kitten was when a young female student was leaving the library, and the kitten might have followed her. If I don't see the kitten today, I'll certainly try to find out what happened. And I'll keep an eye out for that student.

You just have to read "Dewey". It is a true story that took place here in Iowa. The kitten was found in the book return drop box on a very cold morning. The kitten lived it's life in the library, I think it was in Spencer, Iowa.

Here's the story of Dewey!

Can't believe someone would put a kitten in a drop box. There are some cruel people in this world.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dewey Bio

The poor little thing. What a lucky cat to have found you. This cat will bring you more joy than you could ever imagine.
Donna

Elsie?

Cute, Mcmann! Another possibility is Libby.

However, I'm at work and there's no sign of the kitty. We have several feral cats on campus, but the kitten didn't act feral at all, which leads me to think she might have a home. She seemed so eager for attention, though. I'm going to ask around and see what I can find out.

"but the kitten didn't act feral at all, which leads me to think she might have a home. She seemed so eager for attention, though"

If she shows up again, and you are able to financially and physically take responsibility for her, take the cat and don't feel a moment's regret or guilt.

Cats pick their people. You shouldn't argue with them about it. :o)

My mother has said for years that I'm acquiring other people's cats when I take in the strays from my yard. But if a cat chooses to remain in my yard (a couple acres in a very rural area) and not return to wherever they were from originally... None of them have ever had any form of ID, some were never even fixed, and none have ever wanted or even tried to leave the house once they were in.

A couple of winters ago, a neighbor asked me to look out for one of her barn cats that hadn't been returning home for dinner. Sure enough, there were tracks all over my yard and he showed up in person on my deck that evening. He spent most of the snowy night trying to get in windows and doors all around my house. I hadn't seen him before but he'd obviously been visiting quite a bit, for my crew ignored him completely as he sat out in the cold, peering enviously in at the warm and dry residents. (It turns out I actually had had a brief glimpse of him peering in the glass door months before, but he had been much younger and very skittish at the time.)

I had him in the house by the next evening, and he turned out to be such a doll I told his caretaker she couldn't have him back. The woman didn't demand his return, claimed he was "ugly" and not very social (and she had the rest of his litter and his mother to care for). His brother however, who had been by for a visit the month before, was the gal's favorite - and I should have snatched him up, no matter what havoc I imagined he would have wreaked had I brought him inside, because as it turned out I was the last person to ever see that cat again.

Believe me, the last thing I needed was another cat, but the rest of the barn cat family is no longer among the living or have been missing for well over a year now. It has been more than worth the trouble and expense to save the one I did. You hate to pick favorites, but the cat I certainly didn't "need" or "wanted" has turned out to be one of the best cats I've ever had.

Good luck with the kitten if you find her again. (Black and white's are the absolute best, by the by!)

Crazy Cat Lady Wren

Crazy Cat Lady, I love that story! I stole my current two cats out of the barn next door. The owners are only here on weekends, and a couple of their barn cats were producing litters on a regular basis. One of the mama cats, a calico, came over to introduce herself one day, and to ask about the possibility of a meal. She had three tiny kittens--two orange tabbies and one black. The owner/idiot told me the kittens were "mean" because when he picked one up it struggled to get away (so would I) and clawed him (so would I).

So when the kittens were old enough I removed the family from the barn. I had three other cats at the time. My friends at the local shelter said they should have no problem placing the orange kittens, so I brought them there. I kept the mother and had her spayed after a month of treatment for a liver disorder. I named her Little Orphan Annie (Annie for short), and she's fine now. Her son Pogo (he was a bouncy kitten) is a dream of a cat--smart, responsive, affectionate, and a joy to pet. He has a sprinkling of white hairs on his belly, so I told him he's technically a black & white.

I'm so sorry to hear about Mickey! boohoo
I hope kitty is there tonight!

Susan, keep us informed on this.

awwww...I needed this post so bad...I sure hope that little baby is waiting for you next time you're at work! I can't help believe a little angel from heaven sent that baby to you...