Well, MamaCat, you can't say no to it. I do believe you have been adopted by Grayham/Grayce, You have a big heart to take it into your home. I know it will be loved to bits. Bless you.

He/she is yours and will love you for many years to come. I've taken in a number of strays over the years myself. DH is not an animal lover so I couldn't keep them but was lucky to find good homes for them all. He was at least kind enough to allow me to keep them long enough to find them a home. It's probably just as well DH is the way he is or I would be over run with dogs and cats.

What's the kittens name?

What a beautiful kitten and a heart warming story. The love it will give you will pay for any trouble it was. Precious baby.

You are so kind. There is no telling how kitty got there. Maybe the mother got killed and the kittens just wandered off. Or maybe dumped, a shameful thing to do.

We rescued 3 kittens just days old from the top of a trash can in an alley. I bottle fed them, and the one we kept lived 18 years. I have always wondered who took new kittens from their mom and just dumped them in the trash, so sad. I'm glad your dear little one can eat and you don't have to go the bottle route. Let us know what you name her (him?).

Bless your heart. Your kindness will be rewarded tenfold. It is beyond my understanding how anyone can treat helpless animals that way. He/she is adorable!

blfenton, I know what you're doing--you think if I name the kitten, it will be staying. :P

Thank
you all! My 7yr old grandson is on the porch playing with 'Gargoyle.'
Yep, that's it--because last night when the kitten
was dripping wet, she looked exactly like a gargoyle. I think I'll call
her gargle.

LOL. Aaaannnd - she's staying. Yah!

Gargoyle is so cute and is so lucky.

"It wrapped one tiny paw over my wrist, as if to make sure that I didn't go anywhere."

Oh, my gosh, our cat does that, too! It is a sign that the cat totally loves and trusts you, and wants to be close to you. And Gargoyle is such a pretty little girl, too!

Can anything be done so the big bully cat doesn't hurt Gargle?

mama goose_gw zn6OH, you have a kind heart!

We rescued a tiny white kitten when i was in high school. It was simply abandoned near our home. Not too long after, he happened to be outside with us, and walked under the lawn sprinkler. Immediately he turned from white to pink. Apparently he was flea bitten to the extreme. At any rate we fixed all that up, and he lived with us for many years as simply an ideal cat. He went on vacations with us to Maine, and was great in cars.

Such a cute little one! Thank you for taking him in! I love a happy ending!

I agree...I'd love to donate to a spay & neuter clinic...and injury related vet bills....just need the money to do it...

Be careful with giving kittens milk. It can cause diarrhea and that becomes a health problem too. Our vet suggested just a little cottage cheese stirred into the food we were feeding found kittens.

I can see your handle is mama goose for a reason. :c) Yours is a sad and happy story all in one. He's a lucky little fella. It's sad that he had a hard time up until yesterday but he's where he needs to be now; safe and sound. I just don't understand people and how they can be so cruel to something so innocent as a kitten!

The bully cat (named Johnny, after my grandson's favorite Ramone) will get used to her soon, I think, but in the meantime the kitten will stay in the dog crate where she has plenty of room, unless she's with us. Anyone who starts a fight here gets a squirt of water, so he'll figure it out. We gave her worm medicine tonight, and since she is eating solid food, we won't need to give her milk. She weighs a little over a pound, but her eyes aren't baby blue, so I'm pretty sure she's 5-6 weeks old, just thin because of not being fed. I've noticed that if she's out in the yard with us, she freezes and watches every car that goes by, so she must have been terrified, waiting beside the road.

I think Johnny was probably tossed out because he hates other cats--and because he wasn't neutered, he was naturally aggressive. He loves people, though, loves being groomed and petted and cuddled, and is much better since the testosterone has dissipated. He'd make a wonderful only pet, so we might try to find another home for him. He's really a beautiful cat, but huge compared to our tabbies--possibly part Maine Coon, so that's another reason he's a bully--he's just bigger and badder than everyone else.

We went to a Meet and Greet yesterday and a rescue place for cats and kittens. I want to be a foster mom.

They trap feral families, spay the mom and bring the kittens home. They get de-wormed, tested for Feline Lukemia and other diseases. They're at the rescue home until they're comfortable enough to come forward to the people feeding them and let them be petted. They're fostered out with a large cage, kitty litter box and food and a carrier. They sleep in the cage and carrier, and we as foster parents get them used to being in a home environment. They'll be scared at first, and hiss until they realized that people=food and rewards.

It's about a 3-week stint, they'll be used to noises in a household, being carried, petted, and just handled. They (and us) go back in a week or so to get rated on how we're doing. (more shoulder hugs, etc).

Then they go back to the rescue place for adoption. There are "Foster Failures" where the people just can't give them back and they stay as part of the family. lol I've already had that talk! That won't be me.

Jasdip, that's what they are hoping for, of course! Not you? I hope you don't have to eat those words! LOL..... I've heard that expression "foster failure" before and think it's funny.

Mama Goose, you have my admiration. Thank you

did you see the fb posting of the guy fishing and 2 kittens SWAM to their boat? he pulled them in...was lucky to find a family for them...I love to have cats again but after putting up with mine for about 40 years dh, after my last passed, said no more....and he sort of right...have a couple of grands with allergies, and they come first now...

You are a kind soul. Thank you for opening your heart and your home to the little waif kitten. Every year I raise orphan kittens. This year I raised 7 orphan pups and now I am raising 4 kittens. Of all the animals I have raised, kittens are my favorite. They take to the bottle well, and they are just the sweetest little things.

As someone who has done this many times, I commend you. What a sweet little kitten he/she is. I hope you have a long happy life with your new pet. One of my rescues recently died. In 2002 she came into my yard heavily pregnant and starving. I fed her and she left but returned the next day thinner. After looking for two weeks, I found her three kittens under a neighbor's porch. I crawled under and grabbed the three babies, (two orange boys and a tortie female) and put mom in a carrier. I fostered them all for a few months, and then kept mom and daughter. The boys were adopted out. Mom was thought to be around 7 by her teeth and she died last month at around 20 or 21. . Her lookalike daughter, who is 13 now,misses her.

I, too, live in the country and all of these stories have played out here more times than I can count. Fortunately I've had enough nursing experience I don't need to pay the vet very often. Like you, it's less these last couple of years and I don't know if that's good or bad. I'm sure there are just as many unwanted pets. What happens to them?

If I had a spare million... I would built some housing for homeless people. There are way to many homeless people all over the world.

Moni

If I had a million I would build onto the side of the spay/neuter clinic and offer free pet health care for those that can't afford it.

*smooches for Gargoyle*

Gargoyle thanks you all, from temporary housing while the crate is being cleaned:

I thought I'd post a few pics of the brute. Here he is beside my size 8.5 foot (which has a giraffe skin look goin' on--lol, my garden shoes are waffle-weave). Those are my feet the baby is sitting on in the pic I posted yesterday.

Street thug scar across his nose:

Ooooh, I hate cats, but I loooove people:

He's better around the kitten today. I've been holding her in front of him, but petting him at the same time, so that he'll associate good feelings with her. He still stalks off and stares at her malevolently from about 10' away. My sister is working on finding him a suitable new home.

Wow, he is a real beauty!! Such a big boy!! I hope you can get them to live peacefully together. Sounds like you are on your way. Thanks for saving the little one.

Oh I hope you can keep Johnny as well. He actually looks like a great cat and I'll bet he'll wind up being a benevolent (not malevolent) big brother. :)

If I had an extra Million dollars, I'd allocated much of it to people I know who are deserving or in need. My first allocation would be to set up a trust fund for my granddaughter's education. She's 6 yrs old now and in my opinion, she has little chance of attending classes of higher education without financial help. Education beyond high school would not be restricted to a traditional BS degree.

We have good friends who are a married couple. She needs a liver transplant. Some funds would go toward that.

I have 3 adult children who are not doing well financially. I would try to find ways to help without becoming an "enabler".

jemdandy, those kind of needs would have been taken care of before I decided I had a 'spare' million. :) But I've often thought the same--I would take care of all of my family, first, and try to spread the money in wider circles, as a drop of water makes ripples in a pond.

Well, I think little Gargle has made a new conquest. Johnny has been playing with her this morning--under my watchful eye, of course. When he came here a couple of months ago, he was so mean and nasty to the other cats, they've never accepted him. Since the hormones have left his system I think he'd like to be part of the group, but he's burned his bridges--he'll mosey up to us if one of the other cats is with us, but the other cats all go on the defensive as soon as Johnny's spotted--and they hiss if he gets too close. The first cat to hiss gets a squirt of water, so maybe he's just setting them up. ;)

Anyway, I've been giving Johnny extra petting with one hand, holding the baby in the other hand, and this morning I let them interact. I was amazed when the huge, aggressive cat started feinting, and cuffing the kitten, but not hurting her. As soon as she went into surrender mode he stopped. The kitten has been socialized with other cats, because she knew (maybe instinctively) to roll over and 'give up'. She's like a little chipmunk streaking across the porch, and soon he was chasing her, and even started running from her in a playful way.

Other than grabbing my ankle once in a while (which gets him a nose tap), I've never seen him exhibit play behavior. He's letting her know he's dominant and she's learning self preservation, so I think they'll be good for each other. We won't leave them alone for now, but it's a relief to relax.

Pet-related, I'd use my money to sue the American Kennel Club for enabling puppy farms to profit by allowing them AKC registrations. These cruel places are getting registrations tied to dogs that died fifty years ago. Send the AKC a check and an old pedigree and you have a pedigreed dog to sell. No checking. No inspections. Just profit to the mill and the AKC. Big business.

Can I just say my none-of-my-business 2c? I, of course, don't know Johnny's background but if he can establish a relationship with Gargle I bet it would do them both a world of good. If you get rid of Johnny now, even if you haven't had him for long, I think he will wind up a very defensive cat. Kind of like, what did I do wrong now and why can't I have a forever home. Stability is key for pets (and people). When he first came he was probably trying to figure out his spot or if he even had one. He has one now. Hopefully he'll be able to stay.

How can you tell I'm a sucker for animals.

mama goose....your cat psychology is very inspiring! It's spot on! I'm sure things will work out.

I have a bully cat, scar on his ear. He really only lives to please us. We're his 4th home....and it's 4-ever,

I hope you keep Johnny. He shouldn't have to leave just because a kitten stopped by.

Now, before we start filling up your house with kitties, how many of those sweet adorable furbabies do you have now. ?

Oh, I hope no one thinks it's because of the kitten! He and the kitten are getting along famously--we just had another play session. He is a disturbance and a source of tension to all the other cats, who have been here long term--my two, and my son-in-law's two very nice and agreeable cats, who came with SIL. They have paid the price for our rescuing Johnny.

And I wouldn't let him go until the requirements were made very clear. My sister is a cat lover, has several of her own, and she is a good person to advocate on his behalf. Although Johnny seems content to live here on the periphery, he deserves the individual attention he obviously craves. I believe he would thrive in that kind of a home, but we're in no hurry--we'll wait and see if the right family comes along.