Eeny Meeny, Miney, Mo catch a kitten by the toe....

One morning this past May, I was sitting in my back yard, drinking coffee and reading my morning devotional, when I saw movement out of the corner of my right eye. I looked and saw nothing. I resumed my reading. Soon I saw movement again. This time when I looked I saw 3 pairs of eyes looking back at me. In the easement behind my house 3 kittens sat staring at me from a cluster of low bushes. There were two tabbies and a black and white.

I love cats and when I saw these, my heart melted. I looked around for their mother, but she was no where to be found.I went in my house, got a dish of dry food and poured milk over it.As I approached them they scrambled into the overgrowth of native shrubs and palmettos.I placed the dish in the spot where they had been and returned to my chair to watch for their return.

Stealthily, they inched toward the dish and soon the food and milk was gone. Then I watched, as they contentedly began to give themselves baths. This became a daily habit, as I fed them and looked for their mother. Eventually I became convinced that she had either abandoned them or had been killed. I began to call them Eeny Meeny, Miney and Mo.

With each day that passed our relationship became friendlier. I moved their food and water dishes closer and closer to my house and they began to come when I called them. Soon they were eating on the patio. They knew that I was their source of food. I guess to them I became Mama Cat.

When their tummies were filled they enjoyed playing with each other. As they grew more trusting I began playing with them with one of the Boston fern fronds that grew near by. Since it was natural, they didn't seem to be afraid of it. Soon they began to look forward to our times of play together. They would attack the frond until all that remained was the stalk. We were about three months into our relationship and they still would not let me touch them. Although, I was their food source, they still did not fully trust me..................................(more later) Shalom, Bebe