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

The ones I called Eeny Meeny and Miney were the two tabbies and Mo was the black and white. As in all litters, there was an Alpha, the most fearless and an Omega, the most timid. Mo, the black and white, although the smallest, was the Alpha. The smaller of the two tabbies, Miney, was the Omega. I still was unable to touch them, so I was unable to determine their gender.

Our patio became their domain. My husband, Steve, stretched tarps over the patio furniture to protect them and their food from the blistering sun and driving rain. The patio looked like something you might see in an impoverished area of the Appalachians, but it was home to them.

They were happy with this arrangement, but we still could not touch them and wondered what was going to become of them. Originally, I had hoped to domesticate, "fix" and find homes for them. With each passing month that seemed less and less likely, as I still could not handle them. I was concerned that they would become more and more feral and populate the already large population of unwanted and abandoned cats in our area. Steve and I were both praying for wisdom as to how to help these kittens become more domesticated.

It was now obvious that Eeny Meeny and Miney were little boys and because Mo did not appear to be a boy I assumed that Mo was female. I estimated that they were approximately 6 months old at this time. Knowing that females become fertile at about this age, Mo became my greatest concern. I did not want her to become pregnant before I could have her spayed. That presented a problem, since she had only permitted us to touch her back a few times before running off in a huff. Our little Alpha had an attitude.

In our county we have a discounted spaying and neutering program, so in faith, I made an appointment for Mo, now called the more feminine name of Momo. Since she could not eat or drink after 12am the night before her surgery, we had to somehow catch her. Ingeniously, and with God's guidance, Steve attached fishing line to the door of a pet carrier. We then placed her favorite treat inside the carrier and when she was fully inside he pulled the door closed with the fishing line and I latched the door. We had managed to trap one unhappy little girl……………………Shalom, Bebe