Our DDCF Kittens

 

Besides all the amazing DID education that happened, of course, one of the best take-aways from our Small Group Intensive (SGI) experience was finding a little bundle of newly born kittens.   Oh but wait, there is a lot more to the story.  Let me back up and tell you this story from the beginning.

 

In the beginning….

When I first checked out the lake house, there was a friendly little cat who followed me around out on the lawns of the property.  She was gentle, kind, and definitely a people-cat.  She lived outdoors — she had just “sorta shown up and  adopted the place” is what I was told.  She wasn’t allowed inside the house, and she had to fend for herself.  But she was a nice little cat.  She even made it in my video previews, lol.

When we arrived at the lake house in April for SGI-1, several months later, the same little cat was suddenly not so little! 

Completely bulging out both sides and now the size of a football, “Football Kitty” was still there.  She was surprisingly huge, but still friendly, and clearly, very very hungry.

The gals in SGI-1 immediately adopted Football Kitty and took great care in tending to her.  We suddenly added “cat food” to the grocery list and a quick trip into town included picking up all kinds of nibbles and treats for a very very pregnant momma cat who was very very hungry.

For our first couple days at SGI-1, we had lovely weather.  Football Kitty was often there, right outside the door, and she gobbled down all the food she could eat.  She had several good meals, and thank goodness for that!  This Momma Kitty needed to eat!

Then, on Monday, 8 April, the day of the eclipse, the morning was full of fog and rain.  It wasn’t a very nice morning, weather-wise.  The clouds stayed low and the rains came.  The skies cleared just enough for us in Texas to see the eclipse at lunch time, and that was cool.  But you know who we didn’t see that day?  We didn’t see Football Kitty.  She was nowhere to be found.  We looked and looked for her, but nope.  We called for her.  We set food out for her.  But nope.  She was nowhere to be seen.

By afternoon, the rains and thunderstorms started again.  Then we had a few days of very heavy rains and thunderstorms.  Really heavy rains and storms.  The water blew in under the door!  Texas knows how to throw down when it comes to thunderstorms and this was not a small storm at all.  Where oh where was Football Kitty?   How was she managing in the heavy rains and strong winds?

We were all worried about her, and the gals in the SGI group looked for her, and called for her, and continued to set food out for her each and every day.  But on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… we had no luck finding Football Kitty.

Where oh where oh where could she be?

 

On Thursday everything changed!

When the weather started to clear on Thursday, we sat on the back patio after our morning session, and started to wonder, once again, about Football Kitty.   We were looking around the property and tossing out ideas for where she could be.  Where did she go to get out of the rain?  Where did she hide?  Had she had her kittens yet?  How many kittens was she carrying?  Is she okay?  Is she hungry?  

OH, the questions, upon questions, upon questions.

Have you ever sat at a table with a handful of dissociative little kid selves and listened to their worries about a lost cat?  Especially after the giant thunderstorms… there were soooo many questions, and believe me, DID kids can have a lot to say about a lost cat! 

So around lunch time, one of the gals in the group went for a walk.  This gal often went for private walks just to process all we had talked about and to get a little peace and quiet, I’m sure.  For whatever reason that day, this gal meandered by the chicken coop.  Or maybe it was a rabbit hutch.  Either way, it was a little outdoor house that could be a perfect place to have kittens IF IF IF momma cat could get in there.

She walked closer and closer, and you know what?  She could hear little tiny mews.  Itty bitty tiny mews…  Pinky the kelpie went right over there as well and checked out the sounds and smells.  I could see Pinky’s wagging tail, and by that hint alone, I knew they had found something.

More of us walked over to the little house structure.  We were soooo excited.  Did momma cat have her babies?  Had we found the kittens?  Were they okay?  How many did she have?   She was the size of a football afterall — how many little kittens would that be ??

Sure enough, when I opened up the top of the chicken coop and looked inside, there was Momma Cat.  She came out of a little red box she was in, and meowed to us.  There she was!!   We could sorta see in a hole on the side of the box that yep yep yep, there were kittens in there!  They were all huddled up, and we could tell at least some of them were moving.  Best guess at that point was five kittens.

We went back to the lake house and quickly got Momma Kitty some food.  We hadn’t seen her since Sunday and it was already Thursday.  Knowing that she had all these kittens to feed, we knew she would be super hungry.  OH my goodness.  She was still very friendly to us — amazing.  She was very glad to see us.  I’m pretty sure she was hoping we brought her some lunch.

The gal who had fed Momma Kitty the most brought her food over.  And you know what?  Before lunch was even there, that Momma Kitty left her kittens and ran straight to the girl she liked so well.  Yep, that cat ran over to her new best friend and was soooo happy to see her.   Of course, her Bestie had a whole bowl of super yummy cat food ready.  Such a relief!  Momma Kitty was glad to eat, we could see that she looked okay, she wasn’t in any pain, and all things with Momma Kitty seemed better.   Whew!  That was very good news!

But of course…. while Momma Kitty was devouring her long-waited for lunch, we had to find out if the kittens were okay.

 

Our kitten discovery…

How many kittens did she have?  That was the burning question.  After all the heavy rains and strong winds, were they okay?  Was there five?  Or more than five?

We opened the top of the chicken coop, and this time, with Momma Kitty busy with lunch, we could see that we could also open the top of the red box she was in.  I don’t know what kind of big plastic containers these are meant to be, but it seemed like a perfect little cocoon for birthing kittens.

We opened the lid, and to our surprise, there were not five, not six, but SEVEN kittens!  Yep, SEVEN gorgeous kittens.  Well, little bitty kittens that kinda looked like big oversized mice, but they were, of course, going to grow to be gorgeous kittens one day.

They were all moving… except wait.  The littlest one, the black one, was she okay?  She was by far, the tiniest kitten, and she was very still.  I petted the top of her head to check, and yep, she was alive and well too!  Seven fabulous kittens and so many colors. 

We could barely stand to not pick them up and hold them, but we also knew that it was best to not bother them too much.  We didn’t want Momma Kitty to feel threatened by our being there, and finding her little hidden treasures, so the last thing we wanted to do was make her feel pressured to move them.  We wanted the kittens to stay safely tucked away in this perfect little house.

 

 

Aren’t they beautiful?   And so many different colors!

Momma Kitty herself is a tortoiseshell cat.

She’s a cat of many colors, lovely mix of grays, and oranges, and whites, and creams.  She has perfectly split coloring down the middle of her delicate face — half gray, half lots of colors.  What an interesting “multiple” cat to have such a variety of kittens at our Small Group Intensive!

Is there any coincidence that our DDCF forum community group found this little bundle of kitten-goodness?

 

Needless to say, Momma Kitty and the kittens became a regular part of our SGI experience.  We went out to make sure Momma had enough food and water, several times a day.  We all checked on her, enough times to know she was okay, but not so much to really disturb her.  Even Pinky and Joe would go over and sniff around, just to make sure all was well.

As a group, we all knew that we had a momma cat and kittens to take care of.  Absolutely.  There was no discussion about IF we were gonna do that.  This was already an automatic decision.  No one wanted to turn a blind eye.  No one didn’t care.  Everyone pitched in and helped to make sure these tiny little ones were tended to carefully.  They were not going to be ignored or neglected. Nope.  Not these little kittens.  Not on our watch.

 

 

When our Small Group Intensive was over ….

What happened then?
Did we drive away and leave Momma Kitty and the babies there?
Did we just forget about them, and abandon them?

Oh, anyone who knows me already knows that is NOT what happened.

I checked with the property owner (who lived in a totally different area not close at all) and told him about Momma  Cat and the kittens.  Oooooh, he was a little unsure now!  He was not a fan of cats, and really didn’t want to keep them nor could he care for them himself.  But of course, no worries.  I offered to take them home with me to foster-cat their care.  No one resides permanently at this particular lake house, so there wasn’t going to be any way to provide proper food and care for the kittens or their momma.  We quickly agreed that adding 7 more feral cats to the world didn’t seem like a good answer either.   

So Mr Lake House and I agreed that I would take the little red box the kittens were birthed in, and they could be raised with me, at my house.  With Jazzy.  With Pinky and JoeJoe.  Poor little Momma Kitty — she didn’t know the zoo she was getting taken too, but you know, it was definitely better than leaving her there to fend for herself while also trying to feed all those kittens and keep them safe from all the wild critters, wild weather, and creepy crawlies.  I don’t mind living in a zoo.  I really don’t.  For a few weeks anyway.  Maybe not forever!

AND… of course, at that same time, back at the forum, and at the SGI Lake House, the DDCF forum community started chattering about the kittens.  Where were they gonna go?  Who wanted one?  I had no intention of keeping 8 cats!  They were, of course, up for adoption.  These were homeless kittens who needed homes.  We couldn’t leave them neglected or abandoned.  We weren’t going to put them back out on the streets or the country fields of Texas.

The DDCF group members had some decisions to make.  Who was going to take one home?

And ya know?  What could be more perfect than a group of trauma survivors working on their healing together, also housing a litter of homeless kittens, creating a better home for everyone.  It’s a beautiful way for our little forum community to bond together in the here and now.  And frankly, for many years to come, we can share stories about how the kittens are doing.  What a beautiful thing for a community of survivors to experience together.

It’s a win-win.

Thank you Momma Kitty for having your kittens while we were visiting the Lake House!  

Finding new homes…

Two months later….   The kittens have grown by leaps and bounds, and there are a million more stories to share about them, of course.  They have slept, they have played, they have started to explore the world.   At 8 weeks of age, they were ready to move on to their new fur-ever homes.

And you know what?   I’m sooooo proud of the DDCF forum community!  This group of DIDer’s stepped right up and every single kitten, including Momma Kitty, has a brand new home waiting for them.  Every single kitten has been wanted, cherished, and selected.  NONE of them are going to homeless, left outside, abandoned, or hungry.  Every single one of these kittens will be cared for properly and has every chance to live a long comfortable life.   

As one DDCF member said, “We’re saving the world.  One cat at a time, ha.”

It’s really been a pleasure, and a joy, and a ton of work — ain’t gonna lie about that!!  But you know… these little kittens have been such a delight.  They have been fun, they have been playful.  They have taught Jazzy all kinds of things about the cat-world.  Sadly enough for Jazz, they are all headed out to their new homes this week.  I’m hoping the DDCF members are ready for the challenge headed their way!

I will miss them.  Jazzy will too!  And Pinky momma… well.  Pinky has now raised kittens two years in a row, and she’s getting really good at being a kitten-surrogate mom.  She’s been tender and protective with them, and maybe I’ll write more stories about that one day.  What a trooper.  Kelpie momma now kitty cat momma.  Such a good dog, that Pinky.

 

Thank you! 

A very sincere thank you to every DDCF forum member who has participated in caring for these kittens — at SGI-1 and also at SGI-2.   OH yes, I didn’t tell you this bit yet, but those kittens went back to the Lake House for SGI-2!  We had a whole lot of kitten-caring occurring there, that’s for sure!  Right about SGI-2 time, the kittens were starting to run and jump and explore all over the place, ha.  The gals on kitten duty that week had a lot of work to do!  So many stories about kittens from SGI-2.  If I only had time to write them all….  

Thank you, Momma Kitty for sharing your beautiful litter of kittens with us.

Thank you, Mr Lake House, for allowing us to care for the kittens who randomly showed up in your chicken coop.  🙂 

Thank you, Pinky, for making sure the kittens were protected even here in this house.  Big Joe did very well, but Pinky still kept a close eye on the kittens and helped tend to them.

Thank you, DDCF members, for adopting these kittens.  Thank you for caring!  I look forward to hearing your stories, and I wish you the very very best experience with your gorgeous kitten.  May your kitten bring you joy, comfort, and companionship.

And thank you, little kittens, for bringing such a breath of fresh air to the world.  You’ve already made a difference, and I really hope you continue to bring joy to everyone you meet.  Y’all are awesome little cats.  Such fun personalities!  It’s been an honor to have had these two months with you.  Take gentle care, and go out there and be your best brave selves.

I will remember this chapter of my life forever and always.   What a great experience.

I wish you all the very very best in your healing journeys.

Warmly, 

Kathy

 

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