3 kitties found..

3 days later, 3 kitties gone!

Thursday after work, Derek informed me that the barn was slightly in shambles.. I had asked him to get something out of the barn before I got home from work, so when he was out there, he heard a scurry scurry scamper of something attemping to run/scratch on the hay room floor.. so he walked over there, a scared kitten ran from our haybale bag, Derek saw it was wet and sniffed.. realized it was cat piss and I could just imagine his eyes getting big, ears puffing up, face turning red, fists clenching...

The hay room had 9 pallets laid down and then sheets of plywood over the pallets to keep hay from getting on the ground, this method makes it really easy to sweep up and keep clean. We had some bale bags and a few other things in the hayroom along with a bunch of loose hay. Well lets just say that when I got home, ALL the pallets were propped up against the wall, the plywood boards were still somewhat attached to the pallets, the haybags were flown in the middle of the barn isle, buckets thrown about... And 3 kittens were now buried and hiding somewhere in the loose hay that was now on the gravel floor.

The plan: catch 'em and figure out later what to do! lol

So we did capture the 3 little kittens, a grey male, tabby male and calico female, they had been born/raised under the pallets. We tried to capture the momma with a big fish net, but she was too quick! lol I thought if I could catch her, I was going to take her to the shelter and let them fix her and find a new home for her. The neighbors have WAY too many cats that they let run free and breed like rabbits.. I call them the free-range cats! I dont mind having a couple around to keep mice out of my barn, but the 1o+ is just too many.

We put the kitties in a dog crate with some hay and food/water and left them overnight in the garage til we could come up with a plan. They appeared about 6 weeks old, healthy looking and not scared to death like some wild kittens would act. I called Shana and she said she'd been just thinking the day before that she wanted a new kitten, so the grey kitty is now with her and his name is Dane (after Dane Cook). I took him down on Saturday to her and within 12 hours, he had come around and wanted attention and cuddling..

Sunday morning I listed the calico on Craigslist and within 15 minutes, she was gone.. we delivered her to Everett on Sunday as we had to drive to Arlington anyways.. When we got home the tabby who prior to this was not quite sure yet about humans, well he'd been left in the garage alone all day and when I got home, I was his best friend! I called Kathy (from the horseclub) as she wanted the tabby and he went home Sunday night with her.

Russell, Derek & I were all happy the kitties had found homes so quickly. I didnt mind them, but what a hassle and I felt guilty leaving them in a crate all day.. Russell could smell them and it was driving him crazy to know there were these "things" in the garage! And well Derek is allergic and although it didnt affect him at all, we both were relieved to not have to worry about them anymore. They were cute little buggers and I had a slight notion at one point that it would be fun to keep one, but now that they are all placed in new homes, honestly.. I dont miss them!