In which V. rescues a wee baby kitten and has misadventures.

Okay, so. This past Saturday night we had some pretty brutal thunderstorms. Six inches of rain in one night, hail, 50 MPH winds, loads of heavy thunder and lightning. And then on Sunday morning I was outside with my dogs when I heard a very tiny "mew..."

I looked around, didn't see anything. Then I heard it again. "Mew..."

I followed the sound over to my car, where suddenly a very tiny kitten crawled out from under the bonnet. Soaking wet, terrified, and complaining about it all. We fed her and played with her a bit. I took some photos, and they'll be posted if I can ever get my digicam working.

We call her Little Monster. She mews sweetly at all times, even when eating.

She's dark brown with a white chest and belly. I'd estimate her to be around 7 weeks old, though it's possible she's a little younger. Judging by her interactions with us, I'd say she's definitely used to human contact and affection. This baby belongs to someone. Or rather, did. We've posted flyers and called the animal shelter to see if anyone's reported a missing kitten. We went around the neighborhood and asked if anyone's lost her. So far, nothing.

Finally my dad said he'd adopt her, and if her owners don't turn up he'll keep her. But she had to have a bath. The poor blighter is covered in fleas and motor oil, and lord knows what else. Between the storm and the undercarriage of my car, she really stinks. A lot.

So this morning I am all prepared to bathe her. And then she starts to wiggle and the claws come out. And I think, no. No, this is not a good idea. So I called the pet store down the street. They do grooming, and they'll bathe her for $10. I quickly judge $10 to be well worth the price, if I can avoid getting my arms shredded and my bathroom turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

So I load Little Monster into her carrier (well, it's not HER carrier. Technically it is the carrier belonging to Farkle the Ubercat, who is not at all pleased to have a cute baby around, and is even less pleased to have a cute baby USING HER THINGS).

I digress. Monster goes into the carrier, mewing sweetly. Monster goes into the car, still mewing sweetly. But as soon as the car starts down the road, Monster starts making this horrible ghastly howling noise that sounds uncannily like the Evil Creepy Cat-Toddler from Ju-On.


Rowwwrrrrr! You're dead now!

So that's where she is now. I've hosed out the carrier, so that Clean Monster will have a Clean Crate to go into for her trip over to Dad's. A side note: Monster is not happy about being wrongfully imprisoned. You know how in films, people will grip the bars of their cell and rattle them? She does this, puts her little paws through the bars of the door and rattles it. And she's observed how I open and close the latch, and I've caught her trying to undo it on her own. She's a wee criminal mastermind.

Hmm. Maybe she should be called Houdini.