A NEW KITTEN

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I went with a friend who was getting a kitten from a lady in Cando, ND. The girls feel in love with a cute calico female kitten and wanted to bring it home. I explained the basics to the girls. If they wanted the kitten, they had to take care of it and still give our big cat, Scrappy, attention too. Also, if they brought the kitten home, there would be no more pets. No puppies or nothing.

We got home and I let the girls play with the kitten in the living room. I thought Scrappy was outside so I didn't have much to worry about. They girls and kitten were not playing long when I saw Scrappy come out from my bedroom. Scrappy sniffed the kitten and then sat down next to Cassidy on the floor. I thought things were going to be alright, until the worst thing in the world that you never want your children to witness happened.

Without making a peep...no growling, hissing, or spitting...Scrappy jumped across Cassidy's lap right on top of the kitten, bit it through the neck, and killed it right in front of the girls. The poor kitten wasn't in the house for 3 minutes until her little life ended. Of course, the girls freaked out. I took the dead kitten outside and then came back in to clean the pool of blood from my living room carpet and wipe the blood off Cassidy's knees. I explained animal nature to them as best as I could and told them not to hate Scrappy for it. Cassidy helped me wrap the kitten up and she picked out a box to bury it in. I let Cassidy pick a spot out in the pasture to bury the kitten. The situation made me feel shitty. I honestly felt like I deserved the Worst Mother Of The Year award. Here I let them bring a kitten home and then it's dead in 3 minutes. It was an awful feeling.

The next day we were getting ready to leave the house. On our way out to the car Cassidy looks at me and says, "Mom, I want to see my baby kitten before we leave". I told her she could because I was getting Jessie into the car. I watch Cassidy as she goes into the pasture, kneels down, and starts talking to the patch of black dirt. Then, as if the kitten itself was standing in front of her, she starts gently patting the dirt as if she was petting the kitten. I had to look away because I was starting to cry. Cassidy came back and got into the car. She was sniffling pretty good and about half a mile out of town I asked her if she was going to be okay and the conversation went like this:

Me: Cassidy, are you going to be okay?

Cassidy: No mommy. My heart stopped beeping.

Me: Your heart stopped beeping?

Cassidy: Yes. I loved my little kitten so much when Scrappy killed her it made my heart stop beeping.

At this point I did start crying. I felt so bad for her. So, I checked the local Tradio ads and there was a gal in Devils Lake who had kittens for give-away. I called her and she said that she had two female calico kittens and would meet me at the TSC parking lot in Devils Lake. Both of the kittens were very cute and I let Cassidy pick out the one she liked the best and we brought it home. I made sure I knew exactly where Scrappy was so she wouldn't get this one, then I brought one of the old huge dog crates inside and set it all up for the kitten. At first, I let the girls play with the kitten when Scrappy was outside. When Scrappy was inside, the kitten was in the kennel where I knew it could not be hurt.

It's been almost two weeks now and the kitten has been a wonderful (sometimes stressful) addition to our family and has healed Cassidy's heart. We can have the kitten out around Scrappy now. Scrappy is still fairly annoyed with the kitten, but she is putting up with her and hasn't tried to eat her yet. We still keep the kitten in the kennel at night for safety...and because I don't want her tearing up everything I own in the middle of the night.