Early in the second week of the kitten’s life, a new blessed event happened on the farm.  Baby, our 3-footed cat, had a litter.  Since she was an abandoned kitten that my daughter had saved years ago, we let her in the basement for a nice lunch when she comes around.  She came in purring ferociously.  Just petting her set her off.  Her maternal faculties were in full gear.  Little did we know, that Baby would become a real helper in the farmhouse.

Baby had three kittens.  One of them died.  So she is suckling two little black tabby kittens.  They are very small, much smaller than the one we are nurturing in the farmhouse.  My daughters set up a nice little bed for Baby and her kittens in the straw in the dairy barn.  They also set out a dish for Baby.  My husband feeds her milk out there.

Nevertheless, Baby made it a habit to come to the farmhouse for a handout.  I invited her inside.   She trounced down the stairs to the cement basement floor and got her ration of cat food.  I was doing a bit of laundry down there as she ate.  As the washer-cycle started, Baby hopped into a laundry basket, purring loudly and resting on my ready-to-be-laundered blue jeans.

An idea dawned on me.  As content as she seemed, I wondered, “Would Baby accept the orphan kitten now?”  I called up the stairs for one of my daughters to bring the kitten to me.  I took the kitten and carefully set it beside Baby.  She began to mother the kitten!!  She licked it up and down.  She let the kitten nuzzle her and find a nipple.  She nursed this little creature like it was her own.  I left them together for  about 20 minutes.  Then I put Baby out.  We could not tempt her to leave her two kittens for this little abandoned one.

Several times we have let Baby indoors to cuddle with the kitten here in the house.  Her kittens in the barn are doing well and so is ours.  As a result of Baby’s diligent washing of the kitten in our kitchen, the kitten’s fur is nice and soft.  Baby did us a real favor to bathe her.  For us, that was a blessed event.

Come again to find out how things are going for our orphan kitten.

See our cards in the catalog.  We have several drawings of Baby’s hideout,  the Dairy Barn.