Tuesday Tale (of a special Mama Cat)

Mom and I have been wanting to share this pictue with you for a very long time and just found it last night. This is Starr, mom´s first rescue cat, with her very last litter of kittens. Starr is cream colored with grey tabby stripes. She also had a great personality. Isn´t she beautiful?! Mom named her Starr because she "was beautiful, inside and out, as a star." Mom first spotted Starr across our front parking lot, and when mom called her she came right away with very little coaxing. Mom believes this was probably an abandoned cat because she got pregnant. Anyway, mom knew we couldn´t keep her even though she desperately wanted to, but she took action. She brought her in, fed her and gave her some milk..and lots of love. Mom let her stay in as much as possible, and it was a must in severe hot, cold, and bad weather. Starr was the only cat I ever got along with. We each had our lounging spot and peacefully co-existed, although we never played together or got too close. Being a Southern gentleman, I also never bothered the babies, although once I got close enough to smell them and look at them. I was just checking to make sure they were all okay. With time, 3-4 other neighbors in the building also fell in love with Starr and all jointly took care of them. Eventually, for a while, Starr lived in the place above mom´s, where she gave birth to all her prior litters but this one. (Starr always seem to know when she was going to have her lady gardenectomy and bolted and hid everytime, also coming back pregnant each time.) On this last litter the person above mom had had enough of cats and kittens, and caring for all of them (she had 3 dogs and 2 other cats of her own by then), and refused to give Starr and this last litter a home this time. Well, mom couldn´t either, and a man downstairs was letting her in and feeding her, but he wasn´t too bright. He allowed her full access of his place, even due date time, and she decided his comfy bed was just perfect for delivering the babies...and she did. He got very angry and threatened the newborns. (He said he wasn´t serious, but mom´s not so sure.) Mom wasn´t going to let that happen EVER, so she said she would take them, although it meant all kinds of trouble (including with family) for her. Mom just knew it´s what she had to do. So, mom got a place ready under her desk in the corner of the living area, and the mom and kittens were brought in. This is a picture during that time. There are 2 lighter grey, 2 dark grey, and the orange kitten. Mom bought that pink towel just for her. The pink pillow at her feet and white blanket in front, where buffers to try keeping the kittens enclosed. After mom got everyone in and safe from harm she called and called to find foster care for them. She found a good foster home for them, and I´m happy to say that all kittens were adopted and Starr finally got fixed, and was placed in a wonderful, loving home. The young couple who adopted her had just bought their first house, and hadn´t closed on it yet. But, they wanted Starr so bad that they arranged for a family member to keep her until they moved in. Don´t you just love happy endings?!!

Love, Beau