Poor Kittens

Lorraine, our next door neighbor, called yesterday morning as we were getting ready to leave. She told me that she had seen two six-week old kittens between our house and the fence and asked if Tab and I could get them out. I went to on our back porch to investigate. Looking down on the side closest to the fence, I saw two adorable little faces looking back up at me and mewing almost soundlessly.

Our neighborhood is home to a lot of stray cats. One neighbor around the corner has an unspayed female or females; several times a year a crude, handlettered cardboard sign appears on her porch announcing "Free Kittens." Those she doesn't give away she allows to wander the streets. I think our youngest cat, Amber, was one of these kittens. She was remarkably friendly when we found her nearly two years ago, which means that she had became used to people at an early age.

Many other cats, probably the majority around here, are generations away from their housepet ancestors. They slink around the alleys and backyards, careful to keep a good distance from humans. The short, sad lives of these feral cats are soon ended by dogs or cars, fights or disease.

There is not enough room between the fence and the porch for an adult to squeeze through, so Daniel put on his workgloves and started toward the kittens. Unfortunately, they were so scared they scrambled under the narrow gap between the fence and the ground into Lorraine's yard, where no one can reach them.

Later in the day I saw the two kittens still hiding between Lorraine's fence and her porch. While I was watching them, a third kitten, about the same age as the first two, appeared from beneath Lorraine's porch and joined them. It must be from the same litter. I'm afraid the poor things are going to end up as snacks for Lorraine's dogs the next time she lets them out.

I feel sorry for these animals and even sorrier when I realize there is nothing I can do. Our city still does not have an ordinance limiting the number of pets. It is maddening to think of people like that woman who let their cats breed indiscriminately and then turn those kittens out into the streets to fend for themselves. I'm glad we were able rescue Amber from life as a stray, but I wish I could do more.

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