"Wanna see my kitty?"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m going to tell this in installments. It is alternately funny and sad, and it’s a long story. I’m not really sure why I’m sharing it, but it seems right to do so. I’ll try to post installments as I write them. This is what happened to me on Monday…

Installment #1

My coworkers and I took a stroll late Monday afternoon to get some coffee. Like every other moderately sized metropolitan area, Columbus, Ohio has its share of homeless people. It’s a common occurence to be approached by panhandlers asking for money. As we saw a vagrant pushing his cart in our direction, we braced ourselves for the inevitable hard-luck story and request for money. We were stumped by this particular individual’s question.
“Wanna see my kitty?” Normally, I just keep going when approached by panhandlers, but this question gave me pause. This man was obviously mentally handicapped, judging by his demeanor and speech. Still, one cannot be too careful. “Wanna see my kitty” might be a euphemism for something else entirely. My mind, however, was screaming “Kitty! I want to see the kitty!” So I bit. “Sure,” I said, taking charge, “Where is your kitty?”

“Don’t know. I can’t find the house,” he said. He dug out a crumpled piece of paper with an address scrawled on it in child-like writing, and offered it to me. “Brother wrote it down, but I can’t read.” The address was a few streets over, so my coworkers and I agreed to walk him to his home. God help me, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I should have turned and walked away right then.

2

I’m intrigued! Don’t wait too long for that next installment!

3

The “home”, as it turns out, is an abandoned brick dwelling with knee high grass. Apparently, he and Brother are squatters. “Where’s your kitty,” we ask warily, now expecting this to be some elaborate set up to rape and rob us. We’re four women, all relatively young, all reasonably attractive. Suddenly, this seems like a BAD IDEA. The mother of all BAD IDEAS, in fact. The little voice that was previously screaming, “I want to see the kitty,” is now howling, “RUN!!!”

“Right here,” he says cheerfully. And with that, he crawls under the dilapidated old porch and disappears. He backs out slowly, unearthing kittens like clowns from a circus car. There are seven in total. Four of these he separates from the others. They are limp, smell bad, and have some flies. “Shh, they’re sleeping,” he admonishes us, and I start to cry.

“Where’s their mommy,” I ask, trying not to let on that they’re dead. If he can’t tell dead from sleeping, I’m not going to be the one to break it to him. He again crawls under the porch, scrabbles around for a bit, and drags out the mother cat. He lays her beside the heap of unmoving kittens. “She’s sleeping too.” It’s too much. I’m kneeling on the ground, trying to scoop up the three kittens that are still alive, tears streaming down my face. They are maybe seven days old, they’re eyes aren’t even open yet, and the three of them together cannot possibly weigh near a pound.

“Can I have these kitties,” I ask. “Sure, sure” he says. “Don’t cry, you can have them. They’ll like living with a pretty lady like you.” Around this time, Brother decides to make an appearance. He rounds the side of the house, shuffling slowly and looking at us with suspicion. “I don’t want to go anywhere,” he states emphatically. Oh Lord, he’s mentally handicapped as well. “I’m not leaving my dogs.” My coworkers and I exchange glances. I start praying that none of the dogs are “sleeping” too. We assure him that we have no intentions of taking him anywhere, and ask to see the dogs. Still looking at us with mistrust, he points to the back of the house, and trudges behind us as we head in that direction.

4

OK I’m alternating between “I want to hear more” and sticking my fingers in my ears and going “LA LA LA”

5

Oh man! me too, thats so sad.

6

Well now I HAVE to hear more.

7

Oh PLEASE tell the 3 kitties are okay. My heart is breaking :frowning:

8

The good news is, none of the dogs are “sleeping”. They appear healthy and lively. The bad news is that there are three of them, and that one has recently given birth to a puppy. The puppy looks fat and healthy, though. No way we’re able to take these dogs along with the kittens. We decide the best thing to do is call Animal Control to let them sort this out.

That leaves the issue of Brothers 1 and 2. They’re homeless, squatting in a vacant house with no electricity or water. They’re rail thin, and in obvious need of a good, hot meal. What disturbs me the most is their childlike inability to discern dead from asleep. Are they truly that mentally handicapped, or is a little mental illness tossed into the mix? How are they surviving living on the streets? How long until Brother 1 finds Brother 2 “sleeping” or vice versa?

We decide to leave, but see what we can do to help them. When I return to the office, I start making calls. Animal Control agrees to go out and collect the dead kittens and their mother, and to assess the condition of the dogs. They warn me that if the dogs seem healthy, though, they will leave them with the Brothers. Great.

I’ve been busily calling every social service and welfare organization that I can, trying to get some assistance for the Brothers, but nobody seems to care. They all suggest that I call the sheriff to report vagrants, and let them get arrested. Once they’re arrested, they will be assessed for mental illness/ the need for assisted living and referred to the appropriate agency. Having them arrested will also mean that the dogs will be turned over to Animal Control. It just seems so heartless, to have these guys arrested. They could possibly be separated, and that would be traumatic. I’m at a loss as to the right thing to do.

Back to what happened to the kitties…

9

Please tell me the little kittens are okay! :frowning:

10

How sweet that man was to give you his kitties. That part, more than anything, breaks my heart. Such a sweet natured soul shouldn’t have to live in an abandoned building with “sleeping” pets. God, this world is so sad.

I would also have a hard time having these two arrested, even if it was for their own good. They don’t seem to be harming anyone and I don’t trust that they have the mental capacity to distinguish between a well-meaning social worker and an evil captor.

Gosh. I just don’t know what to tell you.

11

Oh man, I’m full-out crying now, and here I am sitting at my desk at work on my break. Anybody else reminded of Lennie from Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men?

jay-c, I can’t to begin to tell you what a beautiful person you are to attempt to help these people, when anybody else would walk the other way and try to forget about it. I’m not even sure that I would have the strength to do anything about it - it’s just too heart-wrenching. :frowning:

Perhaps it would be best for the brothers if they were arrested and referred to an agency - that way, they would be fed, clothed, and out of the elements. Then again, one has to wonder if they’ve been through the system before and released back to the streets…at least the dogs are currently well fed.

More about the three remaining kitties, please! I need a happy ending before I get too depressed over here!

12

Installment #4
The three kitties were all female - two calico and one striped tabby. One of the calico girls was apparently the runt, much tinier than her two sisters. I scheduled a veterinarian appointment right away, but sadly, two of the girls didn’t make it, and died in transit. They were just too weak from lack of food, and they all had respiratory issues. I took them home and buried them in my flower bed. I thought they should at least rest in a beautiful place after such a short, harsh life.

The scrawnier, teeny tiny runt did make it though. She had an upper respiratory infection, sores in her mouth, and anemia from the hundreds of fleas infesting her tiny body. Because of the sores, she refused to suckle, so I’ve been feeding her with a syringe. The vet echoed my thoughts on her age - 7 or so days old at the time I found her. In the past few days, she has gone from a listless, scabby, crusty mess to a spunky ball of fluff. She weighs a whopping 4 ounces as of this morning. She is going to make someone a beautiful pet when she’s bigger.

I already have a rescued cat that I raised to adulthood. I have a rescued dog (somewhere there is a MPSIMS thread about it). No, no, no. I cannot add one more pet to the menagerie that lives in my apartment. I’m only fostering her, I tell myself a hundred times a day. I will find her a good home when she’s grown, I will. I will only call her “kitty”, since I know that naming her is one step closer to keeping her.

She finally opened her eyes today, and she now meows whenever she sees me enter the room. I think I’ll call her Lola. :wink:

13

You may wish to check around to see if anyone is “missing” from any group homes or assisted living facilities. If they are both mentally handicapped, I kind of wonder if they wandered off from a home together.

So sad about the kitties. :frowning:

Yay, Lola!

14

Oh, my, goodness, Lola, how adorable :slight_smile:

You must give us pictures.

I am sad that not all of them made it, but least one of them did. They could all have died, and that would be beyond sad.

If you are going to keep little Lola, she will be forever yours. Babies bottle-raised are always little lovers, in my experience. I hope she brightens up your home.

15

Are you kidding? This IS a great happy ending! If it weren’t for you, they’d all be dead under a ratty old porch.

I do hope the situation with the two men turns out alright. It is so very sad to see people who don’t have the quality of life that many of us take for granted. I don’t know what to tell you either. I’m embarrassed to say I know more about how to rescue homeless animals than I do people. I wish you good luck - the world needs more people like you who care.

16

A sad story, jay-c, but at least there’s a partly-happy ending, and you’re working on more. You’re a gem!

Best wishes to Lola, the dogs, and the two brothers.

17

It’s people like jay-c that convince me that humankind will be all right, in the long run.

Good show - you did what you could, and Lola’s gonna be A-OK. Sadly, the other cats didn’t make it, but that was out of your hands. Hopefully, the two brothers will be able to find help soon.

18

We should have a weekly award for the Doper with the warmest heart.

I nominate Jay-C for this weeks honor.

Jay-C what you tried to do for the two brothers is admirable and many people would have turned their back and not tried to do anything. What you tried to do for the kittens is equally honorable.

I bet Lola is a little doll, and you have a heart of gold.

19

Wow. What a heart-wrenching story and what an awesome person you are to be doing this! I just hope there’s some way that the brothers and the dogs can have as happy an ending as Lola. Love the name Lola, by the way (I named my car that). I’m sure she’ll grow up to be a showgirl!

20

There might be a chance they were staying with an elderly relative or someone who passed away and they wandered off not knowing what to do. I think you need to report them in case there are “sleeping” people in their recent past as well.

You’re very brave to do as much as you’ve done so far. My hat is off to you!