The Story of Cricket, Part 1

Meet Cricket!

 When we lost Gato we were devastated. We didn't realize how much it hurt to not have that furry little face around us every day. So I started searching through a web site called 'Pet Finder', this is a site that a lot of shelter's use to provide pictures and information on their adoptable critters. It is also a heartbreaking website when you see how many animals have been abandoned or cruelly treated by irresponsible people. There was a shelter in Pueblo that had a number of kittens and we had decided to go look at them over Labor Day weekend.

Our friend Sherri, helps out at the Conour Animal Shelter here in town, and she mentioned that they had a flier at the shelter for a couple of feral kittens that needed a home. I went to the shelter to look at their pictures, they even came with a 'dowry' of 25$ to help with their spaying/neutering, one was a female and the other a male. Sherri called James to find out if he still had the kittens and if I could come look at them on Friday (Aug. 27th). We made the appointment for 3p Friday afternoon.

I met James at 3pm on Friday, and we talked about the kittens and animals in general. I was glad I had the opportunity to meet him, he is a very nice and interesting person, who cared very much about what happened to these feral kittens. I also got to meet the 'mom', she of course is feral also and has been living under James' porch since about last fall. James admitted that he didn't know much about cats as he was a 'dog' person, but was amazed that this cat could survive one of our harsh winters under his porch. James mentioned the dowry, but I declined, he then offered to donate the dowry to the Conour Animal Shelter and I told him that would be wonderful.

As I was driving home with our new kitten; I was a bit concerned over the fact that she had been living under a porch and not had a lot of human contact. Once home, we kept her in the cat carrier for a couple of hours, talking to her and petting her. We let her out of the carrier (which cat sites about feral cats don't recommend), and she immediately darted away and hid. We left her alone Friday evening, but made sure there was water and food for her.

Saturday morning we were glad to see that her food dish was empty and she had used the litter box....This was another concern of mine, since I knew that living under the porch she had never seen a kitty litter box. Again, we left her alone, except to check and make sure she was alright. She meowed a lot and stayed hidden. It is amazing that a kitten that small can find even smaller spaces to hide in. We seemed to be playing a game of hide and seek with her, because every time we found her hiding place she would change it at the earliest (unobserved) opportunity.Saturday night was interesting; or to be more accurate early Sunday morning. We could hear her meowing downstairs on occasion through the night, then about 3am in the morning she announced her presence in our bedroom. She stood in the doorway and yowled! We couldn't believe how loud she got. I finally got up and went downstairs, though I never saw her, she hid a way and continued to meow for a short time.This routine of 3am was repeated again Monday morning, 2 hours before we 'had' to get up to go to work.

Monday and Tuesday she continued to hide and meow, but if we moved to different rooms, she would also move so that she was closer. We spent as much time as we could just talking to her.

Wednesday was a thrilling afternoon for us. After coming home and relaxing, talking to her as much as possible, she finally came out while we were eating dinner. She had been hiding in our pantry and was watching me cook dinner. I know this because even though she was still somewhat hidden, I could see her white whiskers and bright green eyes staring at me. After we sat down to dinner, she came into the middle of the kitchen and meowed at us. The first breakthrough!

Monday through today (Thursday) we could tell that she wanted to be around us, but instinct is a strong thing and we knew there was a conflict going on inside her between not wanting to be alone and being fearful of humans.

Today, (Thur. Sept.1), after we got home, she meowed at us as usual, and then she started to come out more. We were sitting in the TV room and she first came to the door and looked around, then started to come in. Of course she was meowing the whole time, but she has a wonderful range of sounds that we are still learning to identify. She carefully wandered around the room, coming very close to Dave and I. Knowing that she is still skittish we haven't attempted to touch her. At dinner she came and wandered around the dining room table,although mostly just out of reach, she did at one point come up to smell Dave's hand.

So I will end Part 1 of her story here. We'll see what new adventures await over the 3 day weekend.

We did make the decision this evening to name her 'Cricket'. I had been considering it for a couple of days because she acts like a cricket....She will meow loudly until you come close, then she goes silent!