First kitten in distress…

Day 53

I have wondered for 7 weeks now who would be the first kitten in trouble. Well, it was Sipke… The smallest of the litter, the carbon copy of Mitsy, and very smart and active… It did not happen as I could have ever envisioned…

The adorable little Sipke often comes to lie with me for a bit when I am in the cat-room…

Around 8pm I felt called to check the Room cat cam. What I saw was Mitsy suddenly getting up in alarm and run to the corner of the room and at the same time I heard the high whistle of a kitten in distress. Within a minute I was upstairs, leaving Wim in the living room with the words: “Something is wrong”.

From what I was able to determine, the kittens had been racing around the room like idiots and Sipke must have made a big jump onto the carton that was leaning against the wall. It was the carton one of the crates was packed in when I bought it. It is a gigantic, firm carton thing, that was only open at the top, but with the flaps only leaving a small strip of an opening. I kept it in the room because it was just the right size to block the searing afternoon sun from the room, so that the temperature would remain under control. It was a perfect fit.

The carton, like the crate that was packed in it, is huge. Almost a yard high and as far as I could see no footholds for kittens. Or should I say ‘claw-holds’? But sure enough, even in the dusky grey light of the room camera, I could see, afterwards, the shape of a tiny little kitten sitting on top of it. And then it was not. She must have just stepped on the flaps’ opening and fallen down. The fall itself would not have injured her but she was frightened. When she cried out, Mitsy and I both reacted.

Initially I did not know where the screams were coming from, but than it dawned on me that the carton was the only possibility. I switched on the light of my iPhone and shone it inside the box and sure enough, there was the shape of Sipke! I ended up having to cut the carton open. The bottom, where she landed, was still firmly stapled and impossible to open by hand. So no more crate carton: have cut it to pieces, keeping one flat piece to cover the window.

I tried to entice Sipke out by slowly tilting the carton but of course, little kittens that get stuck usually do not budge. When I started cutting it loose, she finally rolled out. Ran straight to Mitsy, who had returned to the foot of the cat tree. When I came into the room she looked at me with a hiss and I instantly knew I had nothing to fear. She hisses when in fear and she did not know what to do with the distressed kitten…

Sipke found her quickly after she was ‘liberated’, drank some milk en then stayed close to Mitsy. So I decided to do some re-arranging in the room, removing some items to make more space. I also took away that little toy tunnel that is such a success. We will give it back to them tomorrow afternoon. That way it will stay attractive and new.

Gosh. See, this is why I don’t want them free roaming at night. I am sorry for Mitsy’s sake, when the kittens are gone we will give her the room to herself. The crates will no longer be necessary. I think… I hope… but for now I would not be able to sleep with 6 kittens walking free in the room. That will be something for their new owners…

Sipke; checking out the window; the offending box is right there, to the right of it…