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May 27th 2011 11:05 am
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I adopted Pete and Jennifer 34 years ago (*gasp!*) on Friday, May 27, 1977. Even though I knew they'd soon be ready to leave their mother and come home with me, I didn't know when that would be. The woman who had their mother cat didn't alert me ahead of time that she'd be bringing Pete and Jennifer to work with her that day and simply showed up at work with Pete and then brought Jenny during lunch hour.

Talk about being surprised and unprepared! I had no cat carrier with me. As I was leaving work for the day, my boss found an empty box and we lined it with a blanket and put Pete and Jenny in the box and put the box on the back seat of my car. I remember saying to my boss I was afraid the kittens were not going to stay in the box. He said, of course they will . . . they're way too tiny to get out of it. Hah!

I had to drive from my job in Bala Cynwyd, PA to my home in Merchantville, NJ. It normally took between 30-45 minutes. But this was Memorial Day weekend and everyone else was taking the same route to the Jersey shore for the holiday weekend. It was bumper to bumper traffic all the way home and ended up taking almost 2 hours to get home!

What a nightmare trip that was! I don't think I was out of the parking lot before both Pete and Jenny managed to get out of the box! To give you some idea of how bad it was, try to imagine that long drive home with 2 teensy weensy kittens climbing all over the seats and floor, climbing all over me, getting under the accelerator and brake pedals and climbing into my lap and on to the steering wheel. I almost had a serious rear end collision on the Ben Franklin Bridge because of a kitten underneath the brake pedal!

But we got home safely. I got them into my apartment and then had to run out for food, litter and litter boxes. My apartment hadn't been made kitten safe and there were more places for them to get into and lost in than I could ever have imagined. And stupidly, I also bought some milk. Pete didn't drink any but Jenny did. The milk made her sick and by Saturday night, she was vomiting and had diarrhea and had to be rushed to the ER and given fluids and meds. The vet told me she would have died if I hadn't brought her in. What a welcome that was to being a new cat mom!

Purred by: Minko (Catster Member)

May 27th 2011 at 12:23 pm

You sure had a rough start!
I Minko am rather small and even more so when I was a baby...I got into places that no other kitty ever did before!
Hey, we got to all have our own quirks, huh? That's what keeps us interesting...

Purred by: Christopher Spot (Catster Member)

May 27th 2011 at 12:35 pm

That was a learning experience in it's self just getting home.

Purred by: Laura W

May 27th 2011 at 1:41 pm

jenny....see eye toll ewe how much yur mom loved ewe...who else wood go thru a drive like that ta get ewe N pete home N safe...

pee ess...if ewe lurned ta drive de car that day, lemme noe coz eye noe where we can "rent" a "beemer" !!!

happee gotcha day with love frum dude K and de trouters !

Purred by: Ingen (Catster Member)

May 27th 2011 at 4:49 pm

Af'er alla dat, you keeped 'em? MOL Youse sure a good cat mom. You hadda learns efurthing really fas'.

Purred by: Beepers (Catster Member)

May 27th 2011 at 4:51 pm

Love this story of your Gotcha Day! Happy Gotcha Day, Jennifer!

Purred by: SKIDS KITTY gone, never forgot (Catster Member)

May 27th 2011 at 11:12 pm

oh that was a sweet gotcha story, but somewhat of a learning experience for babies and mom. MOL the Tabies and teir need for trout is so funny! Happy gotcha day memories to mom