Feral Kittens Play

Feral kittens - new arrivals - have a fun game in an odd location. An anonymous feral mom brought them from their safe hiding place to the open air: and right next to the car's tire. An intentional act, I think... a gift, even. Not a gift to us; it is a gift to them.

What greater sacrifice could a mother make, and what greater love, than to offer up her babies in the hope of a better life for them? I can only imagine the fear and the hope in her little cat brain. It is a wish borne of desperation - and a greater act of love could not be found among humankind.

Cat mother wishes only for a better life for her babies. She wants to save them... If only I could make that cat mother's wish come true. She doesn't know about the torties, already tamed, who can't find homes. How could she? But I know....

The kittens play and they learn about life. They don't know about this drama that is seeming to unfold; the one where their mother offers them to the humans in the hope of saving her babies from the feral life - but the humans can't take them. And you know what? I'm glad they don't know because at least for the moment they can have some joy. We all have plenty of time to cry, later.

This tiny little tabby tom(?) is especially curious about the world. Here he plays with a plant. A moment later I was able to tempt him with a bit of deli sliced turkey; I captured him and held him for a while - before returning him to his unknown fate.

We all wish there were more homes. The mother cat has great hopes for her babies; that they might be saved by the people. I can't tell her how things really are. Such beautiful babies, I would tell her, but there just isn't enough love in the world to give them even a tiny share. Not enough love for them ...nothing left over for her babies.

There's no room at the inn...

I wish that were not so, but it is the truth. It's the thing that brings so many tears in the night. While I wish I could believe in the loving world I once believed in, I can't: I know the terrible truth.