OK, this is a bit of a story . . .Jamie was heading off to go shopping one night after work when he heard a 'meow' coming from our car. He ran upstairs, brings Patrick down, and sure enough - the engine is meowing.
So after finding some protective winter gloves, Patrick reaches into our car, unwedges fur ball from engine block, and pulls a little bundle of cuteness - otherwise known as a 6 weeks old kitten (plus or minus a couple of weeks) - adorable little thing, huh.
So we bring beastie inside, and she promptly runs under the (dusty) chest of drawers. (Who knew something could be so dirty even with weekly vaccuuming) Anyway . . .
Like all responsible people who see someone in need, we take said fur ball inside, get a whole bunch of toys and treats and food (oh yes, and a litter box), and the next thing we know we are the proud parents of a four legged beast that sounds like she swallowed a pager set to perpetually vibrate.
Of course, if you know me, you probably know that I blow up like a balloon when I'm near cats . . . or kittens. So even though she was adorable and needy and cuddly, there was only about 3 days before eyes were swelling shut, and I had a kleenex utility belt.
And oh yes, Patrick was back in the States for two weeks shortly after retrieving said bundle of joy, so I was a single parent - unable to have a room seperate us for a little allergy control.
So figuring my friend Rebecca adopts out about 100 animals a day, I figured I could find one good home. So taking my cues from her, I basically just put up that first pathetic picture of little beastie, and a Lilly colleague who's in the next cubicle wanted to adopt her within a day. The family has three boys and they just lost their cat of some 10 years, I think. Perfect. My only obvious stipulations were that she was eventually spayed and they took care of her as family.
Oh, so how did said kitty get in the car engine? No idea really - but we suspect that since we had gone out to lunch (a rare occurrence), the kitten was attracted to our car (over the other hundreds) because the engine was warm. Again, Ireland does not have summer.
All in all the Gods were smiling on this little thing - and hopefully she will have a long and happy life chasing mice and cuddling.
