The Story of The Squatters
aka "Couch Kitties"
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On the morning of their arrival, I was sitting at my kitchen table, working on my computer - just minding my own business. I admit, my balcony door was open. My table is about 6 feet from the open door, and I enjoy the fresh air and can gaze out to the sunshine.
Out of nowhere, this mama cat walked right into my apartment with a kitten in her mouth. I stood up, shocked, mouth agape, as I watched her walk right past me into the living room and put the kitten under the couch. A moment later, she emerged. Despite the fact that the kitten was crying loudly, she left. I grabbed the kitten out from under the couch and tried to make a plan of what to do with it. I thought perhaps I could find a nice box to put it in and put it back outside. Before I could come up with a solid plan, mama cat returned with another kitten. She walked right past me (I was still holding the first kitten), and put the second kitten under the couch. I put the first kitten back under the couch with her, hoping she could get it to stop crying. She gave both kittens a couple licks and then off she went again. At this point, I decided to let her finish bringing the litter and then figure out where to put them.
The third kitten arrived...and then the fourth. I thought she was done, but apparently she was just taking a break because she left again and sure enough returned with ANOTHER KITTEN! And then she left again and brought back a sixth kitten...and a seventh kitten. OMG! How is it possible for her to bring SEVEN kittens?!? Was she out there just looking for random kittens to bring to me?
At this point, I was sure I was being pranked. I thought I must be on a hidden camera and Ashton Kutcher or the Turkish version of him would jump out onto the balcony and let me in on the joke.
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I was really in too much shock to respond appropriately, and I was preparing for an online lesson. For the next couple of hours, I ignored the fact that there was a gaggle of cat under my couch and taught my classes. Afterwards, I gathered my wits and my neighbors to help me figure out what to do. Ready to face the facts, we got down onto the floor and looked underneath the couch.
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I was not prepared for what we found.
Somehow mama had slipped in an eighth kitten. There were EIGHT kittens under the couch. And it was clearly a blended family. Four of the kittens were older (we guessed 5-6 weeks, but the vet said only 4 weeks old) - that looked fluffy just like the mama cat. The other four of the kittens were really tiny, orange and white kittens. Maybe only two weeks old at the time. It turns out, I wasn't that far off. Did she steal these little orange kittens? How long had she had them? Did the orange kittens mother abandon them? How did this blended cat family come to be?
The kittens were dirty and skinny and mom clearly had her paws full. She looked exactly like you'd expect any mother with 8 children to look like. I didn't have the heart to put them out.
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One of the kittens was really ill and died that night. Two of the older kittens were taken in by a friend to help relieve the number of kittens mama cat would have to try to nurse. Over the past couple of weeks, they've turned into healthy, happy kittens who now need to find loving homes.
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I was too shocked to get any good pictures the day of their arrival. Here's the only video I took that evening. If you look carefully, you should be able to count seven kittens (the eighth kitten had already died).
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