Christmas Kitten

Bitsie walked into our life shortly before Christmas of 2005. Let me first set the stage by saying we weren’t looking for another cat to add to our family. There were already two cats in our house, Bailey who has been queen of all she surveyed for many years and Diana’s cat, Bennie, who moved into the house a few months earlier when Diana moved into our travel trailer. It’s a small house and it had two cats too many.

Don’t get me wrong…I love cats. No, I love cats! But bitchy Bailey will probably be around for a few more years; she belongs to my younger daughter, Samantha. And when boisterous Bennie moved in she was not impressed. In fact, a whole slew of kitty behavioral problems followed which I prefer to let fade into dim memory and will certainly not recount here.

But one cold December afternoon as we were just stepping out of the Explorer after work, a tiny grey kitten came running straight up to me from out of nowhere. We live in the country and there are feral cats but none of their kittens will come anywhere near us. So I knew that this kitten had probably been dumped along the road. It was quite possibly the coldest and snowiest night of the year and I could not leave that baby to the elements.

I told my husband I was taking it in, I knew we weren’t keeping it and we would able to find someone that wanted it. It was Christmas time and there was bound to be someone who needed a Christmas Kitty.

Bailey was appalled. Bennie was appalled. A little vocal too. The kitten ignored all that and headed straight for the food which she eat with great enthusiasm all the while telling us all about her horrendous ordeal.

Later, warmed up and fed, she was ready for company and explored the front room before jumping up in my husband’s lap and settling in to purr and sleep. When it was time for him to go take his shower, he passed the kitten over to me but as soon as he came back and sat down again, she hopped up and zoomed back to his lap.

Pretty soon, David says, “I know you want another cat, one of your own. We could keep it.” Really?!? I want a cat of my own?

But after a couple more days of discussion, we accepted that the little grey newcomer was in our hearts to stay. I’d love to say that this was fairy tale world where Bitsie’s introduction into our kitty community was a unifying experience and we all lived happily ever after. But it’s still bitchy Bailey and boisterous Bennie with little bits Bitsie slipping around. And I still didn’t have a cat of my own.

Story ID:	754
Written by:	Shannon Marie Hyle (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Family Memories
Location:	Belle Plaine Kansas USA
Year:	2005
Person:	Bitsie