Kittens for Maebel

My sister, Cathy, lives in an apartment with her husband Luis. One uneventful day Cathy came home to be greeted by a very friendly cat. The cat had been abandoned by it's owners and so decided to adopt Cathy. She followed her new pet into the apartment, like it was her new castle, and made herself at home.

As the weeks went by, Maebel, (who was originally called Maple for the color of her fur but was mispronounced constantly by Luis) started getting heavier and eating a lot more. It was soon discovered that Maebel was pregnant. What joy came into the apartment!

The time came for Maebel to have her kittens. Sadly, tragedy struck and she gave birth to two stillborn kittens. Maebel was rushed to the doctor to have an emergency c-section to remove the remaining three stillborn kittens. All of her kittens were lost.

She couldn't get over her pain of losing her kittens crying constantly and so Maebel again adopted Cathy and Luis. This time as her surrogate kittens. Since she had already picked out a spot to raise her kittens and since Cathy & Luis were now her kittens, she began to corral Cathy & Luis to her spot: a nook at the computer desk.

After three days of heart-wrenching crying, Maebel finally convinced her new human kittens to sleep on the floor on an air mattress in front of her spot. It was the best sleep they had in three days!

Whenever her new human kittens would move or leave the apartment, Mama Maebel, would become very upset. No work was to be done, no errands to be made. And when her human kittens returned she would fuss profusely at them!

Four days had passed since she lost her kittens and the human kitties were losing their minds! Cathy called everywhere looking for kittens for Maebel. She finally learned that a stray cat had given birth to five kittens, just like Maebel, on the same day Maebel had.

The stray had them up in a tree but they fell out and she only retrieved two leaving the other three on the ground. The owner of the tree was very happy to give the kittens to Cathy hoping that Maebel would accept them.

Cathy came home with her box of kittens for Maebel and since Cathy was still a human kitten Mable fussed at her for leaving without permission. In mid "Meow", Maebel smelled the kittens. So it was: "Meow, Meow, Me". They put the box down anxious that she would accept the new kittens. They didn't have to wait long! Maebel immediately crawled over the side of the box, hanging half in and half out, trying to get to the kittens. Then there was a frenzy of excited licks and rubs from Maebel for her new kittens. Moments later, she took her kittens and placed them in her special spot and began feeding them and taking care of them not as if they were her own. They were her own.
First published: Monday April 2, 2007 - 04:49pm (CDT)