Here's Goggles!

There's a new kitty in the picture...the third drop-off this month. She's a cutie though.

I named her Goggles because she has very dark black "mascara" around her eyes. She's extremely friendly and is going to be a beautiful cat!

However she nearly caused me to melt down when she arrived. It was cold, and I had just returned the latest neutered feral to his colony, our of the unheated downstairs of the our cat facility, and I had moved Pierre (formerly Scruffy) upstairs now that he is confirmed clear from mange. I was sooo happy that no cats were in the downstairs unheated section now that the chill had set in.

I had just run to the store to pick up some cheap eats and essentials because as always, the end of the week finances were tight, and also I was headed out for travel in a few days and wasn't going to be doing any messy cooking:

In the short time I was gone on my shopping trip to Dollar General, someone had left a kitten on my porch, using a crate I had had sitting there:

I could hear meowing as I walked up to the house and could only think "Gosh, did I leave Bear outside while I was gone?" And then I saw the crate and started swearing. All I could think of was the cold downstairs where she would have to stay, and the vet bill that would be required to get her FeLV/FIV tested immediately so she could go upstairs with the other cats and be warm and safe.

I thought: What sort of JERK would wait until I was gone and then leave a kitten on the porch in MY crate and not leave a note?

Well, errrr, as it turns out, a very kind neighbor would!

They were walking their dog and heard meowing in the woods. They saw the kitten, got a hold of her, and while the woman walked the dog behind, the man walked ahead to my house, hoping I would be home. When I wasn't, since they were on foot, they put the kitten in the crate on my porch, and walked back home to get the car. I learned this when they drove up a short time later, with the note they planned to leave, debating whether they should actually leave the note and the kitten, or take the kitten home with them (with no place to put her, as they have six rescue cats of their own). But luckily, I was home.

This calmed my ire considerably. Even though some jerk had still dumped the kitten, kind people had rescued her. That sort of levels out my blood pressure.

She was a champ at the veterinarian. She had an upper respiratory, so they sent her home with some lysine. She's still sneezing a bit a week later, but she's not worse, which is how viruses usually roll, but she's upstairs where it's warm. The other cats have all been vaccinated multiple times, and I have them on lysine as well as a preventative.

I had to take her to a veterinarian that was open that day and would take CareCredit, so no rescue discount, but at least she's FeLV/FIV negative. Part of that bill is Feliway for the diffuser in the house. It really does make a difference in how my adult cats tolerate the young transients. Goggles will still need to be spayed, but perhaps I can get her adopted and bring her back for that, since we have a ton of female kittens right now.

At least she's not another black one! We have plenty of those!