Fierce little kitten
Somewhere in May 2023, another foster lady with a big heart sent a message in the foster group from the organisation we were helping. It was a video of a little warrior kitten who was loudly calling for help while being stuck under the laundry service building, which was actually just a container turned into a laundry room. She tried to lure the fierce little lady with some food, which she gladly accepted but she didn't allow herself to be caught. This actually sounds a lot like the rest of the year that follows, Maesi is not fond of being picked up, although nowadays she will allow it when I do it (not happily but at least without struggle, lol) or sometimes when my daughter does it. In the beginning though, this would always go hand in hand with warrior wounds on our end, lol.
But as she didn't allow herself to be caught at the time while being stuck under that little building right on the premises of a car wash service, new measures were needed because these cars were not only a danger while on the car wash terrain but also the main road next to all of this where they can drive quite fast. It was a disaster waiting to happen. This foster lady lives around the corner and picked up a cage to trap the fierce kitten. I read that while we were out for tapas and as we had to wash our car that evening, I told my boyfriend that I was going to check if the kitten was caught already to let the foster know that she could pick up the cage.
Trapped
We asked the guy on the premises to check and he came out with a cage and scared little kitten. I let the foster know and she arrived within 5 minutes. She asked us if we wanted to come with her while they'd get her out of the cage, do some first checks and then move her to a temporary foster. This was actually the second lady who joined and lived in that building across the car wash. We followed her into that building where they had a bathroom in the communal garden as it used to be a tennis court if I remember correctly.
Getting the kitten out was not easy but the other foster clearly didn't bounce back for a fierce little kitten, she checked to see if she had any injuries but the little one looked quite healthy. My daughter and myself already fell in love and saw an opportunity here because the five first foster babies were going to leave our home in just days time and we were not done with the adventure. I told her that we wanted to foster her but it would take a few days until the others were moving to the next home.
The first day of Maesi in our home, look at that tiny fluff ball
Foster to adopt
The five first babies had two kittens that I'd want to adopt without a doubt as they were special to me from day one, but they were all adopted. We were hoping that next time, we'd be able to first foster a kitten and then decide if he or she was the right fit for our home. This is what happened with Maesi.
She was full of energy and definitely wanted to be in control and check everything happening around her. It didn't take long until she started to snuggle up with us as well though. She didn't have much time to get used to us alone because I think in her very first week, Percy arrived and this was not something she was having at first. I remember her being a big bully to Percy while he was just trying to make a friend.
Percy and Maesi sleeping together
Percy was a sweetheart but very tiny and insecure kitten vs Maesi who was very confident and felt Percy's insecurity. As you can see in the picture above, Percy cracked Maesi's code and when he did, they were all friends. Eventually, Percy left us and we were left with the two final kittens we adopted:
Hide!
Looking back at these old folders with kitten pictures, I found quite a few pictures of Maesi hiding in the sofa or under blankets. Not every time when the doorbell rang though, that's something getting worse over time, strangely enough. She's just not fond of new people in her home, especially not if they come close but sometimes she already races to hide behind the toilet in the bathroom when the doorbell rings without the door being opened. I never expected her to be the scared one of the two as Luna was so fragile when she arrived. Fragile but sweet. Maesi always seemed like the protector of the house, lol.
Hiding, June 2023
As you can see back then, Maesi still had scared big eyes when she was hiding, nowadays (see header image) she is at least relaxed with us, but just want's to hide out of sight for the strangers. The only person she really trusts and loves outside of our family is my daughter's tutor but she spent a lot of time in here. Nowadays she even crawls on her lap and falls asleep there when she's here to help our daughter. Trust has to earned, clearly.
Trip down memory lane
I didn't realise I still had so many unsorted pictures of those foster months, this was a nice trip down memory lane and reminder that I still have tons of pictures to sort through even after today. I'm trying to make it a habit to do some sorting every day, not only in the house but also in folders with pictures, videos, downloaded documents that I never sort after but also email boxes that are neglected for a long time. After doing this for a month straight, so many stuff got organised and lots of things thrown in the bin and deleted forever. Feels great! The best sorting moments are these trip down memory lanes and finding all these kitten or family pictures that are connected to fond memories.
Although we didn't foster this year, we surely will not forget that adventure and it's something that we will probably do again in the future one day. I'd recommend everyone who loves cats and/or dogs to try and foster for a little while so you can help one (or maybe more) in need while they find their forever home. It's not easy saying goodbye but it's also a rewarding job to help more than you'd do when adopting them only.
All pictures above are mine.