Spot, Truffle, & Smudge [2]

It was early October, still warm enough to have the door to the deck open. I'd been hearing sounds for a while and had been thinking they were coming from kids playing in the park. Eventually, it dawned on me that I was hearing kittens!

My husband and I climbed the hill into the open space and found three babies just five days old. Two were in their nest under a eucalyptus tree. The third was further up the hill by a deer track. We think their mom was moving them and something scared her, so she left the kitten to keep it safe. We never saw any evidence of her or any other kittens.

We hand raised the babies, bottle feeding them for two and a half months. My husband took them with him to work every day and bottle fed them in between clients. When it came time for them to find forever homes, we couldn't part with them. Fortunately, the manager at our apartments let us keep them. She said, "Just don't tell your neighbors."

Truffle is very outgoing, always demanding attention. She's the mighty huntress of all feather toys. She loves to roll around and have her belly rubbed.

Smudge is very quiet and introverted. He was the first to use the litter box and the last to stop wanting his bottle. He loves to dash into the paper jungle we have on the dining room floor.

Spot was our happy boy, the one I could carry around and dance with. He loved to get under the covers at night and would poke me until I opened them up so he could crawl in.

We had two older cats, Yam and Sprite, when we found the babies and they became the babies uncles. We love our babies and are so grateful that we've gotten to be their parents.