Kishka Knew

by Victoria
(Sacramento, CA)

My aunt was evicted months ago and she had no place for her cat to go, so my mom (I'm 14) took in Yohsi (the cat). She is a small cat with very light sand colored fur and grayish-black ears, and a black and gray striped tail, her eyes are ice blue.

She is very playful and likes to be outside, but my aunt had never gotten her fixed. She is much like a kitten herself, but yet she still got pregnant. In April the same Sunday as Easter, I came home from my grandmas house and was walking by my room when I saw Kishka (my pure white husky/chow mix) standing at the entrance of my room.

I wasn't supprised, I usually don't let the dogs in my room, I'm more of a cat person, but what did supprise me was that she (yes a girl) was whining, and her ears were pricked, which is usually something she doesn't do, unless there's something wrong.

I immeadiatly thought of yoshi, she was due soon and I didn't think she was going to have her kits anywhere but somewhere without dogs. But she usually slept out in the living room, or on my bed. I went in and turned on the light and couldn't see her.

Now, my bed is the kind that's four feet off the ground and is high enough to fit a 6 drawer dresser under, there's a board half way back from the front, and behind that was a small cavern where I put things I didn't need but couldn't throw away. (I'm a bit of a pack rat) like a 2 1/2 ft. wide frisbee. That giant fresbee was her Tnest.

She had had the kittens under my bed. A few days later my mom tried to move her into the box we had made for her. She moved the kittens that night.... onto my bed. I admit they were cute but they're a little annoying when they're crawling all over my tickleish feet, when I'm trying to sleep because I have to wake up at 5:30 AM and go to my school a 45 min drive away.

Finaly my mom got a huge refrigerator sized box, and we put Yoshi in it with her kittens, it took her three times her moving them back up on my bed, before she finally gave up and kept them in the box.

When they were about a month old, Hawkfrost (one of two males, dark tabby) learned how to climb out of the box, but not back in. Since it was suck a big box, there was a litterbox in it, so by the time Hawkfrost found his way out, him, Betrrytail (male, simese), and Silverstream (female, gray stripes and speckles with white belly and white line accrossed the back of her neck), were already litterbox trained.

That week was when they learned how to climb screens, people, couches, dogs, tables, and other cats. In fact one day I came home and Hawkfrost had gotten a piggyback ride from his mom. They chased flies and caught them too. And thanks to Biscotty (the meanie cat) they learned to torture dogs, use the catflap, and hunt a little. They're sooooooooocute!