The Story of Miles

Something happened yesterday that changed the dynamics of our household.

I've heard that this type of thing happens to people

and they are never the same.

Yesterday it happened to us.

It was 3:30 PM and

I was happily going about my day.

I had just pulled up to Cole's school to pick him up

I was on the phone with Jim

and I recall sharing with him that there was a car with

its hood up and there was a lady laying on the ground

looking under the car.

There were other people milling about as well

curiously looking on

at the lady on the ground.

Mr. C (a principal) and Candice (from the school office)

were both there.

The lady (a mom I'm assuming) was looking up under the car

as if she were trying to determine where a leak was coming from.

And then something weird happened.

Something black shot out from under the car.

It dashed across the street

into the lawn of the school

and toward the busy street.

And I knew-

it was a kitten.

I'm still on the phone with Jim

reporting to him what I'm seeing.

He wants off the phone

because I just know that the kitten is going to get hit.

So we hang up

and I watch as some kids manage to keep the kitten

from going into the street.

It doubles back

looking for a place to hide.

Ah yes, it finds one

under my car.

Mr. C comes over and calmly tells me that there is a cat

in my engine somewhere.

So I pop the hood.

We look and look

we don't hear or see it.

But we know it went in there.

We sit patiently waiting.

Animal control is called, and they come.

But they can't see it either.

We know it's not in any of the visible moving parts of the car

and I can't sit here all day.

I'm still sure it's in there.

But animal control thinks it must have come out.

Go ahead and go, he tells me.

So we go.

Cole and I head across town to get Stella

I watch my rear-view for a while

expecting to see something black come tubmling out at some point

but it doesn't.

So maybe animal control was right and somehow the kitten sneaked out

when no one was looking.

We get to daycare and turn into the parking lot

and I hear it.

Meowing!

Coming from somewhere under the car.

I go inside and Cole stands watch for the kitten.

Of course with the hood up, people ask if you need help.

And when you tell them there's a kitten somewhere in your engine

they can't help but to come and look.

So we wait while others try to coax the kitten out.

But it's not budging.

So I convince Cole that the best thing we can do is drive

the 80ish blocks back home slowly and get into the garage

where maybe the kitten will feel safe enough

at some point this evening to come out.

So again we go.

And again if we listen hard at the stoplights we hear

meowing.

We made it home and into the garage

and Cole quickly assembles several bowls of various

foods that kittens surely cannot resist.

And he waits.

Sitting patiently in the garage.

Eventually he comes inside and says that he's sure it has moved.

And he goes back out.

Only to come back in again and say that he can see it.

It's on the tire.

We grab a flashlight and sure enough

it's crouching on one of the rear tires.

And not interested in letting us grab it.

Jim finally grabs his manliest pair of gardening gloves

and tries to wrestle this furry, angry, cactus out of the wheel well.

No luck.

So we get a floor jack to lift the car off the wheel a little bit.

Ahhh, finally he can get a hold of it.

And finally, the kitten is free

and terrified.

So this is how our evening went.

At any given time, you can be assured that someone was out

in the garage checking on the kitten.

It ate the tuna

and the cat food

and the kitten chow

and it spilled the milk

and it drank some water

and it went potty in the litter tray that we put in there.

So we know it was hungry

and it appears healthy.

The kitten has a name now:

Miles

given that it rode approximately 11 miles under our car.

We're not really sure what we're going to do with it.

Jim was able to get it out of the kennel this morning

so we could clean up some spilled milk

and wipe the kennel up a little bit

and replace the food.

And based on what we were able to see (or not see as the case may be)

we think it's a female.

Miles was scared, but purring while Jim was holding her.

We are going to take Miles to the vet today

and maybe they can give us some guidance

on what to do next.

I don't know,

but it certainly changed the course of things

at least for last night.

Hey Miles!

Update:

Miles is a girl.

And she's about 6 weeks old.

She appears to be healthy

and just a bit wild.

But the vet was able to show us how to handle her

and so it appears that we have become foster humans

to an adorable kitten called Miles.