As I pulled up to the stop light, I became aware of a noise. It was almost like a bird, but no..maybe it was kids playing somewhere near the gas station? Weird. I turned left as the light changed and heard the sound yet again. It was coming from inside my car.

I tried not to panic and pulled over as soon as I could. My friend and I popped the hood and stared into a pair of wide-with-fright grey-green eyes. There was a kitten wedged in behind my engine! A very, very tiny kitten.

Her cry wasn’t so little. She meowed again and again as I extracted her gently. Thank God I had only just started driving when I heard her! Engines heat up quickly!

I drove carefully, carrying her in my lap. She wriggled free and climbed INSIDE MY DASHBOARD through a small opening near my floorboard. Pulled over again. By God’s grace I got her out, though it took some maneuvering!

I dropped my friend off and he found a box to put her in. I luckily had a large chip clip in my glove compartment and Jerry-rigged the flaps shut (with a handy gap in the middle not big enough to escape from but great for air flow.

A quick trip to Wal-Mart got me some kitten formula and a nursing bottle, and then I brought her home, fed her, and tried to figure out what to do.She was pretty scared and kept crying. The only thing that seemed to make her happy was when I let Bentley in. She ran straight up to him and followed him around, meowing loudly, little tail straight up and quivering. I think she thought he was her mama. 

She was so cute: identical coloring and markings to my Bentley. I really wanted to keep her, but she had a few cuts on her face that looked like they might require antibiotics, aside from possible flea/worms/ whatever that go along with being a stray kitten. Plus,she was so little I wasn’t confident in my skills to feed her correctly. I’m moving in a couple months and having another cat isn’t practicality now, especially one that would probably require expensive medical care.

I reluctantly called the animal shelter and they told me they had space and to bring her on in. I loaded her in Bentley’s carrier and took her. The people at the shelter were very sweet, and I knew she was in good hands, but I totally started crying as I was walking out the door. Like for real. Not just a teary sniffle.

I am hoping she gets adopted by a loving family very soon! For anyone interested, she is at the Henrico Police Animal Shelter in Glen Allen, Virginia.

What a day! 

Ang