July 29, 2005 at 12:59 AM

Posted in 'Dear Diary' with tags 'stray, kitten'

Today after work I headed to the movie theater to watch Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. As I was nearly there, I saw a kitten playing in the middle of the road. I slowed down and pondered stopping and running out and getting it, but couldn't decide. What would I do with it? I can't take care of a kitten; I'm at work all day. I imagine there are pounds or something I could take it to, but I wasn't sure it was a good idea to pick it up and figure that out later. What if it had rabies? Do cats get rabies? I wasn't sure. Regardless, he might have some disease, and could I bring a possibly diseased cat into the house where my little sister lives? By the time all these thoughts had gone through my head, I was several hundred feet down the one-way road, and finally decided to continue on. When I got to the movie theater, I sat in the parking lot for several minutes debating whether to drive back over there and look for him.

I still feel kind of bad about taking the easy way out and not going back. I might be personally responsible for the death of a kitten. On the other hand, he didn't seem particularly frightened. Perhaps he's not as innocent and helpless as I thought, and if I took him away, all I'd be doing was robbing a mother cat of her child.

I know at least one friend of mine has picked up a kitten on the side of the road and kept it. Is that a good idea in general? Or is it better to leave them be? I have no idea what conventional wisdom suggests about such a situation.

| Revision: 2 | (30 comments) | Comments are closed for this entry.

Comments

Posted by Jenn 1 hour, 18 minutes later

All kittens, regardless of where they come from, are prone to parasites, worms, and other pesky disgusting things. So they are all okay to "keep" but should definitely be checked out by a vet first. And yes, they can have rabies like any other mammal.

Otherwise, cats are naturally wild animals and have no problem fending for themselves in the wild (or in the city), so it's probably ok to leave it. Sure, it might get run over... but so might any other housecat.

Posted by Antonio 6 hours, 29 minutes later

Kittens taste good. So does Meow Mix.

How was the movie? Not as good as The Wedding Crashers, I bet...

Posted by Dan 7 hours, 44 minutes later

I liked it. At first, I was unsure about it; the CG was obviously fake and I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be. And since I was so used to Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, it took me a while to get used to Johnny Depp. But once I did, I liked him, and my appreciation for the movie in general grew as well. In particular, I was much happier with the ending. I never liked the ending of the first movie; it was unsatisfying. I'm sure purists would be outraged by what I assume is a dramatic change in the story (I've never read the book so I actually have no idea how the "real" story ends), but I liked it.

Posted by Cat 6 hours, 47 minutes later

There was a turtle in the middle of the road outside by old apartment complex. I pulled over and ran out in the road, picked it up by its shell and ran to the other side. It may be stupid, but it was one of the most rewarding feelings I'd had all year. Its good to help things when you can, but you shouldn't have to debate yourself over it.

Posted by Antonio 1 hour, 51 minutes later

I tried the same thing with a turtle up here in Maryland. The problem was, it was a snapping turtle. It bit onto my shoe and wouldn't let go. So I left it there. I like animals, but I like having ten fingers and toes more.

Posted by Cat 14 minutes later

Yeah, snapping turtles, there were a lot of those in Michigan. Fortunately not all animals in distress will dismember you.

Posted by Antonio 3 minutes later

I have a question: Is your husband the Brian that used to live in Dorado del Mar?

Posted by Cat 5 minutes later

Um, the Bryan that lived in Dorado...yes he is. Do you know him?

Posted by Antonio 2 minutes later

I think I was in a band with him for about a week. He plays drums, yea?

Posted by Cat 5 minutes later

yeah, you lived in PR with him and Dan right. We live in New Orleans now.

Posted by Antonio 3 minutes later

Cool. Please tell him that Tony from Dorado (Mardi Gras) said hi. Let's see if he remembers...

Posted by Cat 7 minutes later

He's at work right now, but I will tell him you said hi when he gets home. I'm sure he remembers you. I'll let you know though.

Posted by Dan 2 hours, 23 minutes later

Wow, look at all that empty space on the left. I didn't design the comments display system for such protracted conversations :) Might be time to rethink the display format.

Posted by Antonio 2 hours, 56 minutes later

Longest... thread... ever!

Posted by Cat 1 day, 21 hours later

He said you guys played in a punk band for one show. And hi.

Posted by Antonio 56 minutes later

Yea... that was an interesting night. Give him my regards and a belated congratulations on your marriage. How long is it now?

Posted by Cat 11 hours, 38 minutes later

It will be a year on August 14. Thanks for your congratulations. :)

Posted by Bryan 2 days, 22 hours later

Hey Tony, I didn't even make the connection :) How's everything been going?

Posted by Antonio 9 minutes later

Not bad, Bryan. I'm living in Maryland now working for a DoD contractor. I'm glad to hear that you got married, congrats!

Posted by Bryan 7 minutes later

Cool, my father lives in Maryland. What part are you living in? Thanks for your congratulations. It's been a great year :)

Posted by Antonio 8 minutes later

I'm living in Southern Maryland, a place called Lexington Park. It's about 80 minutes south of DC and right next to Patuxent River Naval Base.

Posted by Dan 7 hours, 58 minutes later

Yeah, I guess I could have just moved it out of the road and left it there, rather than take it home, but I dunno if I could have just left him on the side of the road like that. Oh well, I'll just assume he's fine and happy. :)

Posted by Cat 6 hours, 49 minutes later

Oh and by the way Cat: a carnivorous mammal (Felis catus) long domesticated as a pet and for catching rats and mice. Focusing on the long domesticated, not wild anymore.

Posted by Scott 9 hours, 48 minutes later

How come this text shows up starting with "nearly there," on the front page instead of the true beginning? Do all of your posts do this and I just never noticed?

Posted by Dan 4 hours, 27 minutes later

Oops, I guess I just missed the first line when I copied and pasted the first paragraph of the entry into the 'Summary' box. Fixed.

Posted by Scott 21 minutes later

Oh, so you have to manually specify what you want to display on the main page? Interesting!

Posted by Bryan 1 hour, 50 minutes later

Yeah, my blog system automatically grabs the first bit of text but I quickly found out how that can be a bad thing if you use true cms with html and everything. If I ever get around to touching it up, I'm gonna go with the manual summary.

Posted by Dan 1 hour, 53 minutes later

Exactly, I usually like to revise the summary, or use smaller images, or not include a summary at all, if the post is short enough (in which case the software automatically uses the full entry). I like it better this way, so I have more control over what happens. I tend to shy away from things being done for me automatically. Computers are stupid :)

Posted by Scott 5 minutes later

"Computers are stupid :)"

Says the man who didn't enter the summary correctly! ;)

Posted by Marie 1 day, 3 hours later

I was gonna go see that movie, but then I heard someone say all they could think about was Michael Jackson when they looked at Johnny. Did you have that?