Bosco the cat

Today, on our way to my sister's house we rescued a kitten. He lay trembling and mewing in the road, at first appearing to us, as merely a plastic bag that had drifted into our lane. It was only as we nearly hit him with our car and he turned his head that we realized there was a small helpless kitten laying in the road. Our simultaneous gasps of horror echoed in the car as my darling husband pulled a Dukes of Hazzard U-turn, (not really, but for the world's most cautious driver, it was in fact an impressive move!) and we headed back to where the kitten lay.

Now you need to realize we have in the car, our one year old daughter and my nearly 3 year old niece... fearing the worst we did NOT explain why we were stopping the car.

I waited in the car, on pins and needles and watched as my husband braved rushing traffic and frightened kitten hisses to squat down by the little terrified ball of fluff and tentatively reach out to touch it. The kitten looked up at him with helpless fear, a towering Giant of a man, and responded with a small mew of terror. Another car swept past as my husband gently rolled the kitten onto it's side checking it for signs of major injury.

I watched him handling the tiny kitten wondered if it was too injured to help, afraid we had a terribly injured kitten on our hands. I felt torn between wanting to help, and not wanting to frighten or upset my beloved niece with a mangled kitten body.

He turned to me, smiled and shrugged indicating the kitten seemed all right and I gestured for him to bring it to the car.

As he approaches the car with the little cat in his arms my niece realized what he held in his arms and began to squeal with delight "I see a kitty!" Squirming in place and beaming she grinned with delight and repeated "a kitty, a kitty, a kitty!"

I held out my arms for the kitten who snuggled into my lap trembling and blinking around at us as we peared at it. Before long he lay sleeping in my arms, all soft and warm, exuding kitty happiness.

We drove on. No need to stop and search for owners, he had no collar and we were not near any houses. A deserted looking business across the street offered no clues and besides, why waste time trying find out where he came from. He had come to us. We simply continued on our way, feeling proud of ourselves for saving him.

He has not emerged from his adventure on the road unscathed. He seems to be favoring one of his hind legs and has a few small cuts, one by his eye, another on his leg and he was bleeding from his mouth slightly when we first rescued him. He now lays snuggled in a car carrier cage in the guest room with food and water at hand, a litter box waiting for him. I wonder if he was hit by a car and survived mostly unhurt, just scared, or if he was chased by a dog? It obvious he is a survivor and I hope he continues to do so well.

We may have to get his leg checked out by a vet if he continues to favor it, but for now, all is well with the world. Saving one small cat may not make a big difference in the world, but it makes a difference to me.....

We thought of naming him Lucky, but it seemed too common a name and we've settled on Bosco, short for Boscobel, the town we rescued him in. Does this mean we are keeping him? Not sure, but I suspect he's ours for good.