The Best Laid Plans....

This is Ozzie, Oz for short. He is the last remaining kitten from the litter I found in the barn in August. As you can see he is a little black fur ball with eyes and I be surprised if he even weighs two pounds.

Since I moved to the farm, critters have come and gone, but somehow I never get used to them dying or disappearing. I try very hard not to get too attached, but my avid love of animals tends to always get in the way.

Oz was the only male born in the litter and is and always has been the "mama's boy". Zippy (the mom) continues to live and hunt in the barn and for whatever reason, Oz refuses to wean himself, nor does she encourage it even tho she has no milk to offer him. I have been worried about Oz getting dehydrated as he won't drink the water I set out every day. I also set out kitten chow. So I started taking out powdered milk for him in hopes that he will eventually start drinking out of the water bowl as well. He has gotten to the point that every morning I go out to the barn to feed the horses, he comes running and acts as if he is starving. I have worried that he can't take care of himself and won't survive the winter.

Well, yesterday he didn't show. I thought maybe he was off hunting with his mom (ha!) but then she appeared. No Ozzie. And wherever she is, Ozzie is... I thought that maybe he would be there in the evening when I put the horses to bed for the night. Again, he didn't show.

So this morning, I headed out to the barn again in hopes that he would be there, and was disappointed to only see Zippy again. I emailed my friend Barb (who is Ozzie's surrogate owner) to let her know he is gone. We both beat ourselves up for not bringing him inside.

I decided to go out and comb the wooded area of the farm in hopes of finding him. As I headed out, I decided to check the barn again. To my surprise, there he was! He came out of nowhere! I was so excited to see him I almost scared him. Barb and I had decided that if by some miracle he ever came back that one of us would make him a house cat. This is where the "best laid plans" come in:

I called Barb to let her know the good news. I decided to bring Oz into the house and see how he did with the three heelers (with cat killing instincts). Oz was a little nervous at first but quickly acclimated to being inside. He never left the kitchen table and didn't seem to be too concerned about the three dogs looking at him with lunch in their eyes. The dogs were more upset than anyone! Lucy kept pretending to sniff and lick him and then quickly try and snag him with her teeth!

I mixed Oz up some warm milk and he sat contently on the table drinking his milk and walking across my laptop as I was using it.


I was just thinking to myself that this could work, when suddenly Oz walked across the table, butted me in the head with his head, purred, then turned around and exploded diarrhea all over me, the table, my cell phone, and the computer mouse! He just kept walking across the table as if this was just a normal event in the day and life of Oz. I, on the other hand sat gagging, paralyzed in disbelief with a lap full of Ozzie poo. Funny thing is, the dogs quickly disappeared through the pet door and didn't come back in!I called Barb to let her know that Oz is ALL hers. Needless to say, Oz is back out in the barn with his mom.

So it just goes to show that sometimes the best laid plans are better left to those more qualified to handle them! :-)