Hi starlight~ 🌙
It has been a long time since I've written a proper little life update here!
A lot has changed since my last posts. We packed up our lives in California, said goodbye to the home I grew up in, and made our way to our new home in Texas. And naturally, I brought my little furry family along with me. 🐱🐶💕
But there was one thing I genuinely thought would be different here...
I thought there was NO WAY I was going to end up surrounded by stray kitties again.
...I was wrong.
Very, very wrong. 😂
🌲 Welcome to the Wild!
When we first arrived, I remember looking around our property and thinking about just how rural and wild everything felt compared to where I grew up.
The woods at the edge of our yard aren't even really the whole forest—they're basically the entrance to much deeper woods.
I actually got an unexpected tour of some of those deeper areas thanks to Claire. 😭 She once ran off into the woods, and one of our neighbors was kind enough to take me searching for her on his golf cart. His property goes much farther into the forest, so for the first time I got to see just how enormous those woods really are!
And then there's the wildlife. We hear coyotes howling on so many nights, and there have been sightings nearby. There are wild boars, snakes, frogs, and all sorts of little creatures I wasn't used to seeing around my old home.
So naturally I thought:
"There's no way stray cats are going to be wandering around out here."
For about eight months, I was actually right! Not a stray kitty in sight.
And then...
Jinx happened.
🐈 The Jinx Saga Begins
Jinx technically isn't a stray.
She's one of our neighbors' cats, but she's a very independent little lady who likes wandering from property to property and apparently deciding for herself where she'd like to spend her time. 😂
Eventually, she started hanging around our yard.
With the Texas heat being as intense as it can be, I didn't feel right seeing her outside without making sure she at least had something to eat and plenty of fresh water. I let my neighbors know she had been visiting us and that I was feeding and watering her while she was here.
And apparently Jinx decided:
Excellent. I have something to show you."
Because then...
SHE BROUGHT ME A KITTEN. 😭
That kitten became Miguel. 🐱💕
After Jinx finished nursing him, Miguel apparently looked at our garage and said, "Yep. This will do."
He moved in.
LOL.
And that was our first unexpected new kitty member after moving to Texas.
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But ohhhh no.
The Jinx Saga was nowhere near finished.
🍼 Jinx Returns With a Surprise...
Eventually Jinx disappeared for a while—probably around three months.
Then one day...
She came back.
Pregnant.
JINX. 😭😭😭
And apparently our garage had received a five-star review from her previous stay, because when it was time to have her babies...
She gave birth in our garage.
She originally had four little kittens. Sadly, one of the babies didn't make it, but the other three survived. 💕
So now our garage has become home to Jinx, her three babies, and Miguel: Big Brother Edition™.
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Jinx stayed to nurse her kittens, Miguel lives with his little siblings, everybody gets food and water, and apparently my garage is now running an unofficial kitty daycare.
I still let my neighbors know when Jinx is here in case they're looking for her or want to bring her home, but they don't seem to mind her staying with us.
And Jinx herself? Well...
She has shelter. 🏡
Her babies are safe. 🐱
She does not seem particularly motivated to leave. 😂
You'd THINK that would be enough cats for one update.
You would be mistaken.
Because we haven't even gotten to...
Marisol. 🌻
🌻 And Then There Was Marisol
Somewhere else on our property, another mama cat appeared.
Unlike Jinx, this kitty was definitely feral. She was beautiful—fluffy and striped—but extremely skittish and wanted absolutely nothing to do with humans.
She decided that our granary looked like a good place to raise a baby.
And there, she gave birth to one tiny kitten.
I named her Marisol. 🌻🐱
Marisol looks so much like her mama. She's fluffy and striped with this beautiful mixture of yellow, brown, and gray in her fur.
For the first few weeks, everything seemed okay. I saw her mama nursing her and taking care of her.
Then, around three weeks after Marisol was born...
Mama disappeared.
At first I waited.
And waited.
I kept hoping she'd suddenly come back.
About two and a half weeks passed, and there was still no sign of her anywhere.
Eventually, I had to accept that something may have happened to her.
And now there was this tiny baby alone in the granary.
I couldn't leave her there.
🪤 Operation: Catch the Baby
I found a small animal trap in our garage that had been left behind by the previous owners, so I decided to try it.
I put some nice, smelly canned kitty food inside and placed it in the granary where I'd already been leaving food and water for Marisol.
And then...
FIVE MINUTES BEFORE MY FRIDAY STREAM...
My dad calls me.
FIVE. MINUTES. BEFORE. STREAM.
😭😂
I told him to quickly bring her into my room so she wouldn't hurt herself.
Then I started streaming.
I finished my stream, turned around...
saw this tiny kitten sitting behind me...
and went:
"OH YEAH. YOU'RE HERE."
I HAD ALMOST FORGOTTEN ABOUT HER. 😭
Poor Marisol probably thought she'd been kidnapped by the strangest family imaginable.
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💗 Getting This Tiny Girl Healthy
Once I had a good look at her, though, the funny part quickly became a little heartbreaking.
She was so skinny.
I could see how bony she had become in such a short amount of time without her mama, and I knew this little girl needed help.
I gathered kitten supplies and focused on getting nutrition and hydration into her. I started her with KMR, unflavored Pedialyte and canned kitten food while I worked on getting her eating and hydrated, and then transitioned her toward kitten kibble and milk, with clean water always available.
Because she was so young and frightened, I also got her a playpen where she could have a safe little space of her own.
At first I let her roam around my room, but she was tiny enough to disappear into hiding places, and I was worried she might chew a cable, squeeze somewhere dangerous, or hurt herself.
So Marisol got her own little kitty apartment. 😂💕
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And slowly...
The bones started disappearing.
She's filled out so much compared with that first day. She's eating, drinking, pottying normally, playing, and becoming much more energetic.
She's even becoming a little pear-shaped. 🍐😂
And seeing that tiny round belly after remembering how skinny she was when I caught her?
That makes my heart so happy.
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🐱💕 Marisol & Miguel
And here's possibly my favorite part of the entire story.
Marisol already knew Miguel.
Even when she was still living outside, those two had become little buddies.
Now when Miguel comes into my room, Marisol gets SO energetic and excited to see him. I've even caught them curled up asleep together on my couch a few times.
My heart. 😭💕
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Sometimes I wonder if Miguel feels comforting to her because he resembles her mama a little. He's striped and has similar coloring, although Miguel has short fur while her mama was fluffy and long-haired.
Whatever the reason is, she absolutely adores him.
And seeing Big Brother Miguel cuddled up with this tiny orphaned baby is probably one of the sweetest things I've witnessed since moving here.
🌙 So Much for "No More Stray Kitties"
And THAT brings us to the moral of this extremely long kitty saga:
I moved into the middle of rural Texas.
I saw the enormous forest.
I heard coyotes howling.
I learned about the wild boars and snakes.
I went eight whole months without seeing a stray cat and confidently thought:
Meanwhile, the universe was apparently like:
"Give it a minute."
😭😂
Somehow... the kitties found me again.
Jinx found our yard. Miguel found our garage. Jinx came back and brought another generation with her. Another mama chose our granary. And little Marisol ended up sleeping safely in my room with a round belly and her buddy Miguel beside her.
Sometimes I even like to imagine that Sophia had a tiny paw in guiding them here. 🌙🐾
"Go over there. She'll help you."
Of course, I'll never really know.
But I do know one thing:
I don't have the heart to ignore a kitty who needs me.
So here's to a new home, a new chapter...
and apparently, more cats.
Some things never change. 😂💕
Chiisai Tsukiko aka Tiny Moonchild 🌙🐾
(Actually don't. I'll probably just adopt the help too.) 😭🐱💕