The story begins with a pregnant female feline. I had seen her many times, circling around the empty house across the street, searching for any type of food that would fill her insatiable appetite in order to nourish her oncoming litter. I watched her from my house, scavenging for any type of sustenance. My heart went out to her, as she was apparently an abandoned housecat.
I heeded the age-old warning of not feeding wild animals. After watching her for a few months, suddenly one day I was startled by a single little striped kitten scratching on my window screen, trying to gain entry into my house. Mama was sitting patiently beside him, just waiting and watching over him.
The weather had turned ugly, with torrential rains plummeting the area and the winds whipping with hurricane force. I feared the little kitten would be blown away, so I went outside, picked him up and brought him into the house. His mama immediately left him with me as guardian, and returned to the outlying field that was affording her protection.
He was a good little fellow, friendly with my cat and dog. I named him Einstein. Being a believer of neutering any cat that came into my house, the finances were not available at the time, so he grew into a beautiful young male with all of his breeding faculties intact. Mama would come daily to my door checking on him, and then return to the bushes.
I must admit that I started feeding the mama cat. Suddenly, out of an adjoining field, another female and her four babies appeared. This cat was apparently Einstein's sister. Of course, mama eventually gave birth to four more young ones, totaling nine babies.
Einstein grew into a virile young male, and fathered a litter of three surviving kittens. Now the family consisted of two moms, Einstein, and twelve growing cats. They wait for me to feed them, and follow me down the street as I walk my dog. It has become rather embarrassing, but my house is clear of frogs, salamanders, snakes and spiders, for which I am grateful.
While waiting for mama (now a great-grandmother) to birth her last litter, I realize neutering is the final option. The cats have become very tame, and I can mingle within their family. They never fight, always snuggle into each other at night, graciously cooperate and share in a community feeding, and lovingly nuzzle and clean themselves fastidiously. Both males and females are the caretakers and it is hard to tell just who is the parent and who is the child. Einstein proudly protects them all.
Above all else, they are kind to each other. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if all people acted accordingly?
