Our Mama chose our back patio to have her litter of kittens. We usually have a shelter and food out for the neighborhood strays, and she picked us. She had her litter and decided to move them into the sewers about 10 days later. Then came the rains. She tried to get us to follow her and we tried. She ran so fast through the weeds we didn't know which way she went. We had to chalked it up to the strong shall live. After a couple of months she had another litter on our back patio. We were able to capture her and the kittens and let them use our garage as a home until they were old enough to adopt out. We decided to get Mama fixed and after the kittens were adopted we let her back outside. She chose to come in once in a while and them more and more regularly. About a year later she had been gone for about 3 days. We called for her and left food and water out. We looked in the shelter constantly, hoping that she'd turn up. On the 3rd day, she turned up in the shelter, cowering in the corner. I turned to my husband and said, "honey, she's hurt!" So, I pulled her out of the shelter and brought her inside. She had a nasty scratch under her left eye and a slash down her nose and mouth. We brought her inside and cleaned her up. We let her stay inside and had to go to work. I made a vet appointment for her later in the day. We had to force feed her watered-down food and water for about 2 days. Then she'd come out to eat a little a drink a little on her own. She slept for almost 2 weeks straight! After that she trusts us completely. She has learned how to play and loves to play chase with her sisters. We called her Mama because that is what she was and it stuck.

Susan Eck
FARMINGTON, MN