In my defense, prior to placing Ziggy on the back lawn of House Kirkland, I had no indication of her explosive speed and elusiveness. At the vet, she was a docile angel, dropped off by Crystal A Willis having been pulled from a homeless camp with a nasty rash that looked worse than it was, but with a little ointment and a few kind words, she was good to go.
My sales pitch to Mama Su was as it is with any kitten, a selfie captioned with “Are you kidding me right now?”, and Su’s predictable response was “Bring me that baby and be quick about it!” Once onsite, Mama Su deemed her kennel-worthy and against her best judgment returned her to me for safe-keeping with a clear directive while she prepared a spot. ”Hang onto her.”
For most guys that would be an order, but I took it as a guideline, and with Mr. Potts wandering over to see why I was home before dark, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to see how Ziggy interacted with other cats. BOOM! One look at that sketchy barn cat and Ziggy took off like Jeff Gordon gunning for the early lead at Daytona and disappeared into the hedge. “Oh, snap!”
I immediately dropped to my knees and thrashed the bush but soon conceded defeat and howled, “Su! Quick!” When Su burst from the garage and I blurted out the problem, she glared at me in disgust, “You had one job!” Fortunately, Su has a nose for cute and after a furious search, she emerged triumphant from a stack of fence materials with a scruffed tabby. She thrusted Ziggy toward me, rubbing my nose in it. “Kitten 101…Control your kitten!”
As you might expect, I’ve been benched from the Kitten Team, but am pleased to report that Ziggy is snuggled up in a comfy bed with a belly full of Pro Plan pate and the KF crew is having a good chuckle at my expense. She’s got a few weeks to go before she’s adoption-ready, but Day One she’s established herself as one of the fastest and furriest. Ziggy.
