r1cepudding | pizza the kitten (Reply)

I wasn't supposed to write anything today since I genuinely thought things would be normal; you know, just a regular day submerged under my usual routine, nothing more.

Well, I was mighty wrong.

So I was walking down the street on the way to the craft shop to get a few glass jars for my moon water when a little kitten started meowing at me and pushing her head against my shoe. That was enough to get my attention. Lots of it. She had a combination of white and black fur, and her tail was outstandingly short, which I don't know the reason for. Inbreeding? Genetics? Did her mum bite off her newborn's tail out of morbid curiosity? I'm not curious enough to know, fortunately.

What did I do?

My instincts told me to meow back, so I did just that; I meowed at her while she rubbed her head against my shoe, and I spent a good minute of my time with her because my body didn't want to move, until. Until.

As I was about to leave for my glass jars, I realised someone was following me.

That bastard of a lovely kitten was following me. OH MY GOD. Not to be dramatic or anything, but I almost died on the spot. TOO MANY BEANS TUGGING ON MY HEARTSTRINGS, SQUEE! It was surreal. I didn't know what else to do, I would put her in danger if I went on to get my glass jars, so I made a beeline for my apartment, fed her cat food and water, gently bathed her, etc. My nephew (she's 4 years old, I think) wanted to name her Pizza, so I just went with it. Trust me, I could've done a better job if there weren't any gremlin child yelling "Pizza" at around 400 decibels.

And yes, it was fucking meant to be, and it sounds too good to be true, stop sniggering you guys! I'm incredibly sad right now. >:'(

Pizza cannot stay with me. I don't think I can provide her the kitten-care she needs right now. Don't get me wrong, I love Pizza to death and it's crazy how a few hours with her already has me in between the cry-or-smile plane, but she really can't stay with me. I'm kind of struggling financially thanks to the pandemic, and my mental health isn't necessarily in tip top shape right now. I don't want to hurt her in any way, but I also don't want her back to that scummy place. People advised me of the risk of bringing Pizza to the animal shelter because 1) there's a chance they'll just intentionally neglect her or 2) euthanise her since taking care of a kitten is extremely tedious and costly. (The shelter is also really far away and I don't want to inconvenience my parents.)

Uh, absolutely not. I think I'm going to cry. I don't know what to do. I might keep her for awhile, or try to find a warm spot at the garage; I'm a bit concerned about Bleu since Pizza has ticks and hasn't had her check-up appointment at the vet. I don't want Bleu to get infected. :(

I'll try to see what I can do. Update soon. xo