Montana, Meet Nyx

Nyx's Notes, Vol. 1, Chapter 1: the Rescue

Her story really begins with my cousin and her daughters in Forsyth, who heard the little mews and found this little kitten along the fence.  The kitten may have been born in the nearby wood pile and later abandoned by the mom.  This tiny girl tried to put up the fight with a hiss and tried to run and climb the fence, but just didn't have the strength to do much.

When the cousin lifted up the kitty into her arms, it calmed down, maybe realizing it was not about to be eaten.

Now the second cousins are allergic to cats, and they have a large dog in the house, so taking in this little furball was not an option.  But they did want to find a home for the kitten.  So they took it to the local veterinarian for care.

Poor little thing was the only cat in a kennel surrounded by dogs.

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I received the call from my cousin about the situation.  She knew my son and I were cat people, having raised one from a kitten through her life and fostering another for a while.  Would we like to adopt this kitten?  I told her we would think on this.  We had been without a pet for quite some time, I am very busy, and our home is a mess.

The second call lit the fire under us.  The vet accepted strays caught around town, but holds them only a few days, then will put the animal down.  The clock was ticking.  Edan and I discussed it only minutes before calling back and accepting the new family member.

The kitten had been unnamed to this point, and being a black cat, my first ideas for a name was Midnight or Panther.  My son had the better, classier name within minutes.  Nyx, from the Greek goddess of the night.

So on Memorial Day Saturday, we road tripped to Forsyth to pick up Nyx.  We laid the flannel blankie from the vet kennel into a pet carrier and thanked my cousin for the adventure.  She and the daughters are so delighted that Nyx has a home.

Maybe it was all the excitement, or maybe it was the first major car ride.  Nyx's first action upon our hitting the freeway: emptying her bowels onto the carrier blankie, then mewing to get out.  We smelled it almost at once.  First stop at the rest stop east of the Hyshum hills, after just over twenty miles.

This is the reality of the new pet owner.

I want to thank the Montana Dept. of Transportation for the use of their rest facility for a little improvised emergency laundry.  Rest assured I did clean up after myself.

Please stay tuned for more of Nyx's new adventures.