MY WILD KITTIES

MY LAST FULL DAY IN SAN SALVATORE

Yes, they are MY kitties.  When I first got here that first day I heard the little gray kitty crying, crying, crying.  So I asked about the cats that lived here.  All 3 WWOOFers who were here then said "yes ,we have 3 cats, one is laying somewhere probably dead by now".  I was so shocked.  I had to find him and the other one.  The cat they were talking about was almost completely white with a little black and he was lying down and would not let me come close.  What I could see was two big spots in his fur that were raw from his near constant licking.  And then there was the little girl.  So petite and also mostly white with a little brown on her.  I immediately started to refer to the gray kitten as 'screamer' because he talked so much.  I named him that after my friend Val's 20+yr. old siamese (who's gone now).  His name was screamer for the same reason; always talking.
So no one seemed to care about these cats.  They do feed them dry food once a day.  Well,  from that first day here I took it upon myself to be the feeder of the animals.  This included the chickens in the chicken house.  They are not allowed to roam freely because they would probably eat everything in the garden because there is no fencing around it.  Being the first one up in the morning, I would go to feed the chickens one dish of grain and the bucket of food scraps which was their favorite.  Part of the feeding was looking inside a smaller dwelling inside the chicken house for eggs.  Bingo! Fresh eggs for the cats.  So there started the healing process for "Boy Boy" the cat with the horrible skin condition, "girly girl" the timid but eventually ever so loving little white/brown girl and "screamer".  All 3 had that goopy eye condition coupled with occasional coughing and sneezing.
When I gave them their first egg, they acted like they hadn't eaten anything in a very long time.  They devoured it and came to me looking for more.  It's been 7 weeks of hiding eggs, stealing pieces of cheese, even once I took a can of tuna for them, and yes going to the store and buying them an occasional can of cat food which they all love.  I even had to lie once to M.P. when she asked about the 3 eggs (now 2) on the counter.  I said that I liked to mix one with milk and drink it.  Anything for these sick, starving cats.
Screamer now lets me pick him up.  He purrs and falls asleep in my arms.  His eyes are clear.  Girly girl loves to be petted as much as possible but does not like to be picked up.  Boy Boy's skin is totally cleared up, fur grown back, eyes clear and runs and plays with the other 2.  They are all getting big.
After I feed them in the morning I call them to come with me to the garden for play time.
They run and chase each other up and down the trees.  Screamer likes to get on top of the chicken house and look over the edge at the chickens.  They are all so sweet and they always come to me when I call them.
I know after I leave they will not get the care they need but for as long as I was here I did the right thing and took care of MY kitties the best I could.