Hi, all!

I have need of some purrs, but I need to give you all a bit of
backstory first, since I'm not entirely sure what the best thing to
purr FOR is. (Bear with me -- it's 3:25 AM here and I've got
insomnia.)

For starters: there's a large park a few blocks from where I live.
Ignoramuses masquerading as people sometimes abandon pets there. This
infuriates me beyond measure, but that's a rant for another thread.

There's a little smoke/grey tabby/teeny bit of tortie girlcat, which
I'd put at about six months old given her size and the fact that she
has adult teeth at least in the front where I can see them, who has
been hanging around in the vicinity of our house for the past two
days. She's extremely social toward humans, which makes me think that
she was dumped in the park by someone who deserves to be sent lots of
litterbox-content offerings.

I think it's the combination of being able to smell Captain and
Stanley, plus the fact that I emit "sucker for cats!" vibes which are
audible to every feline within a ten-mile radius, that drew here here.

She is the friendliest little kitty you can imagine. She has NO qualms
about sitting at our front door and meowing to come in, either. And
this was BEFORE I set eyes on her, felt terrible because she's so
thin :o( , and brought out some cat food.

Actually, when I first saw her on Sunday evening, I didn't know if she
could handle the oral-care cat food I have for Captain and Stanley.
It's made of extra-large kibbles so that the cat HAS to chew it and it
cleans the cat's teeth. But I didn't know what kind of shape her teeth
might be in, so I tore up two slices of baloney and brought that out
instead, along with water. She proceeded to inhale the baloney,
purring her stripey head off all the while. Then she let me pet her,
pick her up, examine her fur for fleas (she seems to be OK on that
score), turn her over to verify gender (!), and check her teeth (!!).
Even though I knew to gently scruff the cat before having a peek at
her teeth, I'm still a bit surprised that she let me do that. Must be
the "sucker for cats" vibes working in my favor there. ;o) Once I
established that her teeth are fine, I was able to bring out cat food
on Monday night when she reappeared at the front door and started
mewing once again.

Anyway, here's the deal. My husband doesn't want to bring a third cat
in, which I can kind of understand since we really do have a SMALL row
house. I, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to haul
Ms.Surprise Arrival off to the vet for a checkup and, should she have
a clean bill of health, adopt her on the spot.

But as much as I want to take the foundling in, it also occurs to me
that maybe she's "meant" to be someone else's pet, and she's just on
our doorstep because Someone Up There wanted to be sure she's being
looked after for the time being. After all, I can't take in EVERY cat
on earth... I couldn't care for them all, and I have to leave at least
a few available for the OTHER cat lovers in the world.

BTW... I also strongly suspect that she may be in heat. Now and then,
she rolls on the ground. She is, as I said, extremely friendly and
craves attention. Plus, I can't help but wonder if she wants to come
in our house *because* she smells that two boycats live here, even
though both of them are neutered. The trouble is, I've never HAD a cat
in heat (minus one episode in 1990 when Melody went into her first
heat before I could get her to a vet). So I can't say I've seen
firsthand how a cat in heat behaves. If someone can review with me
what I should be looking for, to determine if she's in heat or not,
I'd appreciate it.

OK, so this is the deal. I don't know whether to ask for purrs and
prayers that I can take in this little cat, or that I can help her
find a home somehow (so far none of my friends are in a position to
take in a cat), or what. So what I want is for her to be healthy, STAY
healthy, and get safely to her OneTrueHome whether that means I talk
DH into taking her in, or a passerby falls in love with her and takes
her home.

And if any of our RPCAers in or near Philadelphia find that they can
take in a 6-month-old little purr-machine girlcat, let me know. She's
a little sweetheart and deserves to be spoiled senseless for the rest
of her nine lives.

Donna, and the cats who aren't entirely sure about this "becoming a
big brother" thing, Captain and Stanley