The Perfect Kitten

by Holly Webb

  “Was it the shelter?” Abi gasped. “Have they changed their mind? Can we have a cat?”

  “Yes! Well, maybe. Me and Chris need to talk about it first.” She glanced at him. “They’ve got a kitten – a lovely little white one. But she’s deaf, completely deaf, they think. She’d need to live indoors because she’d never be safe anywhere near a road. So … that was them ringing to ask if we’d like to have an indoor kitten.”

  “An indoor kitten!” Abi breathed. “A white kitten? To be ours?”

  “A kitten!” Ruby bounced up and down on her chair and banged a handful of pencils on the table. “A kitten!”

  Chris laughed. “At least it wouldn’t matter that Ruby’s noisy, I suppose. I don’t know – how do you keep a cat indoors? I’ve never even thought about it.”

  “They said they’d make sure we know everything we’d need to, but we have to understand it’s a big commitment,” Mum said, looking seriously at Abi and Ruby. “I suppose we’d have to be really careful about opening the doors.”

  “And keeping the windows closed,” Abi suggested.

  “Yes…” Chris put the pan on the hob and reached for the oil. “We could do that, though, couldn’t we?”

  “Let’s see what they say.” Mum glanced at Abi. “Try not to get too excited, darling. It sounds wonderful, but we need to know if we can look after an indoor kitten before we say yes.”

  “We can go and see her though? And find out?” Abi looked hopefully from her mum to Chris and back again, and they nodded. Her mum was smiling.

  They might really be able to have a kitten, after all…

  Maria led the way along a corridor lined with cat pens. Abi hadn’t thought there would be so many. They were almost all full too. Cats and kittens were lounging in baskets or standing by the wire doors looking back at her.

  “Here we are,” Maria said, smiling at Abi and Ruby, who was hanging on to Mum’s hand and dancing up and down. “This is the white kitten we’d like you to meet.”

  Abi looked through the door of the pen. There were three kittens in there. Two were tabbies who were rolling around on the floor playing with a toy mouse with a long string tail. The third was a white kitten who was lying in the basket and watching the others. She looked very grand compared to the scrapping tabbies, almost regal, Abi thought.

  “She’s beautiful,” Mum said, sounding a bit surprised.

  “Isn’t she?” Maria agreed. “And she’s very friendly. We’ve only had them for a couple of days, but she’s settled in really well. She loves being stroked.” She looked at Abi’s mum and Chris hopefully. “So if it’s OK with you, I’ll bring her to one of our meeting rooms and we can have a chat about how to take care of a deaf cat.”

  “That would be great,” Chris said. “We’d really like to know more about what we’d need to do. I’ve been thinking about it ever since you phoned, and so have the girls. If we can look after an indoor cat, it wouldn’t matter that we live on such a busy road.”

  “Exactly.” Maria nodded. “Another thing that made us think of you was your registration form. We saw that Chris works from home. Indoor cats need to have someone around for company, you see.”

  Chris looked pleased. “Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”

  Maria nodded. “OK, if you go along to that room at the end there, I’ll bring her through.”

  “Has she got a name?” Abi asked suddenly, looking back from the door of the cat meeting room.

  Maria shook her head. “Not yet. They’ve only just come in and we haven’t decided on anything yet.” She smiled. “So if you adopt her, maybe you could name her.”

  What would be a good name for a white cat? Abi wondered as she waited, perched excitedly on the edge of a chair. Snowball and Snowdrop were really cute but it would be nice to have something a bit different. Lots of white cats were called Snowball. She looked round hopefully as the door swung open and Maria came in with the white kitten cuddled in her arms.

  “Here we are. Now, like I said, she’s very friendly but she’s still quite little, so be gentle.” Maria sat down on the floor with the white kitten standing on her lap. “There you go, little one,” she murmured. “You go and have a look around.” Then she smiled at Abi and her family. “I know she can’t hear me, but I keep forgetting and I talk to her anyway!”

  The white kitten stood there, looking around curiously. She’s so pretty, Abi thought. Even prettier close up, when you could see how blue her eyes were and the shell-pink of her nose and ears. Even her tiny paws were pinkish.

  “So does being deaf make a big difference to how we look after her?” Chris asked.

  “Well, you won’t be able to call her and she won’t hear food going into her bowl or anything like that. But she can definitely pick up vibrations.” Maria slapped her hand on the floor and the kitten looked round curiously. “You see? It’s not the noise she’s responding to, it’s the feel – the vibrations in the air. You can teach her to use hand signals too, like beckoning her to come to you, or maybe touching your mouth to say it’s food time. I’ve got a handout to give you with some ideas.”

  “You mean, we can train her?” Abi asked. “Like a dog?” She slipped down off her chair to sit on the floor with Maria, and the white kitten watched her.

  “Sure. Cats are really clever. And most cats will do anything for food. If she comes when you beckon and you give her a nice treat, she’s going to learn it’s a good thing to do.”

  “Oh, she is coming to me,” Abi whispered as the white kitten padded across the floor. “Hello, kitten.” Then she looked up at Maria. “It seems weird not to talk to her.”

  “I know what you mean. And of course you still can – just as long as you don’t get cross when she doesn’t notice. Actually, if you talk, she might understand your body language. Go big on the facial expressions,” Maria suggested. “Big smiles if you’re pleased with her and frown if she’s jumped up somewhere she shouldn’t.”

  “Is it OK for Abi to stroke her?” Mum asked, and Ruby reached towards the kitten. “Me too!”

  “Your turn in a minute, Ruby,” Chris said.

  “It’s fine to stroke her – but just tap your fingers on the floor in front of her first, Abi, so you don’t give her a shock. She’s looking at you right now anyway but it’s a good idea to get into the habit of showing her you’re there.”

  Abi tapped her nails on the floor and the kitten put her head to one side, obviously intrigued. She sniffed Abi’s fingers, and stood still while Abi gently stroked her little pink ears. Then she began to purr, a huge clickety purr that made Abi laugh.

  “She’s so noisy!”

  “Yes, that’s another thing about deaf cats – she can’t hear how loud she’s being. And it might be that she enjoys the feel of making a noise. She’s got a really loud meow as well.”

  “Ruby, do you want to stroke her?” Abi suggested. “She’s so soft.”

  Ruby nodded eagerly and scrambled down from Mum’s knee. “Shall I tap?” she asked Maria seriously, and Maria smiled at her. “Yes, that would be great. Well done.”

  The white kitten looked round as Ruby banged the floor and Ruby gazed silently back at her. Abi couldn’t believe how good her little sister was being – it was almost as if the kitten had made her shy. Ruby reached out her hand slowly and the kitten padded forward and licked her fingers.

  “Her tongue’s all rough!” Ruby whispered. Then she looked round at Mum and Chris. “When are we taking her home?”

  Abi had hoped they might be able to take the white kitten home straight away, once Mum and Chris had signed all the paperwork and paid her adoption fee. But they weren’t going to be allowed to have her until the weekend. There was a lot to do first, Chris pointed out as they were driving home. “We need to get her a basket – maybe one of those igloo ones. Litter trays, food bowls, toys. A scratching post.”

  “Yes, and we need to walk round the house and think about what we need to do. Maria’s going to come back for a v
isit in a day or two, to help us get ready for an indoor kitten,” Mum said, turning round to look at Ruby and Abi in the back of the car.

  Abi sighed. “Does that mean we have to tidy up again?”

  Chris snorted with laughter. “Actually, Maria gave me a leaflet to read about indoor cats while your mum was signing papers. It says that they like a nice cluttered space with lots of stuff to hide behind. So our house should be perfect.”

  “Can I have a look?” Abi asked, and Mum found the leaflet and passed it back to her. Abi glanced through it. “Wow. There’s a lot to learn, isn’t there? I didn’t know we had to give the kitten grass.”

  “What?” Chris sounded surprised. “I missed that bit. Grass, really?”

  “Yes. It says here that it helps them get the hair out of their stomachs. Why would they have hair in their stomachs though? Oh, I suppose it’s because they’re always licking themselves. We have to have a little pot of grass for her to nibble on!”

  When they got back home, Abi finished reading the leaflet lying on her bed. There was a lot to do. Mum had already said they’d have to get some sort of screen to put over the windows – she hated the idea of keeping them all closed in the summer.

  While Mum and Chris were making dinner, Abi sat at her desk and started making a list of everything they needed for their kitten. It was a long list but she didn’t mind. Every little thing she wrote down seemed to make the kitten more theirs. And in a few days’ time, they would be bringing her home.

  The white kitten sniffed anxiously at the sides of the box and mewed. She didn’t know what was happening but the last time she had been carried in a box she had been taken away from her mother. She had been well fed at the shelter and her brother and sister had been there to snuggle with, but it wasn’t the same. With her mother she had been safe and warm…

  The box tipped a little and the kitten slid into the corner with a frightened squeak. She crouched there, huddled and mewing for what seemed like hours as the box swayed and tipped and lurched. And then it stopped – she was on solid ground again, she could feel it. She sat up and glared as the flaps at the top were opened.

  There were faces peering inside and she crouched back into her corner miserably. She was somewhere new, she could smell it.

  “She doesn’t look very happy,” Abi said. “I wish we’d got her one of those special carriers with a wire front so she could see out.”

  “We will,” Mum agreed. “It was just getting a bit expensive, everything all at once. So when Maria said we could have this carrying box, it seemed like a good idea. But you’re right, she looks positively cross. Don’t you, sweetheart?”

  “Get her out,” Ruby begged. “I want to cuddle her.”

  The kitten squeaked again as Mum reached in to lift her out. “I don’t think she wants cuddling right now, Ruby. She’s a bit confused.”

  “Shall we just let her look at her new basket and toys?” Abi suggested. “I thought she’d be happy to have a proper home. But I don’t think she understands that’s what this is yet.”

  The kitten slunk across the floor, sniffed cautiously at the igloo basket and darted inside. Then she crouched down in the opening and peered out suspiciously at the family staring back at her.

  Chris sighed but he was grinning, and Abi frowned at him. “What are you smiling like that for?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose I’ve just never seen a crosser-looking cat. She’s so tiny and sweet but every hair of her is cross.”

  “Perhaps we should feed her,” Mum suggested, and Abi hurried to fetch one of the new kitten food pouches they’d stocked up with.

  The kitten twitched as she saw Abi gently tilting the food bowl towards her. She could smell the food – the same kind that she was used to. She was quite hungry… Slowly, she put her nose out of the basket and eyed the people crowded around. There were too many of them.

  “She isn’t just cross, she’s scared,” Abi said suddenly. “We should leave her alone.”

  “But I want to cuddle her!” Ruby said, looking upset.

  “Me too.” Abi sighed. “But we have to wait a bit. Look at her, Ruby. She’s really frightened. She doesn’t even want to come and eat her lunch.”

  “She’s like you were, Ruby, on the first day of Reception,” Mum pointed out. “Let’s all give her some space.”

  Ruby sniffed. On her first day of school, she’d had to be bribed with the promise of a new pot of bubble mixture to stop holding on to Mum’s legs, and she still had days where she didn’t want to go into the classroom. She tiptoed away from the kitten and sat down on a kitchen chair to watch.

  The kitten stepped carefully out of the basket and went to the food bowl. For a little while she was more interested in the food than she was worried about this strange new place. But once the bowl was empty, she looked around and they were all still there, watching her.

  The bigger girl was sitting on the floor with a feather toy in her hand. There had been one of those to play with before. The kittens had loved it, dancing and jumping and falling over each other to catch the feathers and twinkling ribbons.

  The shiny ribbons caught the light as the girl shook the toy. The kitten padded closer, just to look. Then the feathers twitched again and she bounced, all four paws off the ground, to catch them. One paw came close, her claws just skimming the edge of the feathers, but the toy jumped away. She crouched down to stalk it across the floor, waiting until the moment was just right. Then she sprang straight up and thumped it hard with her paw.

  She landed half in Abi’s lap, slipping down her knees. Abi put a hand out to catch her, gently scooping the kitten up. Abi was still holding the stick for the cat toy and the bundle of feathers was dangling next to her now. The kitten sat up on her hind paws and grabbed it, hugging it tight. She settled back on Abi’s lap to chew on the feathers and forgot that she was scared.

  “We need to decide what to call her,” Chris said, watching Ruby and Abi stroking the white kitten, who was stretched out between them on the sofa half asleep. They had danced the feather toy about for her all afternoon and she was worn out. She’d eaten another kitten food pouch and she’d worked out where her litter tray was. She’s doing amazingly, Abi thought. Especially since Maria had warned that it might take her days to settle in.

  “It ought to be something to do with her colour,” Mum suggested. “Or her blue eyes. We could call her Sapphire.”

  Abi made a face. “That’s not very easy to say.”

  “Sky, then?”

  Chris nodded. “That’s better.”

  “My friend Sky would like that,” Abi said, tickling the kitten under the chin.

  “Oh, I’d forgotten… It might be a bit confusing though. What about Blanche? It’s French for white.”

  Abi wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think she looks like a Blanche. She’s like – she’s like…” Abi sighed. “I don’t know! She’s so pretty. And I love her pink nose – it’s like a flower petal.” She looked up at Mum and Chris suddenly. “We could call her Flower!”

  Mum looked pleased. “That’s a lovely name.”

  “Hey, Flower,” Abi murmured as she stroked the white kitten again. The kitten didn’t hear her, of course, but she began to purr, a purr so loud that Abi could feel Flower’s whole furry little body shaking under her fingers.

  On Sunday, Flower began to explore her way all through the house. It took her a while to get upstairs, as her legs were still a bit short for the steps, but she was determined and Ruby gave her a lift the last few steps to the top. She sat on Ruby’s bed and watched her play and then tried to climb inside the dolls’ house. Then she slept on Abi’s lap while she did her homework.

  Sometimes she sat on the back of the sofa and watched the road outside through the front window, but she didn’t seem to mind that she was an inside cat. She didn’t know any different, Abi decided. Actually, even if they’d adopted a kitten who wasn’t deaf, it would have had to stay inside for a while, Maria had told them. Kitt
ens couldn’t go out until they’d had all their vaccinations.

  The leaflet had been right when it said that indoor cats liked things to hide behind. Flower went under the sofa, inside the pan cupboard and nearly got stuck behind the bookcase in the living room. She loved climbing too.

  On Monday morning before school, Abi came into the kitchen to get her cereal and looked around to see where Flower was. She’d hurried down before she got dressed and found the kitten still curled up asleep in her igloo basket – but she definitely wasn’t there now. It was only when she heard a tiny meow that she realized where Flower was. She was perched on the curtain rail over the kitchen window and she looked a bit worried.

  “Mum!” Abi yelled. “You need to come and see this!”

  Flower mewed again and tried to stand up, slipping a bit.

  “How did she get up there?” Mum said, stopping in the doorway to stare.

  “I don’t know, but I think she’s about to fall off! Can you reach her?”

  Mum unhooked the kitten and made a frowny face at her, wagging her finger like a cross mother in a cartoon.

  “What are you doing?” Abi asked her mum. Then she giggled, watching Flower stalk across the kitchen floor to her water bowl, pretending she hadn’t been stuck at all.

  Mum laughed too. “I was trying to do a big facial expression, like Maria said. So she understood I was cross.”

  “Ohhh. I’m not sure it was her fault though. I was reading about deaf cats on the internet and one of the websites said they liked being high up because it makes them feel safe. Like no one could creep up on them.”

  “Maybe. But she can’t get into the habit of climbing the curtains,” Mum said firmly. Then she turned, looking towards the front door. “Oh no, is that the dustmen? I haven’t put the bin out!” She hurried from the kitchen to open the front door. “Abi, make sure you’re holding Flower or watching that she doesn’t go out.”