Purrsy

Update (10/29/16).  First, when I look at the picture of him drinking goat milk, I'm reminded how small he was!  That's just a standard pie pan and his face is so little!  Second, he turned out to be a she.  Imagine my husband's embarrassment when we took "him" to the 24 hour emergency vet because he was bleeding...Third, he's no longer with us.  He disappeared into the wild, never to be seen again.  Fourth, she looked a lot like Mim.  

Purrsy is our youngest cat. We're not sure exactly how old he is because of how he came to be part of our family. It started last summer-one of our dogs was not faring well. She was 14 years old and had stopped eating. I tried giving her cooked rice, goat milk, anything to get her to eat. She wasn't interested-before you start feeling too sorry for me, I "married" this dog-they [her and her sister] are Tony's dogs. Anyway, it was time to do the deed. She couldn't stand up to go outside and we weren't about to diaper a dog! She lived a fun, full life and her time had come. That was July 21st.

July 22nd I was starting the car to take my son to preschool and heard a noise. It sounded like a meow, but could have also been a far off bird squawking. Upon further investigation I saw TINY kitten in our bushes.

Its kinda like a Where's Waldo picture-you have to look to see him. I got back into the car and took my son to preschool without mentioning what I saw. Called Tony on the way home and he already knew why I was calling. The kitten had been on the door step when he left for work at 530 that morning. He said we needed to find a home for him. He said he didn't want 3 cats. I didn't say anything.
I posted an ad on http://www.craigslist.com/ and called a few friends to find this little guy a home. In the mean time I gave him some goat milk. He had the LOUDEST purr I've ever heard, especially coming from such a small critter! I kept checking on him throughout the next couple of days. He was so small he'd be easy prey for a hawk or owl to come get him.
The mystery is how he got there in the first place. We live on a busy road, it'd be hard for him to not get hit by a car. I also think it's quite odd that he showed up the day after Jazmine's last day on earth.
Tony saw how much attention I was paying to the cat and said something to the affect that I was getting awfully close to a cat that I didn't plan to keep. I told him that was his plan, not mine! Shortly after that he realized he had made the decision to give him away without asking how I felt. When he saw how much I liked the kitten he said we could keep him. That's when we named him Purrsy. All you have to do is make eye contact with him and he starts purring!
He's really made a place for himself in our family. He terrorizes the older cats, who just hiss at him when they've had enough. He was afraid of Nala at first (the dog we still have) but now attacks her tail. He sleeps on the bed with us and likes to lay in our laps when we're typing. He's got really soft fur.
I guess he's about 7 months old. He had to be at least a month when he got here, even though he was so small. He started eating dry cat food right away. He doesn't bother the chickens, and as far as I know, they don't bother him!
He likes to hide under the end of my bed and attack my foot as I walk by. He thinks he's sneaky, I just think he's cute!

Update (10/29/16).  First, when I look at the picture of him drinking goat milk, I'm reminded how small he was!  That's just a standard pie pan and his face is so little!  Second, he turned out to be a she.  Imagine my husband's embarrassment when we took "him" to the 24 hour emergency vet because he was bleeding...Third, he's no longer with us.  He disappeared into the wild, never to be seen again.  Fourth, she looked a lot like Mim.