A few years ago my roommates, who had just moved in, had a pregnant cat named Misty. She had her first litter of kittens soon thereafter and I was told I could choose a kitten if I wanted one. Nobody bothered the kittens for about a week as they were carefully kept hidden under my roommates bed.

Once Misty started leaving them for longer periods of time we’d all try to bring the kittens out. There were only 4 kittens: one short haired with tabby markings; one female long haired orange with tabby markings; another long haired seal point; and the last but not least the scraggly looking runt with both long and short hairs sticking straight out and was all white with a hint of being seal point. Of coarse no one wanted the latter one including me. My boyfriend was disappointed because he was hoping for a black kitten to call his own.

When they opened their eyes and started exploring the room everyone choose and I was left with the runt. The owner of Misty moved out, taking the cat and kittens with her. She ended up with some neighbors who had just got a puppy so, of coarse, Misty inevitably ran away abandoning all the kittens.

The ex-roommate came crying back to me, knowing I had much knowledge and experience with many kinds of animals. A week prior the same ex-roommate found a weaned black kitten and gave it to my boyfriend. So now I had kittens everywhere! But the runt was in the worst shape, he was the only one that couldn’t walk and already had diarrhea, meaning if I didn’t get him to eat within 24 hours he’d be dead!

So I set out to buy the special kitten formula and bottle but he wouldn’t take it. The other kittens were already eating just about anything we gave them so one was given to its new home early. A neighbor offered infant formula and an old baby bottle they didn’t need so I tried it. Everyone felt so sorry for the runt and when I told everyone not to get their hopes up because it’ll probably die, which seemed to only egg them on more. So under all this pressure to prove my knowledge I didn’t give up either. I finally got the frustrated and weak little kitten to eat the human baby formula out of the human baby bottle.

The successful mixture was at least double the ratio for humans and a lot warmer, almost hot. When the runt’s belly was gorged I temporarily set him down and to my amazement the older black kitten, named Kronus, came to the rescue and started vigorously cleaning the little one. I observed them for some time and Kronus never left the little one’s side, he was just what was needed.

Later when I returned from work I still half expected the runt to be dead. To everyone’s relief and still astonishment Kronus had taken to be the official care taker of all the kittens esp. the runt. My boyfriend said proudly that Kronus was just living up to his namesake. Soon there after we gave the beautiful long haired seal point to a new home. As the little runt became stronger with every feeding he also became very voicetress. By then I was trying to find home for the last two kittens.

Then suddenly seemingly out of no where Misty appeared at our doorstep. By that time the runt was doing well and eating softened kitten chow with the rest of them. Finally the same neighbor with the puppy decided to take the female orange kitten. Of coarse she also ranaway and ended up back at our doorstep too.

Then the fights broke out! Misty didn’t like Kronus and they started to have territory fights. Misty started refusing to use any of the litter boxes, which started a chain reaction with the other kittens. So after trying many different methods to discourage that smelly bad behavior and since no one else attempted to clean up the messes I had to make the decision to get rid of Misty. And we put the orange kitten outside when she continued Misty’s bad habits. At this point I realized I was really stuck with the little, now noisy, runt.

This experience made me think of the first Buddhist chant I learn and the esoteric meaning of it, having to do with the Lotus flower part of it anyway. The Lotus flower only lives in stagnant murky waters and the harder the struggle for the seed to germinate the stronger and more beautiful the flower. So now 3 ½ years later I have a wonderful healthy cat which I named after the Lotus flower. And he has outgrown is siblings by far. He has been neutered and declawed to prevent any more accidents or unwanted kittens.