Cat's Out of the Bag

So as this title suggests, I got a little Botswana kitten! She is my exterminator of anything having more than 4 legs and my furry companion for the next two years.

I knew I wanted one so I began spreading the word among neighbors and coworkers hoping somebody would know of a litter of kittens in the village.

About a month went by and nada. My neighbors have a very fat pregnant cat right now and offered one of her kittens but they still aren’t even born and will have to be weaned and all. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Luckily my networking and blossoming cat lady status spread. A fantastic woman who works and basically runs the Botswana Red Cross in Kang and who invited me to help her teach first aid to some kiddos after school told me she had six kittens about a month old!

After getting to her house, I had to prove my worthiness. This was no "the wand chooses the wizard" type deal; I had to catch my kitten. After a mad scramble in a shed filled with rusty nails, hay, old doors and mirrors, and I’m sure countless spiders, I caught this little one by her back leg. She wasn’t happy and she made sure I knew it, she hissed and scratched and bit me till I was bleeding. Fortunately, I was at the house of the woman who was teaching first aid. She quickly took out a band-aid, or plaster as they call it, and stuffed my kitten in an old rice bag.

I walked home cradling a rice bag. Many people stopped to greet me and would ask what was in the bag; most thought it would be a chicken. I got some surprised looks once they heard the meowing!

Using my mosquito net as a hammock

Sweet little Sukiri (Setswana for sugar) is quickly becoming fat and finding the most comfortable places for her cat naps. She berates me with her cries for being gone all day at the clinic and cuddles up next to me at night. She’s purrfect.