Earl Grey - A Tribute

On Friday May 9th, Matt turned 28. That day while Matt was at work I was checking on the feral cat Blackey and her kittens. A few days prior we discovered one of her kittens did not make it, so I was concerned. I found another one that had passed and was removing him/her to bury it. After stepping into the house to get a small blanket to wrap the kitten in I came back out to discover that the two bigger sized kittens were missing and that Blackey left behind a tiny grey kitten. I waited two hours and contacted the feral caregivers in the area for help. I wrapped the kitten up and waited nervous as hell. I was shown how to bottle feed and clean a kitten in a ten minute crash course when help arrived. I was told that I should name him and I had already decided on Earl Grey, one of my favorite teas.

We went out and bought kitten supplies: a heating bad, basket, more formula. I came home and fed him, kept him warm and slept horribly because I got up to check on him every few hours to make sure he was warm.  I cleaned him, even finding some joy when he peed on me. We cancelled our plans to go to the bay area. We did go out to the acupuncture clinic for my session, grabbed a coffee and dinner. We discovered a flat tire and had to wait for a tow truck for help. By the time we got home I was a panic driven mess.
Earl Grey seemed a bit cold but he was on his pad with blankets, I gave him warmth, food and cleaned him, he was not getting better. I begged him to please stay, to fight and told him how much he was already loved by me. At 1AM he passed away in my hands.

I wanted so much for Earl Grey to be a miracle kitty, a fighter. From day one when people did not have hope I did. I was bringing up courage that I had placed away from my days with Mar battling kidney disease. Matt and I are heartbroken. I still have not located the other kittens but hope they have a better chance - last time that I saw them (the day I took in Earl) they were double the size of the kittens, including Earl who did not make it. I am stepping up my TNR and hopefully things will work out.