Seven years ago today, our big black and white boy, Data, was living his best life as an only cat, receiving all our love. We had just moved to Nebraska from Missouri a few months before, and were settling in. Then one night the forecast was for temps below zero, and we discovered a tiny beggar at our front door, a little ginger tabby.

She was only a few months old, and she asked for food and shelter by prancing in place. She was adorable and we couldn’t resist her. We didn’t name her because we didn’t plan to keep her, but we did take her to the garage for an overnight. She got a nice soft bed with towels.

The next morning we received a shock. She was giving birth to four wet little babies. She was only a baby herself! But of course, then we had to keep her and raise the newborns. What else could we do?

We named the mama Prancy for obvious reasons, and maybe that sounds like a lame name, but we had a lot to handle by then, so we weren’t picky. We named the babies Ruff, Reddy, Sasha, and Roamer, and we moved them into the heated garage space to keep them warm, because Nebraska springs can be very cold.

Prancy turned out the be a good mama, gentle and patient, especially with us, as we were out there with the babies a LOT, playing with them, watching them, cleaning up after them. Mama taught them how to use a litter box and she kept them clean and nursed them often. Unfortunately, as she was still a kitten, herself, she was far too young to be able to physically nourish them as much as they needed.

We noticed that she was losing far too much weight and that she was getting weak. The babies tried to nurse, but after a while they couldn’t get much milk. They cried. We went to the farm store–we lived in the country–and bought kitten milk replacer. That didn’t work. We couldn’t get them to drink from the little bottles. Prancy, however, showed great interest in that milk replacer, so we gave it to her. It saved her life and the lives of the babies. But PHEW! I don’t advise feeding a cat milk replacer unless it’s a life or death situation, because…wow. Prancy did not digest it well.

Soon we had six cats roaming the house, exploring the huge yard outside, climbing trees. Uncle Data hovered over the kittens and herded them when they got too far from him. He had never wanted the kittens in the first place, but he grudgingly accepted them when we told him to.

After Prancy weaned her babies, we found loving homes for them, but Data decided he wouldn’t mind a companion, so he chose Prancy.

Does anyone ever live happily ever after? We moved again, and life went on, and Data and Prancy became best friends.

Data has been gone nearly three years, but he lives on in our hearts as Prancy lives on in our home. If you ever have a chance to adopt a stray kitten–we found Data when he was about ten weeks old, stranded on a semi truck tire in a Walmart parking lot–remember that you could do worse. They can bring life into your home and joy into your heart.