Always been an animal lover... always will be.  Can't resist their piercing eyes, those "smiles", cocked heads saying "you know you love me! (no matter that my presence is in the middle of what appears to be the remnants of some small tornado)!"  I'm just a sucker.

And thus begins the stories of the additions to our family....

I worked as an office administrator and receptionist for a local veterinarian.  I lived in an area that only a few years earlier had been vacant open fields left over from a large Texas Ranch sold to make subdivisions for a growing city.   So it never came to any surprise to find animals in the strangest of places or pop up at the strangest of times.... but this one... well... she takes the cake. 

I came home from work one night and parked my car in the driveway as always.  The next morning when I got into it I heard a sound before I started my engine!   "Mew...."   Knowing what animals do... and knowing what I should do... I looked under the car... then opened the hood.  A VERY tiny black kitten scurried out and ran into the bushes. 

I spent a little time trying to get it but it was obviously terrified so I put a bowl of water out and went on my way.  She could have been from a nearby litter from one of the many feral cats or should could have hitched a ride under my car coming back from work.  Sadly many people dump animals in front of the vets to avoid any responsibility.

For the next 2 weeks I was unable to go anywhere without a fan fair of drumming on the car and opening doors and hoods to ensure that the little occupant of my engine removed herself and every time I was unable to catch her.  (You think it could have been all that noise we made?)

One day my son needed to go to a bus station.  We checked the car and when we were sure there was no extra passengers we drove to the station (10 miles of highway and freeway).  We spent almost 45 minutes getting his tickets and when we went back to the car, to our surprise, a little black fur-ball scurried from under the shade of the car up into the wheel well!

I spent the next 15 minutes on my back under the car chasing her around the engine.  When I finally caught her I put her loose inside the back of the car (she was too scared to be held).  When we got home we checked her out.  She looked horrible.  Her little face and tail were matted and dirty, she seemed to be injured in her eyes and her tail had chunks of missing hair.  I was concerned about her health as she was so tiny (fit into my cupped hands) and no telling what she went through holding on to the axel of a car at 60 mph!  My son and I could not believe she took such a risk and survived.  She was dubbed!

Taking her to the vets it was learned that she was barely 4 weeks old, her tail was fine, just pulled hair and her eyes... after cleaning were not damaged but had a genetic problem (ingrown eyelashes).  She received a good cleaning, some antibiotics, soon surgery for her eyes.  and now she is the queen of her new home.  A princess.  Spoiled rotten.  Her one eye lid slightly covers her eye and it is possible she has some vision problems from the eye.  But she makes no  fuss, purrs up a storm and refuses to go outside ever again!

LESSON:  Always check your engine before starting to ensure no animal has crawled inside to keep warm (especially in colder weather.  Most aren't miracles - She took a "risk" and lived!