Mysterious black kittens

We haven’t had a female cat — and, thus, kittens — on the farm in over five years. All of that changed last weekend.

As we drove into the yard after 4-H Dairy Project Bowl practice last Sunday, I spotted a small, unfamiliar black cat staring us down from inside our garage. I pointed the cat out to the Monika and Daphne and we all proceeded to the garage for a closer look. The little cat, which was clearly still a kitten, albeit an older one, greeted us with hungry, plaintive meows. The kitten, who is solid black with just a freckle of white on her chest, let Daphne and Monika pet her while I went to get some cat food and water.

Judging from her empty appearance and appetite, the poor thing hadn’t eaten in awhile. When her tummy was full, we made her a little nest with an old towel in a cardboard box. I started sending messages to neighbors and employees, figuring she had either wandered over here or hitched a ride in someone’s vehicle. (The last new cat to arrive on our farm came on the trailer that picks up our bull calves.) Nobody knew who she was, so it looked like she’d be staying.

Just like when a new calf arrives, a discussion began about what to name the adorable black kitten. Character names from books the girls have recently read were suggested. Words synonymous with the color black were proposed. The name we all felt fit the best was Onyx. The little kitten’s silky, black fur reminded us of a polished onyx stone. 

Later that night, after bringing the garbage out, I heard Onyx meowing at me from under our parked van. I stooped and called for her, hoping she’d come out so I could scratch her ears. She quickly came to my call. And then another black-as-midnight kitten came trailing after her. “What the heck? Who are you?” I said aloud.

I popped back into the house to tell the kids that there were now two black kittens and then led the new kitten to the garage to show her where the food and water were. At this point, I began to doubt that these kittens arrived here by accident. We had pondered over the winter about adopting a couple new barn cats this summer, since our current barn cats are getting pretty old. I guess sometimes someone else makes the decision for you. 

The kids came out to meet the new kitten, who appeared to have gone a few less days without nourishment before we found her. Since she was just as black and silky as Onyx, we decided her name should be Obsidian. 

Onyx and Obsidian settled into their new home in our garage quite well. I had forgot how much fun it is to watch kittens chase after blowing leaves or curl up in a shaft of sunlight. Onyx did give me a bit of a scare on Tuesday when I found her meowing from inside the engine compartment of one of our trucks. Maybe these kittens did manage to hitch a ride here. Or, wherever they lived before, they became very accustomed to playing around and hiding in vehicles.

On Wednesday night, I saw Monika drive into the yard after youth group and then heard her call from the front door: “You guys, you’ve gotta come see this.”

I proceeded to the front door and found Monika standing on the steps with three black kittens. The newest black kitten was considerably thinner than the other two and appeared to have trekked through either our cow yard or heifer yard — her legs were covered in half-dried manure. But she was, by far, the friendliest. She let us pick her up right away and instantly began purring like a chainsaw.

Now, I was really asking myself, “What the heck?” The mystery of these kittens only seemed to be getting more mysterious. Maybe these kittens weren’t dropped off here, like I had thought. Could someone have been cruel enough to drop them off on a random roadside out in the country? And then they found their way here? Could they all have left their original home together? I know adult cats often migrate, but I’ve never seen kittens up and leave. Clearly these kittens had been socialized and cared for — and had been raised in a garage.

On Thursday morning, Daphne and I cleaned the newest kitten up and decided that her name should be Opal, since opals can be black and we like themed names. Sadly, later that evening, we found Opal had been run over on our driveway. We had lots of deliveries on Thursday afternoon. We don’t know if she climbed up into a wheel well of one of the trucks or if she was just too weak to move out of the way fast enough. She had just found a new home with food and shelter and love after what must have been a harrowing couple of days; we wish she could have enjoyed those comforts for longer.

Onyx and Obsidian are filling out and becoming friendlier. They purr when we pet them and we can hold them briefly. They’ve started venturing farther from the garage and they appear to be practicing hunting. Perhaps they’ll become part of the farm’s mousing crew. For now, we’ll keep enjoying their antics and reminding delivery truck drivers — and everyone else — to please drive slowly in our yard.