Day 16 - Baby Gumba

This is our cat, Gumba, on the day I brought her home.  Neema liked her.  :)

Gumba is actually Vidole Gumba - which is Swahili for 'thumbs.'  Gumba is polydactyl, which means she has 6 toes on the front (instead of 5) and 5 on the back (instead of 4.)  Polydactyl kitties are sometimes known as Hemmingway cats because reportedly, he really liked them.

I have always wanted a black polydactyl.  Not sure why.

At the time I met Gumba, I was living with a gal named Glenda.  I had just bought a house and Glenda had moved with me from our apartment to the house.  I had my dog, Neema and one cat - Sophie.  I had already tried to bring home several other cats but Sophie had made it clear she liked to be the only feline in the house.

Glenda was not a cat person.  At all.  But Sophie is the world's best cat (I kid you not) and she won Glenda over.  :)

One day at work, one of my clients brought in a small little kitten to be put to sleep.  This client is an elementary school teacher and her students heard a kitten crying under one the mobile buildings adjacent to the school.  The school janitor crawled under it to rescue the kitten - and that's when they saw that her right rear leg was badly damaged.  Somehow (we don't think it was malice) a nylon string of sorts had gotten wrapped around her leg and the tissue below it, including the foot, was dead.

The teacher was being merciful.  She was asking me to end this little kitten's suffering quickly and gently.

But I couldn't do it.  :)

I held her in my hand and said "I don't want to kill her.  I can save her!  Can I have her?"

The teacher replied 'sure!'

It was a bit of a trick to get her under anesthesia - she weighed only a pound and we estimate that she was only 4 weeks old.  I amputated her leg at the knee, put a purple bandage over her stump, and watched her completely flip out during her recovery in a fish tank.  (We put little tiny critters in the fish tank after surgery so they can't hurt themselves and to help keep them warm - it has a lid.  Regular cages are too big.)

And then I brought her home.  :)

I was sure that since she was SO small that Sophie would take to her without hostility.  I was wrong.  But Neema loved her right away.  Sweet doggie. 

Glenda, like Sophie, was also not thrilled with her arrival.  I remember Glenda exclaiming 'she can stay, but I will never like her.  The only cat I will EVER like is Sophie.'

That soon changed.  Ha! 

Both Sophie and Glenda warmed up to her and Gumba actually became more of Glenda's cat than mine. In fact, when Glenda moved out she asked me if she could take Gumba with her.  Quite a request for a person who did not like cats.  :) The little stinker has always liked my roommates more than me.  It's true even now - she likes Matt way more than she likes me. 

She is so silly and sneaky.  She has the quirkiest personality.  And she is one of the funnest little cats I have ever known.  I'm so glad we found each other. 

Even if she does like Matt better than me.  :)