Apollo, Cleo and Sassy

Living on Crete meant not having some of the things we were use to when living in the U.S. Our windows didn't have screens so we bought sheer light blue fabric and rods to fashion our own version of screens that wouldn't offend the builder of the four-plex, our landlord, George. This way we could get the cool sea breezes without the tourists seeing in as they walked along the street just beyond the courtyard. The only thing wrong with our idea was it didn't stop the more friendlier cats from visiting whenever they wanted. When Odyssey made our second bedroom her own, somehow her presence stopped the other cats from making themselves welcomed.

Soon after Odyssey moved in, she became pregnant. Unfortunately, she had a miscarriage. The only thing we could think of that would have cause it was that it may have been too soon after the infection on her leg had healed. Odyssey took it in stride doing her nightly prowling after only a short two-day rest. It didn't take her long to get pregnant again.

This time she knew that she had to take better care of herself. Most days she stayed on the porch under the small table we had out there. She usually spent her evenings in the living room pretending that she was watching TV. I added cat treats and a little milk to her diet hoping the extras would keep her calm. My husband made a bed/nest out of old towels and t-shirts and put it under the trundle bed in the second bedroom. He also put towels in a large box and placed it on its side next to the trundle bed. We were hoping she'd use one place for the delivery and the other as her nursery.

Odyssey had her kittens on a Tuesday afternoon. She had chosen the box for the delivery, probably because it cozy and so private. She kept her kittens in there for four days so we didn't know what they looked like and really weren't even sure how many she had. On the fifth day, she moved them to the nest under the trundle bed. My husband got rid of the box and I mopped the marble floor that covered our entire apartment and porch. Odyssey kept her three little kittens pretty much under that bed for the next few days.

Once she had them out in the bedroom most of the time, my husband told his subtenants about them. Alan, a senior airman, and his wife, Lisa, came over to see if they could have one of the kittens (fictitious names). I had to tell them that I didn't think the kittens were old enough yet but they could pick one out and I'd make sure that one would be given to them later. They were having such a hard time making up their minds on which one to chose. They liked the pure black one and the pure white one. (The third was mostly white with a few large spots of black on it.) Finally, I told them that if they felt up to it, they would have both of the ones they liked.

As the kittens grew, they took over the apartment and gave us hours of fun and laughter. They were strong little critters, jumping from the sofa to the coffee table to the top of the TV and onto small bookshelf. They were getting so rambunctious. One day I was shocked to see that the kitten that had the black spots on it didn't have it's left eye anymore! I hadn't heard any crying so I guess it wasn't hurting the kitten. One of the other kittens must have pulled the eye out of it's socket somehow when playing. This lessened the chances of anyone wanting this kitten. Oh well. We would just keep this one along with Odyssey.

By the time Alan and Lisa came to pick up their kittens, we were able to distinguish which sex each one was. The black one was male and the other two were female. The couple named their kittens right there, Apollo and Cleo. I ended up naming our one-eyed kitten Sassy just because her personality was so upbeat.