10/17/2026
In the early morning hours, after staying up late waiting for Tractor Kitty to come back, followed by an entirely different kind of battle with the unbearable 18-month sleep regression, I found myself outside in the dark with headlamps on, trying to secure Tractor Kitty alongside my 15-year-old.
In the middle of all this, Topher looks at me and says, “I didn’t sign up for this.”
To which I reply, “This is rescue.”
And he goes, “Yeah, I didn’t sign up for this.” 🤣🤣
Honestly, fair enough, Topher. Fair enough.
The truth is, none of us expected to be here, but here we are. ❤️
Most of my updates about this little adventure have been on my personal page, so I thought I’d share a little rundown of how we got here.
🐾 It started in late August.
That’s when we first spotted a new face on the farm. Naturally, I immediately sprang into rescue mode and set up a feeding station, not knowing this kitty’s story or where she had come from.
It didn’t take long for this sweet babe to earn a name: Tractor Kitty, TK for short, thanks to her favorite hangout spot being our old blue tractor.
A few weeks later, we upgraded her feeding station to a homemade kitty condo. Week after week, we watched this sweet girl from a distance, although I’m pretty sure she was watching us just as closely. 👀
🐾 Then came the next step.
Last week, after consulting with our family vet, we decided it was time to try trapping TK so we could get her vaccinated, scan for a microchip, and determine whether she needed to be spayed or neutered.
We spent the week helping her get comfortable around the trap, building trust and hoping everything would go smoothly.
And then last night, it was go time.
One failed trap trigger.
One successful trip… followed by an insecure door and an escape.
And finally, one successful trap.
I finally had our kitty safe.
And then I didn’t. 🫠
This cat is STRONG. And FAST. And apparently has absolutely no intention of making this easy on us. She managed to escape while I was trying to transfer her into a more comfortable and manageable kennel.
So, here we are. Back to square one.
We’ll return to condo feedings, camera stalking, and patiently earning her trust until next weekend, when we’ll try again.
Because that’s rescue.
It’s late nights, early mornings, sleepless nights, unexpected escapes, and sometimes standing outside in the dark with your teenager, wearing headlamps and questioning your life choices. 😂
It’s also choosing to keep showing up for an animal who needs help, even when things don’t go according to plan.
We don’t know TK’s whole story yet. We don’t know where she came from or how long she’s been on her own. But we do know she deserves a chance to be safe, healthy, and cared for.
So we’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep being patient. And hopefully, next weekend, we’ll have a much less eventful trapping attempt.
Please send all the good vibes our way for round two! 🤞🐈💙
Because apparently, we did sign up for this. ❤️
