Remember Sammy, our resident rat-chaser? She’s been having quite the adventure lately.
It all started with the former official cat of Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi. He’d swapped his cushy lakeside life for the bush, but curiosity got the better of him when he clocked lovely Sammy. So back he came, and before long the two were enjoying regular evening “playdates.” Very friendly, those two!
By early January, whispers were going round. Sammy’s belly was looking suspiciously rounder by the day. Not everyone was buying it, mind you — some staff insisted she’d simply gone a month without proper food and was making up for lost time. Sure, that must be it.
By the end of January, there was no denying it: Sammy was expecting. One Wednesday morning, three tiny kittens appeared beside her. And then a fourth showed up the next day, sporting a bold black head stripe that made her the instant celebrity of the litter.
She spent a fair bit of time auditioning locations for her new family before settling down. Then came the vet visit. Sammy had a wound on her belly, likely a souvenir from one of her wilder dates. The treatment was meant to help. It did not. The injection left a nasty open wound, and for a while even reaching her kittens felt like summiting Everest.
So she made her move, carrying each kitten, one by one, to the canteen. With a nudge from the staff, the whole family got sorted into a snug cardboard box. Sammy looked absolutely shattered as her offspring crawled over her like she was uncharted territory.
Fuelled by mum’s milk, the kittens soon decided the nest was overrated. She puffed and meowed (we’re fairly sure that’s cat for “finally”) as her brood took on the kitchen. They tumbled over each other, swatted at anything that moved, and famously picked a fight with some Irish potatoes. Staff morale soared.
When the time came to find them proper homes, it felt emotional but fitting. The black kitten caught the eye of the neighbouring Black Cat Hostel (obviously), while the others headed off to Kabale Town. Letting them go wasn’t easy. Knowing they’d bring a little chaos and joy to their new places made it just about bearable.