Three Kittens Were Born In A Huge Pile Of Car Parts Shoved Into My Project Car

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.15.15 Pm
ADVERTISEMENT

“Uhhhh… DT has a few things to sort out at work today…” the head of Galpin Media — where I work — texted me along with a screenshot of a text from a colleague, reading: “Do you know who owns this Jeep? It has a cat inside that gave birth to kittens..” The Jeep in question is my “Holy Grail,” a super-rare manual transmission Jeep Grand Cherokee that I bought for $350 and am turning into the ultimate budget overlander. The vehicle has been sitting in the Galpin lot since I towed it from Detroit to my current home of LA; the “Grail” is filled with hundreds of parts I’ve amassed for the project, and now — among those parts— are kittens. Really, really cute kittens. Take a look, and prepare for your heart to melt.

Here’s the text from Chris, head of Galpin Media:

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.09.43 Pm

You’ll notice an orange-and-white momma-cat sitting atop a mint-condition passenger’s seat out of a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. That’s a comfortable seat, so I commend the cat’s choice.

After receiving that text message, I checked out my rather dilapidated machine, and — while working through the guilt associated with neglecting a vehicle this fine — I gazed at a Jeep with two of its doors wide open; someone at Galpin had clearly been making sure the kittens weren’t getting too hot. (I’ve since rolled down the windows and closed the right front door so as not to take up too much precious parking real estate).

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.23.19 Pm

In that open rear door are lots of parts, as I mentioned before. There’s an entire rear axle, lots of interior trim, seats, a snorkel, brake parts, an entire lift kit, and on and on — it’s a bit of a mess. Have a look:

361094802 5966034400168461 5600152217483152860 N

I didn’t see any cats on the right side of the Jeep, and even the driver’s door revealed only what most people would see as junk, but what I see as potential. But upon opening the second-row driver’s side door I was hit with a blast of unadulterated cuteness:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Autopian (@theautopian)

For those of you who can’t see the Instagram video above, behold!:

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.26.54 Pm

My heart melted into a pool of conventional 10W-30, and not just because these kittens are so absurdly cute, but because they are among the only living beings on earth who actually appreciate a manual transmission Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ like I do! They’re adorable, and also they have great taste! Look at how comfy they look in that machine; they’re into it! (right?)

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.30.30 Pm

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.28.57 Pm

I’ve been returning to the Galpin lot every night to feed the momma cat. She’s really hungry, eating an entire large can of wet-food in what has to be record time. “Is she even chewing it?” I wonder.

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.31.07 Pm

Every night she lets me get a little bit closer to her, but the nearest I’ve ever gotten is about eight feet; then momma-cat walked away. She doesn’t seem afraid of me — she doesn’t scurry away or anything — but she’s clearly not comfortable with me getting too close. And I get it; we humans have done some pretty bad things in our history, and I get the impression that this cat is a history buff. So I’m facing a bit of an uphill battle here trying to gain Zee’s trust.

361082781 231422719808845 712450407742016132 N

Yes, I’ve started giving these cats names. I know, I shouldn’t! But momma cat there is Zee, and this little cat sleeping in my brake rotor is Jay (together, that spells Zee Jay, or ZJ, the platform-name of the first-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee):

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.37.09 Pm Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.37.20 Pm Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.37.33 Pm

I haven’t named the other two kittens, but they’re equally as heart-meltingly cute. Look at this little orange one!:

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.38.16 Pm

And just below the orange one, what do I see?!:

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 1.24.04 Pm

I’ve placed a little bowl of water in the Jeep (it’s dry every morning — I need to put a bigger bowl in there), I’ve rolled all the windows down (it doesn’t seem too hot in there to me, despite the 100-degree weather lately), and I’m making sure the mother is well-fed and that she’s drinking enough. I assume she’s returning to the Jeep every now and then to nurse her kittens. She can get in through the windows and doors, but I suspect she’s entering the Jeep from the transmission shifter-hole down below. I’d previously discovered a Calico cat accessing my Jeep in that manner before; check it out:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Autopian (@theautopian)

My friend, who volunteers at a cat-rescue organization, has been talking with her colleagues about how to proceed with these cute fluffballs, which are going to join a rather large population of cats already hanging out in that Galpin lot. In fact, one night, while I was feeding the momma cat, another seemingly-pregnant kitty came out of nowhere to check things out:

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.56.50 Pm

To prove that’s not the momma cat, here are the two of them next to one another:

Screen Shot 2023 07 13 At 12.57.41 Pm

It seems the move right now is to feed the momma cat (who, I suspect is already being fed by someone who frequents the lot) so she can nurse her kittens until they’re old enough. The ASPCA has guidance on how to handle feral kittens that seem healthy and whose mothers are around; here’s the organization’s advice:

Provide Food, Shelter and Monitor

It is likely mom is taking good care of her kittens. Provide mom and her kittens with food, a dry and clean shelter, and continue to monitor their well-being. Once the kittens are able to eat wet food on their own, around 4-5 weeks old, you can bring them into your home to provide foster care and prepare them for adoption*. Visit this site for information on how to care for the kittens.

Prepare a Trap-Neuter-Return-Monitor (TNRM) plan for mom (and her kittens if they are not friendly with humans and older than 8 weeks of age) that will help keep them out of an animal shelter and set them up for long, healthy lives outdoors as community cats.

If you cannot provide foster care for these kittens or if you need additional support providing a TNRM plan for mom and her kittens, contact your local shelter or rescue to see if they can help.

So that’s the plan; fairly soon I may work with local experts to trap momma and her kittens, and at the very least have them spayed and neutered to keep the population under control. And, if possible, maybe I’ll try to foster and then adopt out these cats. But I’m not sure yet (feral cats may never warm up to humans, so that may be tough, and also I’m overseas for two weeks starting Sunday). My friend and I will continue working with the local animal rescue organization to make the right call.

If it’s up to me, I might want Zee and Jay in my life, long term. They’re cute and they like ZJs; what more could you want out of a pet?!

…but I do travel a lot. So I’ve got a lot to think about.

About the Author

Jason Torchinsky

View All My Posts

167 thoughts on “Three Kittens Were Born In A Huge Pile Of Car Parts Shoved Into My Project Car”

  1. Especially for mama cat, offer some dry cat food. A decent quality one for all life stages. Dry has much more nutrition than wet, which is 80% water. The kittens look old enough so that they can be eating on there own getting them transitioned.

  5. I wouldn’t discount feral cats. We have one, CC, who mostly lives outside but comes inside once or twice a day for an hour or so. She’s not the friendliest cat to strangers and did once put me in the hospital when I misstepped and tripped carrying her, but we love her and she happily hangs out with my wife and I, the kids, and our dogs on the porch.

    We got her for free to try to get rid of mice in our garage. A vet rescued her from the side of the road, only survivor after her momma and other kittens were hit by a car. She got spayed and her ear clipped by the vet and was going to be a barn cat, but tested positive for feline leukemia (CC, short for cancer cat), but never ended up exhibiting symptoms. When she was a little over 2 years old we had her tested again and was negative. Most likely positive test from mothers milk according to the vet. She’s 8 now and healthy as can be.

  7. At least one of the kittens has to be named Larry (whether that’s inspired by Laredo or Larry Shinoda is your call). Orvis would be a solid name too.

  8. Are we just not talking about how the cat got into that car in the first place? Clearly the rust holes are worse than David wants to admit.

  9. We have two rescue cats that were born as feral kittens in Oakland. There’s a great person there called The Cat Man of Oakland who traps them to have them spayed, vaccinated, and adopted.

    Our cats are the sweetest, happiest guys ever. They’re indoors cats, and they love their relaxed but playful life. Give them a chance, and keep them together! Bonded cats need each other, they’re actually very social and get lonely without their bonded siblings.

  10. So now in addition to the rust, dirt, oil, grease and whatever other assorted detritus you amassed in the back of that thing, you can add cat excrement baking in the CA sun. Sounds delicious! Good luck whenever you get it cleaned out in a few years.

  11. Awww cuteness overload! Those should definitely become official Autopian Cats, like Top Gear had the Top Gear Dog. Many good name recommendations already given here.

  12. David, the kittens may very well warm to you. I adopted an abandoned/orphaned feral kitten just old enough to eat wet food, and he was basically attached to my hip until he died at 15. And I traveled plenty too. We did need to get him a friend (siblings would probably help a lot), automatic feeders, litter boxes, water fountains, etc., for when we traveled. And get someone to check on them occasionally if you’re gone more than a few days. Cats are much better than dogs in that regard (meaning avoiding boarding or needing a house sitter).

    1. Our 8-year-old cat was once a feral kitten that we found alone in the woods. She’s very low maintenance and an asshole to everyone except my 7-year-old daughter. 🙂

      1. That’s our 8 year old feral cat. She’s great with me and my daughter, ok with my wife and the other kids, does not tolerate anyone else

    2. Agreed. We took in a feral cat as a foster after our vet trapped him. He was a mess – had to be shaved to get rid of mites and clean up some wounds. Vet said he’d probably never be a housepet as it took her almost a year to catch him. The plan was for us to hang onto him until she found someone who needed a barn cat. She brought him over, we let him out of the carrier, he took one look at the inside of our house, and refused to go outside again for a month. He turned out to be the sweetest, calmest, friendliest cat I’ve ever run across.

    1. I just finished reading ‘Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey for the bajillionth time.

      That Felixer thingy is super disturbing.

  16. I’m mildly concerned about…substances…that would cause substantial odor problems. The interior of the 2nd generation ZJ is fairly easy to strip down though, so maybe that’s the case with the 1st gen too. Hope the seats are ok. But those little kitty faces are so cute! I think the office needs at least one kitty (for all-natural rodent control, of course).

  20. “feral cats may never warm up to humans”

    We adopted two kittens from a rescue. One was immediately friendly, the other spent the first week under the bed. Shy guy eventually warmed up to us and his preferred spot now is next to us on the couch, on his back having his belly rubbed and all four paws up in the air.

    We sent a photo to the couple that runs the rescue and their response was “wow, look at that! That cat was pretty much feral when he came to the rescue”.

    2. “As a former cat owner, I sure hope that the little Kitties didn’t pee on your Jeep! If they did, you are screwed!”

      As a current cat owner I can highly recommend several enzyme products that work wonders on cat pee…and barf…and puked up digested mouse bits soaked into plush carpet right through the pad…and…

      Well, you get the idea.

      Used as a chaser to water and a wet/dry vac you can get pretty much anything out a cat can put in a car.

      If the pee is on something that can go into a wash vinegar works wonders too. I saved a vintage 100% wool coat by soaking it in vinegar, then machine washing on cold water “handwash” cycle, then dryell. It came out looking and smelling brand new!

      (In defense of the cat it was a peacoat)

      1. 20+ Years ago ( Yes, I am old..) I owned 3 cats and their litter box was located in the laundry room and occasionally they would pee on any dirty laundry that was either in a laundry basket or on the floor. I tried all of the “Household hints” for eradicating the smell of cat pee, but nothing worked and I ended up throwing out several articles of clothing! (One of those items was my beloved “Members Only” Jacket,) again, I am old. 🙂

        Anyway, I ended up relocating the cat litter box after that .Problem solved.

        1. I don’t know exactly how you went about your cleaning, all I can say is they worked for me. I even got the smell out of a vintage Danish modern leather sofa. It took removing the foam and treading it by foot in the bathtub a few times and letting it bake a bit in the hot sun but it worked. The leather surfaces got enzyme cleaner (on the back side) then vinegar on the front. That did the trick and didn’t harm the leather.

          I was concerned with how this might affect the leather but at about that time I watched a BBC show “The Worst Jobs In History” (I highly recommend), one of those jobs was tanner, another was wool fuller. Once you see what cow skin and sheep hair go trough to become finished leather and wool you understand: They’ve already seen it all. Cow hides get a month long soak in a bath of rancid dog crap:

          https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/31/dog-feces/

          Wool was made by treading it in rancid human pee:

          https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling

          That should make it pretty clear you CAN get even the worst odors out if you do it right.

    3. This was my thought, well almost. I guarantee they have been peeing all over it and he is screwed. It’s not impossible to clean but yeah… It’s gonna be super gross

      3. After cleaning out that old FC in Washington, I think cleaning up this jeep will be a walk in the park. Also, as someone who shares a house with three rescue kitties, thanks for taking care of the little guys and momma.

    5. Correction needed, line should read:
      You’ll notice an orange-and-white momma-cat sitting atop a formerly mint-condition passenger’s seat

Leave a Reply