Benny, just waking up

This is Benny, our neighborhood cat. She just woke up, and in exchange for this picture she demanded that I give her ears a good scratch. Never let it be said that I don’t reciprocate. Anyway, it turns out she’s about to have a litter. Benny is a small cat, entirely too sweet for her own good, and I’m totally at a loss for what to do. Despite my hard hearted, cynical nature, and against my own advice, I’ve become attached to the cat. Hell, if we weren’t allergic, Shannon has already confirmed that Benny would be our cat.

Now that’s she’s having kittens, I’m worried about her. Yes, I know she’s a semi-wild animal now, and that she can fend for herself, but I don’t want her to. I want her life, and her kittens, to be relatively safe. I know there are “friends of neighborhood cat” websites, and I do have a friend who is a vet, but do people have other advice? And when Benny’s kittens are old enough, who wants one? She is, without a doubt in my mind, the sweetest cat I have ever met (sorry Matthew). I can only imagine her kittens will share her demeanor.