The New Cats

My DH and I  are the owners of 12 cats, six we had at the time of the invasion.  However my original six were getting in to geriatric phase, their ages running from 8-17.

It all started last June (2009) a white/tan boy (a japanese bobtail) and his girlfriend a brown tabby with white bib arrived at our porch.  I didn’t want to feed them, knowing what problems it can come your way.  So I  kept chasing them off.  Well my DH said he couldn’t stand seeing them so he started feeding them, and so it goes.  Soon we discovered the tabby was pregnant.  She gave birth to a longish hair, black and white boy with white blaze on his forehead.  That was about the 4th of June,  That beautiful black and white I couldn’t resist.  He has been my boy since he was 3 weeks old.

When he was small he use to go face to face with squirrels while they ate peanuts.  He also would run to end of the deck whenever the dogs from next door would come out and watch them so intently to make sure no one came any closer.

So everything was going along, we thought she would just have this one kitten then I could get her spayed after she was nursing (however getting a hold of her is tough she is basically feral).  Well as luck would have it, she got pregnant again, while nursing (which can happen as fluke) Meanwhile we checked on the tag around Papa Cat’s neck.  The phone number was cell phone,  I called it and left a message.  On their voice mail it gave their name.  So I looked it up in our community book, and called that number,  it was disconnected.  We went to their house and it was empty,  welcome to housing collapse.   So basically the left this guy.  He really is nice cat, but he needed to fixed before he could come inside.

So I started looking into spay and neuter clinics in our area.  We found the Virginia Kincheloe clinic, which operates out of shelter.   They do the shots and spay/neuter for about of 1/3 for what it would cost with your vet.  Since I was looking at the possibilities of more kittens,  I thought I would try the service out.  In July I got mister Beau neutered (the papa).  He did well and I was pleased.  So we cleaned him up and let him come in.   For most of the summer into the fall (November) Mama, Dad and kittens were living on our screened in porch.

So come August Mama Cat (Annie) had another litter of kittens.  3 black (2 boys and girl), 1 tabby (mirror of  Annie) and 1 gray one.  She brought them to me when they were about 3-4 weeks old.  So we herded Mama Cat with kittens including her first one (Rory) onto the porch.

Then came the cold weather, and we couldn’t keep them out there , so we invested in the largest dog crate we could fine.   I set the crate up in the basement with blanket/pillows,  food and litter box.  Then we shuffeled Mama Cat in there very fast.  The kittens had the run of the place, and so did Beau (Papa Cat) and Rory (the first baby).   When indian summer days came in November I would carry Mama Cat out an place her on the porch.

They say you can’t tame a feral cat.  Well that isn’t completely true.  Mama Cat felt safe in her crate and we let that confidence build.  I would go in and pet her, give her hugs and so forth.  Believe me she winced but she did okay with it as well.  In November I got her spayed at the clinic.  It was easy to get her into the cat carrier from the crate.  An the clinic is use to feral cats.  She came through it okay,  without any resentment.   I attribute half of her acclamation to the fact that her hormones are settled as a result of the spay.  Everything stayed status quo until after January.  When Rory and the babies where due to have their spay and neuter.   At the same time, I started letting Annie migrate out, by setting her food dishes outside the crate, just to see what she would do.

When the storm came in February, we lost power for three days.  Annie stayed in the basement (which I’m sure was about at freezing) the main level of the house got down to 42 degrees by the 3rd day.  The upstairs was colder as well.   The kittens stayed with us on the main level, as well as Beau and Rory.  We lived in front of the fireplace.  So without much warmth to go around,  Annie as well as my Edward caught colds, which they spread to others.

All are doing well now.  Annie has gotten to the point now of coming upstairs, eating with the others, sleeping on the couch and joining in somewhat, so she’s getting there.  The main thing is she is safe, warm and loved even though she can be a little…. well we won’t say that.