A stray cat has been hanging my parents' house (thanks to my dad leaving food out) for several months, starting back in mid-April. One day, my dad discovered that she decided to bring her what looked like a one-month-old litter of four kittens to their backyard. For about a month I tried to catch each one, which was terribly hard. They were skillful little hiders with lots of places to hide, incredibly wild and feral, most of them giving great chase and shaking when I held them, and squirming and trying to get away. And of course there's the biting and scratching.
The mother cat DID NOT like it when I was holding one of her babies. She would growl and hiss and try to attack me. One time, she jumped up and attacked my mom, who wasn't even holding the kittens. I was holding two of them, and they were both crying. The mom freaked out and decided to go for my mom, jumping all the way up to her stomach. Of course I can't blame the mommy cat, she was only looking out for her babies…she was being a good mommy. It's just too bad that that's the she has to go about it that way. Every time I could get my hands on one, I'd bring it into my mom's bedroom, hold it, and pet it to calm it down and get used to being around people and being held. This was SO tedious though. If was lucky enough to catch one, we had to deal with mommy. My mom would have to hold a rake and shoo her away because she would growl and try to attack me.
I believe that by the coloring of the kittens, the "culprit" (daddy) is another cat that hangs around my parents' backyard, also partaking in the vittles which my dad insists on keeping out for them, because he's afraid they'll starve. Yeah dad, that's nice and all, but NOW look what we have!!! The mommy looks part Siamese and part something else…she has beautiful blue eyes and is white with a grey and white striped tail. The cat who we think is the daddy is all black, with a white patch on his chest, some white on his belly, and white paws (mittens and boots). All four kittens have at a great deal of these two colorings.
Here's mommy. Isn't she a little beauty? Look at those blue eyes!
And here's mommy cat nursing her babies. Sooo cuuuute!!!You can see all four of them in the first picture:
And here are three of them...one got away. But if you look really close, you can see the black cat's blue eyes peering out from underneath the other two kittens...
A rare opportunity - taking a picture of three of the four kitties while they were still running wild.
CHAPTER 2 - THE CATCH:
My fiancé Jeff and I spent at least two hours trying to catch all four of them in early May. It was quite a job. They were all so FAST and there were SO MANY places they could hide because the backyard is such a mess. Jeff and I did the catching. First we had move a lot of the crap that my dad has by the back of his fence because that's where they were hiding. Our game plan: Jeff was the finder and I was the catcher. As we cleared stuff, we came upon one at a time, and then I had to chase it down. I fell once, got a few scratches, but we amazingly got them all. I really didn't think we would. Picture me (if you can picture me) running back and forth in my parents' backyard, crawling on the ground, jumping over rocks and twigs, sliding on the grass…I actually had FUN. I felt like Steve Irwin hunting down crocodiles.
After we caught them all, we put them in a big dog kennel cage, the largest one we could find at the pet store (I can actually fit it in, but then I'm very small). They were NOT happy. They kept running back and forth in the cage, slamming into the sides because they didn't realize that there was now a barrier in their way. They were incredibly confused. They meowed and climbed up the sides of the cage and pretty much freaked out. Each time we put one in they did this exact same thing. I'm sorry, but I have to say that although I felt sorry for them, it was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen…the cats running back and forth, getting whacked each time they reached the end of one side of the cage, running to the other side, getting whacked again. We put towels on the bottom of the cage, food, litter box, some toys, etc. We've been trying out different things with them…different beds, bedding, placement of stuff, toys, etc.
Here they are shortly after being caught:
A few days after settling into the cage:
I went over to my parents' house each day and held each one for about 15-30 minutes, sometimes more, to try to get them used to being held in hopes of taming them and getting them used to being inside of a house. They are all so different in their personalities. There is this tiny female who is SO mean (probably the "runt" of the litter), just like her mom. She hisses and spits and scratches and bites and does that low growl that mommy cats do when you get close to their kitties. She has hurt, bit, and scratched me more than all of the other kittens put together. She'll also yell at times when you pick her up. If the mommy hears that, she comes running and we have been attacked by her a few times in the past! The little kitten is basically black and white striped, and the most ADORABLE, dainty, girly-looking kitty. If you saw her, you'd just want to pick her up, cuddle her, and take her home. But looks sure can be deceiving! Because of her behavior, we have named her "Spitfire," and I call her "Spitty" most of the time.
Spitfire living up to her name...
But she's so cute!!!
Next, there's a fluffy one, male, long-haired, very dark but with some stripes, white paws and also a bit of orange. He seems like he might be a cuddler. A few times, he almost fell asleep on me. After the initial, "I'm scared, leave me alone!" he calmed down. He seems very uninterested in much of anything, and will just in his corner and take it all in…sort of the loner type. He also sleeps quite a bit. But he's very laid back. I think of the four, he's the easiest to pick up and pretty much do anything with. He'll just like there like a lump and let you pick him up to move him or hold him. Not to say he doesn't have his skittish times. However, he is the least lively of the bunch. I call him "Fluffy." Yeah, really original, I know.
One of the first times I was able to hold Fluffy...
There's a black female who was a lot like Spitfire at first. She would hiss and protest when I picked her up, but she didn't try to claw my eyes out or anything like Spitty (yes, I have the little scar by my eyebrow to prove it). Of course she's all black, with green eyes. Her coat is really pretty, soft, and shiny. As time went by, she settled down and though she is not docile like Fluffy, she definitely isn't psychotic like Spitty. She seems to be somewhat of a 'fraidy cat though, so I named her "Spooky." But for some reason, at least one of us will call her "Blackie" once or twice throughout the day. Probably because she's...black?
Spooky climbing of course...
Black Spooky playing with a black mousie...
The last kitty is a male and is striped and looks similar to Spitty, but has a bit it of orange in his face and doesn't look as dainty as the little girl. He also had the boots and mittens (white paws) like the cat who we think is his daddy. He has the greatest personality. When we were bringing the cats inside frequently to hold and socialize them, he took to the environment fairy quickly. One day I put him down on the bed just to see what he'd do, and he walked right up to some blankets sitting on the bed and started nuzzling them, going in between them, etc. He even gave my mom and I a few nuzzles on our foreheads. He tried to explore everything. Then he just lied down on the bed like he was claiming his territory. I could tell he felt at home instantly. We started getting toys out and playing with him during these "sessions," and he was just hilarious…we had a blast. None of the other kittens did this. They would either run, just sit there, and were afraid of the toys.
Back to this kitty…he is very curious and into everything, tries to "help" me when I clean out the cage, batting at the brush and moving around the dustpan, loves to play with my hair, will try to pull anything he can into the cage, and LOVES to play with kitty toys. He's the most active and fun cat of the group. I totally love him and my mom fell in love with him as well, so she is keeping him. She named him "Archie." I sorta helped pick the name. He is named after Jamie Bamber's character, "Archie Kennedy" in the movie "Horatio Hornblower." At first it was a joke, but my parents liked the name and it stuck. He does look like an Archie.
Heeere's Archie!!!
So to sum up the cats, Spitfire is just a mean little bitch. Since being caught over a month ago and being in "captivity" for over a month, she has NOT tamed down one bit. If we try to pet her, she hisses and growls, and sometimes even swats at us with her claws out. Forget about trying to pick her up…you're taking your life into your own hands. And she's GREEDY and territorial. If she is playing with a toy and one of the other cats comes near her, she growls. When they get their "breakfast" of canned food, she's the first one at the bowl and will growl at her siblings next to her. I am worried that no one is going to want to adopt her; I can't understand why she won't calm down and accept us. Even her mommy has come to the conclusion that we are not going to harm her babies, will come up and meow at us, go up to the cage and meow at the kitties while they put their arms out to reach her, and doesn't mind when we touch them. Okay, back to what I was saying…Archie is the most fun, sweet, and entertaining cat of the bunch…I'd take him in a heartbeat. But I can tell he's going to be a handful. Fluffy is pretty laid back and docile, so he'd be great if you didn't want an overly active cat. and Spooky is, I'd say, somewhere between Fluffy and Archie, a little less playful than Archie, sometimes stays in his little corner, and seems to be somewhat wary of us at times. And she's a little like Spitfire too at times.
Here's the whole brood. Left to right...
Fluffy (male), Archie (male), Spooky, (female), and in front of Spooky, Spitfire (female)
CHAPTER 3 - NOW WHAT???
Short story long, that's the thing that's been keeping me most busy over the past few months. I decided that there was NO WAY I could get rid of these little beauties or just let them roam, and I wanted to make sure they all went to no-kill shelters. There are five in my area and all of them are expected to be full throughout the summer. I called them all several times, plus some out of my county, some out of my city. All of them, by county law, have to be spayed or neutered to adopt out.
So I was able to get a voucher for Archie to lower the cost, and he is going to the vet Monday (the 25th of June). I don't want to get vouchers for the others because the vouchers would be in my name and I would have to transfer ownership to the adopter, which would require them to go back to where I bought the voucher with me after the cat was spayed/neutered, and I feel like most people would think that is too much of a hassle.
Fluffy and Spooky go on Thursday, but Spooky and Spitty are up in the air. For some strange reason Spooky has taken a liking to my dad, don't ask me why. My dad goes back and forth between keeping him and not keeping him. They already have an adult, 6-year-old cat and at their age, taking on two more kittens would probably be too much for them. So most likely, Fluffy and Spooky will go in on Thursday to be spayed and neutered.
And then there's Spitfire. I ABSOLUTELY HATE to do this, but I don't think anyone is going to adopt her and I don't want my parents to waste their money on her. We are thinking about just taking her to the county shelter. I know what will most likely happen to her. But what else can we do? We plan to charge the adopters close to what the fee is to get them spayed/neutered, and if Spitty doesn't get adopted, my parents are screwed…if we end up taking her to the shelter anyway, my parents lose that money.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS? PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU DO, BECAUSE I DON'T WHAT HER EUTHANIZED. WHAT DO WE DO???
Due to the lack of shelter space (we've been told this is one of the WORST kitten seasons EVER in this county), our last resort is to try to get them adopted out ourselves, probably using craigslist. I hate doing it that way, because I know that at a no-kill shelter, they're MUCH more likely to go to a good family, and it's definitely more difficult to find people to adopt cats through classified type ads. But they are getting older, between 3 and 4 old months now, and have been with us for what seems like almost three months (one month outside in the wild, almost 2 months inside the cage).
We can't keep them all. Also, the cage is now in my parents' house, which is causing quite a mess. We are going through a heat spell that has lasted like what seems almost a month now, and on one of the hottest days (which was at or over 100 degrees), the poor little ones were panting and crying, so my parents decided to bring the cage in the house. That's really when the cats started coming around and becoming friendlier I think. I know it's going to be difficult to find people to pay for the cats, but they will be spayed/neutered, have their 4-in-1 shot, and be de-wormed if necessary (I think those are the most basic things we can do…we are debating on the 4-in-1 for the two we're not keeping). So look what they'd be getting…a spayed/neutered cat who is healthy, tamed (they ALL were feral), has its shots, is socialized, litter-box trained, and we have spent so much time and money on food, litter, the cage, they have been under good care and off the streets for over a month, etc. I see nothing wrong with charging for them.
OH! I just got a reminder call about Archie's appointment on Monday. It seems that he is going to be staying overnight! He will be getting neutered, all necessary shots, micro-chipped, de-wormed if necessary, a feline leukemia test and feline leukemia shot. I think that's it.
Alright, this was way too long but I wanted to share my story with my few loyal readers…hopefully I will attract a few more. This has been quite an experience…mostly fun, but at times frustrating, and sometimes downright dangerous. Wish me luck in finding these little beauties good homes. Details to follow as the story continues to unfold. Stay tuned…
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