Cat Condo with Screened Porch…

Here is the temporary home for our new mom and babies. It’s a very old, reinforced screenhouse set back in the woods with a small shed attached. The shed is insulated and has a heater for the cold weather and a fan in the summer. The cats can go between the screenhouse and shed via a cat flap. As soon as we opened up their playpen (which we carried into the screenhouse, yesterday, they all ran into the shed to hide. The “floor” of the screenhouse is nice, new sand, but we had placed a small cardboard litterbox in the playpen for them. This afternoon, the little black kitten ran out of the shed and into his playpen to use the litterbox. How cute is that? By the way, the litter we are using is Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract. That is darned good stuff!

OH NOEZ! MOAR KITTEHS!

For the past few weeks, we’ve been feeding a feral cat and her two kittens. They were living in a sheltered area of the woods behind the house. Every morning and evening they would come into the yard for their breakfast and dinner. I had been sitting outside, reading, in an attempt to acclimate them to my presence, but they still remained very frightened and wary. We realized that in order to catch them, we’d have to come up with a gentle, but cunning plan. DH figured out a way to attach a cat flap to a large metal playpen and we started putting their food in it so they would get used to it. Then, in a stroke of pure genius, he rigged the flap so that it would close (and stay closed) simply by pulling a string from the kitchen window. This morning, when all three were having their salmon in the playpen, we got ‘em! We slid long poles through the metal at the top so we could safely transport the entire cage, "Ark of the Covenant" style!

We think the babies are about eight weeks old and are probably their mommy’s first litter. They are all completely wild so it’s going to take a lot of work to earn their confidence. I love cats but I do sometimes wonder why it seems to always be our responsibility to rescue them. And then I think of the words to a great song, “Treasure Island,” sung by Mary Black:

"O love is never easy
It's almost always out of your way
It's not the path of least resistance
It's not some words you get to say
It's a stream running up a mountain
It's a wave rolling out from the shore
Wish I could say I never felt that way before"


Pen with Cat Flap and String


Close-up of Flap


Nabbed!


Wooden Poles


Mommy


Babies

Beatrix and Bridget

It has been cool and rainy all week. Today, the temperature is in the 70s with intermittent thunderstorms. I love the yard this time of year when the trees are just leafing out. Here are two of my little girls, Beatrix and Bridget, having a confab while enjoying the view from our bedroom window. Note the lovely “distressing” on the windowsill...

Canned Pumpkin for Cat Diarrhea

We have been very concerned lately about little Briar. He has had runny diarrhea for the past couple of weeks. He’s had all kinds of tests plus a fecal culture. We tried giving him organic yogurt to add good bacteria to his tummy as per the vet’s instructions. It didn’t work for him. In desperation, I searched the web and found this wonderful group for cats with inflammatory bowel disease. Their first recommendation was to start adding Libby’s canned pumpkin (not pie filling) to his diet. He loves it, especially if we spoon feed him. I think he really enjoys the extra attention. Anyway, he’s been eating it for three days and his poopies are nearly normal! YAY!

Briar’s Mom, Mary Frances

Mary Frances is recovering from her spaying operation. She had some complications. One ovary was tiny and dislocated, so a long incision had to be made just to find it! Also, in her abdomen, there were two calcified masses that had to be removed and sent to a lab for analysis. It turns out that she had an ectopic pregnancy. The vet said it was a good thing we had rescued her because another pregnancy would have been dangerous for her.

After spending a small fortune on her (and worrying for a week that the growths might be cancerous tumors) you’d think she would appreciate us but she doesn’t. She just hisses and spits at us and treats us with utter disdain. We have to wear gloves to handle her and she bites right through them. Ah, but look how pretty she is. It’s so sad that no one treasured her or even wanted her when she was a kitten. How I wish people understood the vital importance of spaying and neutering pets…

Briar Sleeping

It’s hard to believe that this gentle, affectionate little angel is the offspring of a feral cat. Doesn’t he look like he could just sprout wings and a halo?

And Baby Makes a Baker’s Dozen…

Just when we thought we were going to get through the summer, unscathed, Mary Frances (a possibly feral stray we’ve been feeding) gifted us with this bundle of joy, Briar. We think he is about two weeks old. DH picked him up, had a good look-see at his nether regions and proclaimed him a little boy. There goes more of our retirement savings...

Himself...

This is Binky on his blanket at the foot of the bed. He is not quite one year old and he is just as sweet as can be. His fur is silky smooth and as soft as the underside of a rabbit’s tail. He still “nurses” on his older brother, Blake, and on our eighteen-year-old cat, India (who are both very tolerant of him).

Just Blame Al Gore and Global Warming…

Greetings from the Feline Home for Unwed Mothers! Found these little guys (and gal) underneath the pile of wood that was dropped off last week. We lured Mommy into the screen house with food and they are all living in there until we get arrangements sorted out inside. We don’t think Mom is feral but she is terribly frightened. We can’t touch her, although she allows us to handle her babies. So there is much work to be done trying to calm her down – and gain her trust. We figured there is no point taking them to already overburdened shelters. The “experts” say this year’s kitten boom is due to global warming… I always like to quote President Lincoln who said (around 150 years ago), "No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens."