Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Cats

We have several cats that wander through our yard. A few can be attributed to neighbors, but some appear to be feral cats, just living off the land. One in particular is a regular visitor, we’ve been seeing it for three or four years now, it likes to come and sit under the bushes near the back door and watch our bird feeder. I would much rather have birds than cats, but one seems to attract the other.

Last year this one had a single kitten, and they were in the yard daily. Eventually they left and we didn’t see them for several months, but a few months ago the older female showed up again. Back in mid-May B was looking out the window and saw this group:


That’s mom lying in the grass with four kittens playing around. We once came home and mom cat ran across the driveway with a big white Siamese, who we assume is the father. A nice assortment of kittens, two the same grey striped as mom, one black and one white like dad. A very good example of how genetics and inheritance works.

The kittens seemed big enough to be eating on their own, and once in a while B put out some food, which they all ate. As expected mom soon started parceling out the kittens, I guess they grow up and have to be pushed away. It ended up that the white one was left in our back yard, a nice safe area where food periodically showed up. So B rose to the challenge and started leaving out food, and moving the food dish closer to our back door.


And what was the end result? Of course, exactly what you expected:


She is a typical Siamese, blue crossed eyes, and she jumps a lot, and for $147 the vet said she is quite healthy. I would much rather have a little dog, which is a lot easier to control. But now she has slowly started turning into a lap cat (on her terms of course) and bats around the toys (and whatever else is around). We’ve got wooden blinds on the back doors, which she really likes using as ladders. Last night she made it up into the bookcases in my office, and eventually will be up to jumping on the kitchen counters. One thing I really don’t like about cats, I’d rather have my food to myself. Oh well, as long as my wife doesn’t turn into the crazy neighborhood cat lady.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bonjour cher Joe !!!!
Merci de nous montrer ces mignons petits chats !!!!

Bientôt ta petite-fille va venir chez vous ... quel bonheur !!!!

GROSSES BISES
et bon premier jour du mois d'août à Las Vegas !!! :o)

SOL's view said...

The kitten is GORGEOUS! I can't say I blame B for taking her in. :)

Yes, that's one thing I don't like about cats either is the habit of climbing and jumping on benches and tables. Luckily for me, Jerome isn't interested in human food and I've never found him (or evidence) on the kitchen bench. Only once or twice on the kitchen table and not at all since the other cats went home. He's a very unusual cat in that respect!

angryparsnip said...

She is a cutie !

Tin Foil... helps on stuff you don't want them on.
We had over the years two abandon cats (I'm allergic)who were very grateful for a home. One big no and a push off and we never had any problems with them. We were very lucky with them but both cats were older and living on the street.

Good luck, none of my cat friends have ever had Christmas Trees that didn't get destroyed.

If your can catch her and HIM.... the shelters usually have free feral cat neutering.

Good luck she is very cute.

cheers, parsnip

Duncan D. Horne - the Kuantan blogger said...

We have loads of cats who hang around our apartment block too. They live at the bottom of staircases, give birth, play around etc...

Duncan In Kuantan

Anonymous said...

Je dépose un bonjour amical chez toi ce vendredi
Je t'embrasse fort
Bonne fin de semaine !!!!

Rob said...

Good to see her after seeing the signs of her presence when we visted. She is lovely.

SOL's view said...

Hey Joe! I still play Wow. A friend is trying to get me to join Star Wars The Old Republic. My other games are single player - Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider.

I'll likely add more later!

:D

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I must admit I would have found her totally irresistible also Joe.. J'adore cats but as yo sat its harder to keep them safe as it is dogs. I wish more people would follow your example and have them spade it helps so much to keep them under control. When will we see a pic of your lime pie :))

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

So precious! I had a Siamese cat who was about 3 yrs old show up at my house and when the door was opened he ran in, drank out of the toilet, and then jumped on a bed to take a nap. I tried but never found his owner, but loved him for 13 more years before he went to cat heaven. I still miss him.

So, I would definitely want that cutie in the last photo!

Bises,
Genie

Anonymous said...

Je viens te souhaiter une belle journée !
GROSSES BISES
et bonne continuation !!!!

Anonymous said...

Un petit coucou amical déposé chez toi Joe !
Je te souhaite une belle journée !
BISES d'Asie !!!!