Note much to say. Dilly clone does have kittens, 4 of them. Two are black or very dark, one is grey tiger, one is orange tiger. She’s mostly keeping them two houses down, on the corner, and has not brought them up for crunchy food, yet. They are somewhere in the 8-12 week age range.
I don’t seem to be able to post anything like a regular blog, but I will throw up a few comments… maybe more than once a year!
Right now, the outdoor kitties are as follows: Noisy and Sparky and Bravo (Dilly-clone’s kitten) in the garage. Goldie from the building next door. Callie-Clone and Dilly-Clone from “down” the street. Stripes from nowhere in particular. Wookie from “up” the street. Bleach/Friday from the Joneses, although their house is up for sale. I only hope they take him, and Flufftail (who never comes here but is still “at” their house around the corner) with them if/when they leave.
Dilly and Callie clone both lost litters this spring, and Callie appears to be preggers again already. I wish I could catch them!
Bravo and another cat I called Pip both had to go to the vet for fight-related injuries, within 2 weeks of each other. I got Bravo neutered, but not Pip. I think that he belongs to someone. He doesn’t come here anymore, after the evil vet trip! Bravo, on the other hand, while he won’t let me touch him, will stay in the yard and gets within 3-4 feet of me on occasion. Sparky will almost let me touch him, once in a while. Noisy is quite tame with me and lets me pick him up and everything!
Well, yesterday morning, when I was giving everyone breakfast, Sparky surprised me quite a bit. He ran up to within a couple feet of me, and didn’t run when I held out my finger to him. He got within 8″ of it! This is a remarkable achievement for this feral kitty. He’s never before willingly gotten closer than 5 feet.
I’m very pleased!
Hubby says Callie cat brought one kitten over day before yesterday to dine; I didn’t see it, but he says it is big – probably already 6 weeks old or so. I didn’t think her babies would be more than about 3 weeks at this point… Time flies!
Neither Smokey nor Rusty stayed here – I had to let Rusty out too soon, as he was injuring himself in his small cage. Smokey seemed to have really calmed down, but I kept her caged for a week, and when I let her go, she took off pretty quick. They’ve never shown up back at the old place (a mile or so from here), so I don’t know what their ultimate fate will be. I guess if I ever try to relocate ferals again, I’ll know I need to keep them penned up for at least 10 days or two weeks. Sad…
Well, a year ago a minor tragedy struck; one of the cats was hit by a car as I and my husband watched in horror. It wasn’t one of my regulars, but it struck me hard. I couldn’t write about it.
But time heals, and I feel the need to write again. Maybe this time I can bring myself to keep up with things. There are a lot of things to talk about; losses and gains and other tragedies.
The cats who are here now are a very different mix than just a year ago; it has been the largest transition year I’ve had in 15 years at this house. Smudgie was the first to go, around Thanksgiving time. She just didn’t show up one day, poor dear. She was at least 12, maybe 14. Then over the Christmas holiday Pewter vanished. Same thing; one day there, next day gone. And lastly, in early February, Brownie went. At least I think I know what happened to her. One of the semi-regular toms, Blackitty showed up with some sort of viral or bacterial lung infection. Brownie vanished about 2 days later. She was 14, and starting to show her age. I think it wiped her out. It also took out Dilly-clone’s litter of 4 kittens.
But we still have Goldie – but she’s been spayed! And her two remaining kittens are now young men (both fixed) of a year or so. They’re Noisy and Sparky. Callie-clone and Dilly-clone are still around, and still unfixed, drat them. Both currently have litters under a week old. Callie-clone’s may be two weeks old, by now.
Stripes and Spot are still around. They’re as shy as ever. Another young male called Shaggy, who only has half a tail, is also around quite a bit. I haven’t seen Junebug, Tiggy, Wookie or Bib in a long time. I found out that Bleach’s real name is Friday, and he has an owner. Flufftail also lives with them, right around the corner.
I have also just recently taken on two strays from another neighborhood. I’m trying to relocate them to my garage. One is a little boy kitten, named Rusty. He’s about 4 months old, neutered and shotted. I had him in a cage for two days, but it was so small, and he was so scared that he was hurting himself, so eventually I had to let him out. He went under the toolshed in the garage, and I haven’t seen him since, tho someone in there has been eating what I put down nearby… I hope he’ll come out and let me see him soon.
The other cat I took is called Smokey, and she’s probably about a year old. She’s also fixed and shotted, and she’s in the bigger cage. I’ll keep her there until at least Wednesday, maybe Friday. If she’s calmed the rest of the way down, I’ll let her go then. Hopefully she won’t flee the scene!
Well, I was away for several days last week, so I didn’t get back to this project…
Continuing my description of kitties I live with:
Brownie, Pewter, Goldie, Smudge and Clone are the “big five”, there every single day, and have been for a long time. Others are more come and go. They include, at this time, Tiggy and Junebug, Wookie, Spot, Pale Stripes, and Dilly-clone. There are also “neighborhood cats” who belong to other people that I know. These include Bleach, Bib and Flufftail.
Tiggy and Junebug are young – probably under a year old – they’re Goldie’s offspring and I’ve never been able to catch them. They lived in the garage for a long time. Now Junebug seems to have moved on, but I see him every 3-4 days, so he’s still in the area. Tiggy uses the garage a lot, but doesn’t seem to live there full time anymore. Tiggy is female, and tiger striped. Junebug is really “Bib, Jr”. but it got shifted to Junebug. He’s black with white paws and chest. Almost a tuxedo, but not quite.
Wookie is a tuxedo cat, with long hair. He started coming around about 6 months ago, and I’m pretty sure he is “owned” but I don’t know by whom. Spot and Stripes and Dilly-clone are all from “down” the block, where Wookie, Bleach, Bib and Flufftail all come from “up” the street. Mostly from the Joneses, who own Bleach and Flufftail. Wookie is a bully. Spot and Stripes are very shy. Dilly-clone looks a lot like my indoor cat, Cordelia (aka Dilly).
This blog is where I intend to talk (mostly to myself, I think) about my cats.
I have four indoor cats whom I’ll introduce later, and I also care for a constantly changing number of outdoor stray, feral, and “visiting” kitties. These are the cats whom I intend to spend the bulk of my time discussing.
Outdoors, I have the following cats “in my care”:
Brownie – at least 12 years old, female, spayed. Feral. Mostly brown-striped, with white feet and bib. Fat, sassy and the Queen of the pack. Won’t get closer than about 3 feet.
Pewter – probably the grand-daughter of Brownie, definitely the daughter of a cat named Silver, who was tame and went with her second litter of kittens to the Animal Shelter, many years ago. Pewter is short-haired, grey-blue and beautiful. Spayed. Lets me get close enough she can touch her nose to my fingertip, but no touching.
Goldie – Brownie’s great-granddaughter? The mother of Pewter. Unspayed, and uncatchable. Brown tiger-striped with golden brown smudges. Currently pregnant, fairly well along.
Smudge – Brownie’s age, but probably not related. Has flea-allergy caused bare spot on her spine, and a knot on her neck that the vet says is benign. Spayed, has shots. Tame. Belonged to someone, once, but was left behind when they moved. Neighbors feed her and kids play with her. Mostly brown and gold with no real pattern.
Clone – named so because she looked almost identical to “Cally-cat” who has since vanished. Probably 3-4 years old, has recently had kittens. Feral.
More to come later.
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