The Forgotten Felines of Huntsville Auction page is having a jewelry auction. It starts tomorrow and goes through next Saturday (November 12th). It’s to benefit one of the foster homes – the Davis family – who is currently caring for a lot of sanctuary cats.
Now listen, I am not a jewelry person, but I can admire some pretty jewelry, and there is some amazing stuff going up in this auction. If YOU are a jewelry person (and even if you aren’t – there are a few non-jewelry items) check it out!
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Who are the porch (and subsequent sofa) cat(s) Fred is posting?
Those are two cats who belong to someone in the neighborhood, and who have been hanging out on our porch, and now they think they LIVE there, and Fred is letting one of them inside because that’s how he is. We have no idea what their real names are (or exactly who they belong to, though we have our suspicions), so we’re calling them Trixie and Rocco.
Trixie.
Rocco.
They first showed up late last fall and at first only came around every so often, but I mean – you (FRED) put out food, they’re going to keep coming back. Trixie is a girl, and we had her spayed in the spring (I drove her down to the spay/neuter clinic in Birmingham because at that time they had a program where you could drop off ferals – or “community cats” – without an appointment and have them spayed/neutered.)
Yes, you read that right. If you’d like to clutch your pearls and gasp over the fact that I had the audacity to spay a cat who doesn’t belong to me, who would – I guarantee it – have had kittens on my front porch, I invite you to call our local animal control and ask them just how many unwanted kittens get dumped on them in the course of an average week. (Rocco’s going to be neutered next week.)
They started out as not particularly friendly, and became friendlier – Trixie is the friendlier of the two, and Fred decided we should let her come inside and get to know the permanent residents so that in the winter when it gets really cold, he can bring her inside without worrying there’ll be a kerfuffle. The permanent residents mostly ignore her; she hisses a little at them. (Thus far, Rocco has zero desire to come inside.)
(And let me just point out that there are three heated beds on the front porch now. So there’s not ACTUALLY any need for her to come inside, and did I mention SHE HAS A HOME?)
If you’re a long time reader, you’ll know that this is nearly exactly the same way we ended up with Maxi and Newt. We had them spayed/neutered, they were supposed to belong to a neighbor after that, and they decided they preferred our home. That was in 2007.
I’m not considering Trixie and Rocco permanent residents (THEY HAVE A HOME), but I’m sure they don’t agree with that.
Trixie on the back of the couch; Khal, Alice and Jake on the seat.
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Why did you put Mike in a girl costume? It has a tutu. Just curious.
and
I’m not Robyn, but I have two theories.
1. Cats only care about sex/gender if they want to make kittens. They aren’t even aware of human clothing norms. If they don’t care, why should we? It’s not like we’re not already putting them outside of cat behavior by dressing them.
2. The costume fit and the kitten was willing to wear it long enough to take a picture. You’ll note that Stefan (another neutered male) in the immediately previous picture is wearing a traditionally human female hat. Because he’s stinking cute wearing it. And he didn’t tear it off before Robyn could get a picture.
and
Here’s the original, from Halloween 2016, complete with caption: “Stefan Ingalls [Little House on the Prairie ref] reporting for butter-churning duty” in his slightly-too-small bonnet. It’s just adorable, is all.
Awww, Stefan. He was the BEST.
I put Mike in the tutu because I thought he was the kitten most likely to be okay with having a costume pulled over his head. I wish I’d made a video of the experience, because not only did he NOT care, he kept jumping down off the desk and running off to play while totally ignoring his costume.
But for the most part, I don’t pay attention to whether I put a girl in a boy costume or a boy in a girl costume or what, it mostly depends on what costume I have in my hand, what kitten is nearby, and who I think will put up with wearing a costume long enough for me to take a picture. (You will please note that Kim and Lalo did not want to wear costumes, and I didn’t push it.)
Also, I just remembered this picture, and you can’t deny that Mister Boogers carried off that fancy hat like no other cat could have.
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Has Mike caught up, size-wise, with the other kittens? I used to be able to immediately pick him out, but he doesn’t seem to be littler anymore.
He is pretty close to their size frame-wise – he’s about as tall and long as they are, but he’s skinnier. I can always tell which kitten is Mike because he’s got that long rat-like snout (don’t look at me like that, I think rats are cute), but sometimes I have to look pretty closely to figure out who’s who in pictures.
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In case you missed it on social media yesterday, Gus and Lalo went home yesterday afternoon! Today’s pictures include the rest of the pictures I have that includes them.
Gus is all “What?”
Lalo, Francesca and Nacho know that I’m about to toss a toy.
There goes Francesca!
Lalo’s all “I’m gonna miss (chewing on) this taco truck.”
There might have been a little Churu in the vicinity.
Snoozin’ Gus.
Gus with attitude.
Mike, Gus, Lalo and Francesca.
Mike and Gus, watchin’ bugs.
Lalo makes himself comfortable.
Nacho, Mike and Gus watchin’ bugs out the window.
This leaves Kim, Nacho, Saul, Francesca and Mike still available for adoption. Hopefully their people will come along soon!
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The fabulous Khal.
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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) yesterday.
Line ’em up! From left: Nacho, Francesca, Saul, Gus, Lalo and Mike.
It’s Thlurrrpsday, and please admire Francesca studying her mama’s thlurrrping form.
YouTube link
Just hanging out in the kitten room, watching the kittens be the goofballs they are.
Throw Back Thursday: I mentioned the other day that I didn’t have a tiny toupee for Saul’s Halloween costume, and someone mentioned the idea of using fur brushed off of a cat as a toupee, and then I remembered that I have actually done that exact thing! Here’s (permanent resident) Mister Boogers back in 2004 sporting a fabulous toupee created of his own fur. (He was such a character, that boy.)
Hooray, hooray, Lalo and Gus were adopted (together) and went home today! Lalo is now R2, and Gus is now Darth (their new family includes former foster Angus, who is now Obi. We love the theme!) Happy life, sweet boys! ❤️❤️❤️
YouTube link
I sure do love watching Mama Kim Wexler play, both by herself and with her kittens.
Good night innernets. (Nacho)
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Previously
2021: Carli’s curious little face kills me.
2020: Someone’s always gotta make it hard.
2019: Henri and Gabrielle, all “You again?”
2018: Clutch reflects that someone should clean that window.
2017: No entry.
2016: Kittens up close.
2015: I fully expect that I’ll come through surgery just fine. I also hope that I do not, while under the influence, tell my surgeon that he reminds me of Sam the Eagle.
2014: Von seems to have a heaping helping of Outrage going on here.
2013: Time for a Tony teef check. One… two. Two pointy little teef.
2012: No entry.
2011: (hey, don’t you want to come over for a cookout? We can hang out in the back yard! No, really, take your shoes off and walk around!)
2010: Grumpy boy.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Good thing they’re not our cats, huh?
2006: No entry.
2005: One should always stretch well after a smackdown is completed.
I’m glad to hear that I’m not alone in spaying/neutering cats that don’t belong to me. The feral situation in my area has greatly improved (and reduced) as a result.
My husband tried to shame me into stopping the habit but that didn’t fly very far. If someone tries to tell you that you have no right then tell them the people who own that cat have no right for it to spray my car fenders and poop in my garden beds.
Nice timing that you explained Trixie and Rocco on the same day as the 2007 post.
Right? What are the chances? 🙂
Who is that cutest sleepy black baby on the 2023 calendar? Mike?
Yep, that’s Mike in my hand. I love his bedhead. 🙂
Hmm…now I’m thinking about the logistics of trapping and neutering the pair of neighbor cats who mosey past our house every day to spray. I wonder if their people would even notice if they came home one night with their wheels off?
There are a lot of stray and owned-but-wandering cats in my area. I have spayed/neutered and vaccinated any that show up at my feeding station and I don’t feel badly about it at all. I have had to re-home and care for sooooo many kittens, including 2 that were seriously injured that I ended up keeping. Nope, I don’t feel badly about guerilla spay/neutering one bit.
Done it – though once the cat was already neutered so came back eartipped. My theory is if you leave them outside in gonna be responsible and fix then if you clearly aren’t. A neighbor “clutched her pearls” and wondered what I would do if someone complained. Told her I’d send them the bill.
Oh, that Churu photo is the best! LOL!!
Ooh, hi Trixie and Rocco! What color(s) are these two new friends?
Yay, Gus and Lalo! Have the happiest lives, sweet kittoons.
Re girl costumes and boy costumes: Ehh, traditional gender roles are for the metaphorical birds anyway. So says she who flouts them all the time!
Chanter, Trixie is a calico who is mostly white on her tummy, legs, neck, and face, and has a large colored patch that covers her tail, back, some of her sides, and the top of her head. It also looks like there are tabby stripes in the dark portions of that patch, so I guess that would make her a calitabby? She’s a very pretty girl, regardless, and has striking green-gold eyes to boot.
And then Rocco is also mostly white on his underparts, but a solid, glossy black on his back, tail, and ears. He also has a slightly asymmetric black mask (it covers his right eye but just skims the top of the left) and a black smudge across his nose, plus smaller spots on his chin and one front leg. His eyes are more pure green than Trixie’s, but he’s also quite striking and very handsome.
I am also part of the guerilla spay and neuter club, thanks to this website. I can heartily recommend it. No one has ever even asked. I like the new NOT YOUR kitties. They’re cute. I look forward to the pictures of them cuddled on the bed.
Stefan rocked that bonnet!
He WAS the best, and will never be forgotten. I have never seen a more chill cat.
Not blinking an eye about spaying/neutering cats that aren’t yours. My parents lived in a small town and often had cats showing up. (They had several outdoor cats because of that. We later learned someone not far from them had way too many cats.) If the feline stayed around their house very much, s/he found her/himself at the vet’s. The vet even gave my parents a reduced rate for spay/neuter.
I love people who fix other peoples’ cats!! <3 ROCK ON!
Ha, clutching pearls! I admire guerilla spaying/neutering!!
And of course you have attracted two more, there has to be a secret signal somewhere on your house that lets wanderers know it’s a safe, wonderful place to hang out (and be taken into)!
And I can’t imagine ‘having’ cats but just letting them roam any ol’ place. Sigh, just hurts my heart, love ours so much and would hate not to know where they were, let alone all the awful things that happen to them.
Thank you, as always, for all that you do!
#1. We don’t choose cats, they choose US. 😉
#2. I LOVED that Supergirl suit with tutu. It was a kitten-sized version of a costume my mother bought for her great-granddaughter (my great-niece) when said tot was only months-old. But it was on clearance at Target so Mom figured Ava would wear it eventually (she did). So of COURSE I had to share the pics of Mike in that costume with both my mom AND my niece, who got a huge kick out of it!