I was preparing to get into the shower yesterday morning, and I heard Fred come upstairs and down the hallway. There was a pause, and then a knock.
I opened the door and said “What?”
Fred found himself a feral kitten. Going out into the back yard, he saw something dart from next to our fence to the massive boxwood bush a few feet away. The neighbor who was in his back yard practicing his fishing technique, told Fred that he thought it was a rabbit. Fred thought about just going out to do his chores, but his innate nosiness overcame him, and he went to investigate.
Hello, feral kitten.
He had to do some chasing before he caught the little guy, who fought and hissed and growled like a good little feral. Fred put him in a carrier and then came up to get me. I took my shower (come on, I had hair color on my head and needed to rinse it out!) and then went downstairs to check out the situation. In the carrier on the front porch was a little guy, voraciously eating the canned food Fred had given him.
He had fleas (I put Advantage on him), he’s got the big round belly that usually indicates worms, and he desperately needs a bath, but all in all he seems to be in pretty good shape. But this morning with the help of Gerber Chicken and Gravy (which is like crack to kittens), not only did he let me pet him, he stood on my leg and kneaded, and then he rolled over and presented the belly for rubbing.
At the moment he’s not in the house, but once he’s been tested (which he will be in a few hours), we’ll bring him in. Or maybe we won’t – the shelter manager might have a lead on a foster home for him. We’re not going to name him just yet – if he goes to another home, his new foster parents can name him. (Annnnnd, not ten seconds after I wrote that, Fred informed me that he’d like to raise this guy ’til he’s ready to be adopted. I… guess we have a new foster!)
He’s a boy, a brown and white tabby, and initially I thought he was 7 or 8 weeks old, but this morning I weighed him and he’s just over a pound, so maybe 5 weeks old? I don’t know, I’m terrible at aging kittens. In any case he eats well, he’s lively, and he even played with a toy mouse briefly this morning.
I suspect there’s a mother and/ or more feral kittens out there somewhere, but we both went all over the property yesterday morning looking, and found nothing at all. We’ll have to wait and see.
I guess this is the year of the stray for us!
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Los Gatitos are doing well, their first weekend here. They spent a lot of time sleeping (they had their first vaccination Friday night, which always knocks them out for a day or two), and I could hear them up there playing, and they spent plenty of time keeping a wary eye on me. Sofia and Pancho were the first to break and come to me for petting.
This is Sofia. Don’t get too attached…
Sofia’s already been adopted!
She goes to her new home tomorrow.
This is Pancho. He’s the friendliest of the bunch. You walk into the room, and he comes over and falls at your feet. Silly boy. (His eyes are green.)
Evita’s a little shy, but give her some time. She’ll warm up, I’m sure of it.
People have asked whether any of these kittens are deaf. Initially we thought that Hermano (the blue-eyed boy) was because he wasn’t responding to any of the noises I was making. However, on Saturday he was sleeping, and I rattled a toy behind his head. He woke up and turned around to look, so he’s got at least some hearing.
The rest of them appear to hear just fine, too.
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Bolitar and Elwood.
Bolitar. I love this guy; he cracks me up. He likes to get whiny and howl at me, and I say, in a mocking voice, “Wahhhh! I’m da babyyyyy!”, and he howls again.
He doesn’t mind being mocked.
Sleeping Reacher.
Four nights ago, I hit my limit. After being woken up every half hour by marauding Bookworms, I decided I’d HAD it. The next night, we put the Bookworms in the guest bedroom and shut the door. There were some puzzled meows, but they were quiet all night.
I got a great night’s sleep.
And now at night, the Bookworms go into the guest bedroom, and I sleep most of the night through without cats climbing all over me.
I find that when I get a good night’s sleep, I can put up with the daily cat-related annoyances a lot more calmly than I do when I’m sleep deprived. Go figure!
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Elwood is going to be a big, big boy.
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Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Maryanne has a hissy fit. Tommy does not care.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Elwood already is a big boy! Especially compared to Crazy Jake. Those Gatitos are so pretty. Kudos to Fred for catching that kitten!
Sofia is so gorgeous and interesting looking, with those two different-colored eyes! I’m glad to hear one of the new kitties is being adopted already!
Oh my goodness – lots of super kitty cuteness! Aww that feral kitty looks so adorable – if mum and other kitties are around I hope you find them (after your shower! LOL!).
And great news for Sofia!! She is adorable with those eyes! I’m cure Pancho and Evita will find homes asap – they’re so pretty!
Lovely to see Bolitar and Reacher!!! They’re so nearly grown! Hugs to Elwood!
Take care
x
We have 2 white cats, litter mates, with 1 blue and 1 yellow eye each. We are always being asked if they are deaf, but they hear very well. They are very unique and striking cats.
And, Gerber Chicken and Gravy has literally saved the lives of several of our cats. It’s great to use when they are sick and refusing to eat.
Ok, I have said it before (as have many other) – you are a kitten magnet. I have never seen a stray kitten anywhere in my life (and seriously, I look for them). I have seen one cat in our neighborhood – it has a collar and is a cat. That is it. But you (actually Fred too if you really think about it) just have them show up. Crazy. And can I say you also seem to get the super cuties. And the Gatitos are just so cute – it is great that Sofia already has a home and the others will soon too. And the Bookworms – well what can you say – they are cute, they are feisty, they are just too adorable.
And Elwood is already pretty darn big – how old is he now? He can’t have too much more growing left to do – can he?
Hi Robyn,
The site where you host your pics (robynanderson.com) is unavailable yet again – it dropped out of DNS, which it does every couple of days.
You need to threaten your hosting provider with some nasty kitty poo.
Way too many cute kitties!!!!!! That feral is just adorable. And Sofia…those eyes are just stunning! I don’t know how you don’t end up keeping all of these babies!
Amy, there’s another Challenger’s House foster mom (or I should say “mum”, since she’s British!) and I call her “Velcro” because she will literally say something like “I stopped by Walmart and came home with a mother cat and three kittens!” She’ll go to pick up two kittens and end up going home with six. It’s crazy – and now I think she must be rubbing off on us! 🙂 Elwood is just about a year old, maybe a bit older. Given the rate that he’s going, I wouldn’t be surprised to have him top out at 15 or 20 pounds. And it’s ALL belly!
Matt: Grrr, thanks for the heads up! We’re in the process of looking for a new host, so I hope this problem will be solved soon!
Rhonda: I admit, it’s no fun giving them up!
Aw, I love how the new feral presented the belly for rubbing! Adorable!
Gosh… those Gatitos are too cute!
Oh, the feral baby is adorable! I agree with Fred — you need to raise him!
And I”m glad none of the white kitties are deaf. We had a couple white cats (mother and daughter, I believe) when I was a kid, and they were both deaf. They were very sweet, though.