All The Cats

Right after we moved out to the Hacienda, a mama cat and her 3 kittens (2 boys, 1 girl) arrived.  Mama was pretty tame, but her kittens were feral.  The hubs and I worked pretty hard to socialize the kittens, named them, made them insulated houses for the deck then got everyone spayed/neutered at a local vet's Barn Cat program.  Catching and crating was an adventure, as was keeping 4 feral cats in my bathroom for a week while everyone healed. They were all pretty mad for a bit, but I was forgiven and this is usually what I can see on the deck every afternoon. 

Clockwise from top left:  Wednesday (f), Gus (m) and Priscilla (mama)

We lost one of the boys to a car, but the remaining "Porch Kitties" have given us many hours of entertainment plus they're wonderful hunters and keep the rats out of my garden. They come out to the barn with me and chirp and play and try to take food of our plates when we eat on the deck. 

Last week, another kitten showed up.  A Siamese kitten.  It was clear from the first second that she wasn't feral, had never been feral and couldn't be kept as a barn cat. We brought her in, and got her to the vet the next day.  No fleas, no diseases, just dumped.  We live in the middle of nowhere so it wasn't like she was a lost cat in the neighborhood.  She is incredibly social, and very vocal.  We have her big vet appt scheduled for next week.  Her name is Roxanne Stardust (Ziggy's sister). 

River is the kitten whisperer

Clearly, she is comfortable here.  I hadn't planned on another inside cat, but Roxy had other ideas. So now, we have more cats than we ever really wanted to have, but they needed to be loved and cared for and given a chance.  

We will always feed and care for animals that get dumped out here, but I wish more people would be responsible and spay/neuter their pets.  

Stay healthy,

D