My Outside Cats, Page 2

My Outside Cats
Page 2

I live in the country. All the neighbors have barns and want the cats to stay around their barns to catch the field mice. They don't know (or don't care) what continuous interbreeding can do to the cats. When they come to my steps, looking like they are either sick or half starved, I feed them. And ofcourse, they don't want to leave. I would have all of them spayed and neutered, but can't afford it. But, by only doing a few, instead of all, keeps peace with the neighbors.

Cat #1:

This is Calamitycats Muffin, aka Muffin, aka Muff, aka Toot Bucket (I heard this name when I was a child and thought it was so funny) so when she is being mischievous, I call her Toot Bucket. She is certainly an inside cat. She is very dainty, prissy, demands her water be changed 2 times most days (when she doesn't demand to drink from the bathroom faucet). She is smart. She knows not to step on my keyboard. Right now she is napping between my keyboard and monitor. She doesn't like to be touched until she is ready for it, but has to be close to me, usually either touching my hand or foot. She literally goes into shock when I take her to the vet. The first time, I thought I had scared her to death. The vet told me she was in shock. Goodness, she scared me.

When Hurricane Lili came through last year (2002), I could not get her in her carrier so we could get out of Lili's way. I had to call my son. A few minutes later he walks in "with his thick leather gloves" on and said "Where is she". She didn't stand a chance.

Me and Muffin went about 150 miles North. After Lili passed, we had no electricity for several days. We went to my son's house. He had to get her out of the car "with his thick heavy gloves". We stayed there for 3 days. "With his thick heavy gloves" he had to put her back in her carrier to come home. He said this last time, she wasn't as bad. She was so happy to be back home (and so was I).

She doesn't really like all these other cats, but is usually tolerant of them.

Cat #2:

This is Abby my Tabby. Any dry food Muffin had left over, I would throw it out the door for any other animals or birds that might be hungry. One day I saw Abby "rooting" around in the grass trying to get the food. Except for her pregnant tummy, she was very little and skinny. I haven't had her spayed, but she has not had any more kittens. The rest of her story is on her page. It's rather funny. She has been a part-time inside cat now for about 2 years. She is very sensitive and possessive. If I fuss at her (mildly only), she will go outside and I want see her for about 3 days. She will be very hungry when she comes back in. Also, she is not very tolerate of these other cats. Lil Mom and Vinny come in some. If I pet one of them, Abby will leave again for a few days. When she is inside, she loves to be petted and demands it. I still haven't been able to teach her to not step on the keyboard :-).

Cat #3:

When Blackie first came, he was very sick and skinnier than I had ever seen a cat. His head looked deformed. It looked way too big for his body. He had trouble eating and I really didn't think he would live. I fed him soft canned food twice a day. He finally began to look better. I found him to be very territorial, but it is probably just a stray cat's way of looking out for himself. If I let him in, he would stalk Muffin. I was afraid he was going to kill her. Abby would run away and I wouldn't see her again until Blackie had left for a day or so. The last year he was here, he was having problems with his eyes. They would stay matted and at times, he seemed to be almost blind. If I stood still for a few seconds, he would be looking all over to try to find me. When I moved, he would again look at me. When Sam came, I guess he ran Black off. I haven't seen Blackie since, which has been about 1 1/2 years now. This picture was taken not long before he left. He looked so much more healthy than when I first saw him.

Cat #4:

This is Li'l Mom. She has such a homely look, but she really has beautiful babies. The first time I saw her, she was very skinny and very pregnant. She usually has 5 or 6 babies. She has been that way practically every since. I'm hoping to be able to have her spayed after the litter, she just had, gets old enough. She seems to love being petted and I think would be a very loveable inside cat, not as demanding as Abby. But when she is pregnant, she fights the other cats for food. I can't blame her because she is always so skinny. She is always in a hurry to get back to her babies at the barns. I usually let her in and feed her by herself. I feed her all she can eat and some milk. She seems to be very thankful. She is getting so old, she has grey hair around her face that seems to be increasing.

Cat #5:

Sam was here for a while/gone for a while. But he too, was a territorial one. He tried to run all the cats off. Sam would not let me pet him. He always seemed skittish and kept his distance. KeKat finally ran him off. I haven't seen him in about 6 or 8 months.

Cat #6:

When Boots came, he was very skittish and kept his distance. He left for several months. When he came back, he was real sick and skinny like Blackie had been. I fed him canned food twice a day until he was looking better. I think he would have been a good cat. He was not aggressive about food. All the others usually made him sit back and wait till they were all through. This picture was taken shortly before he left. He disappeared about the time that Sam, Peppy and Goldie did.

Cats from here down are L'il Mom's babies.

Cat #7:

This KeKat. KeKat and Peppy are the first of Li'l Mom's litters that I saw. He is a beautiful cat with gorgeous dark amber eyes. He has never let me touch him. When I put food down, I have to make him get back first. He will always swat at me with claws extended. I have never been able to gain his trust. But he is always here at feeding time. Sometimes I get very upset with him, but then I have to remember that there will always be a male cat to dominate the area.

Cat #8:

This was my little Peppy, KeKat's brother. He was not as big as KeKat. He was so loveable and full of energy. The night before he disappeared, he was meowing at the door. When I let him in, He was wet all over. It had not rained in a couple of days, so he had to have been in the drainage ditch. I had never seen him so scared. He usually let me pet him, but that night he would not let me touch him. Every time something moved, he jumped. I think KeKat had something to do with it. I left him in all night as it was close to freezing outside. When I open the door next morning, he ran out so fast and I haven't seen him since.

Cat #9:

My little "no tail" Vinny. Vinny and the next two cats are from the next litter after KeKat and Peppy. One day when I came home from work, he was not on the steps, with all his energy, waiting for me. He was coming across the yard very slowly, like he was hurt. His tail was dragging behind him. I took him to the vet. The vet said if he did not regain use of it in two weeks, it would have to be removed. When I had it removed, I also had him neutered. I believe that's why KeKat hasn't ran him off, although Vinny has been gone for a few of days at a time. At times, he and Abby seem to be very scared of KeKat. He healed very well. He would like to stay inside all the time. He is so loveable. He stays right under my feet when I'm home. He just can't get enough loving. So, I guess it's now me, Muff, Abby and Vinny (maybe Li'l Mom later).

Cat #10:

This is Goldie, Vinny's brother. He was smaller, like Peppy was. He was quiet and not aggressive. He had just started letting me pet him. He started acting scared around KeKat and disappeared the same day Peppy did.

Cat #11:

I didn't name this one. He (or she) disappeared right after this picture was taken. Spitting image of Peppy.

Cats #12, 13, 14, 15, 16: There were 6 in this litter. There was another of the gray and white ones, but I only saw it a couple of times before it disappeared. The fifth one below looks just like Peppy did. The two gray ones below disappeared shortly after this picture. The black one on the right was very skittish, but the middle one with the white whiskers, was very full of energy and loved to be petted. Both black ones disappeared about 3 or 4 weeks after the gray ones. Only the black and white one is left. It doesn't like to be petted, but is getting more used to me. I still don't know if it is a male or female, but it stays real close to KeKat when KeKat is around. Female (?). I will see about having it fixed, if I can.

Cats # 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 L'il Mom's latest litter is 6 (according to the neighbors). They haven't come up from the barn yet, but shouldn't be long now. Very pretty I'm sure.

It is very sad to see them neglected to the point that most don't survive, yet the number of strays right now is staggering and increasing, with little attempts being made to slow it down.. Even if I could have all of the ones here spayed and neutered, more would come. I can only afford to feed these and spay and neuter a few. I just hope that the others ran off and found a safe and loving home. Please have your cats spayed an neutered and adopt some strays. They are so in need of our help.