Thursday, December 18, 2014

Crap

Oh crap. Crap crap crap crap crap.

You may recall a certain Kitten Situation I blogged about a couple years back; in short, a feral mommy-cat showed up with her three brand-new kittens in tow, and I couldn't turn them away. Given that it was all new to me and that the local charities were overwhelmed, by the time everyone got caught up with the spaying and neutering and adopting out I ended up taking in six cats (and Tara took one herself).

After that it settled in to a routine of taking care of the indoor guys while feeding the outdoor girls (whom I've been calling The Grrrls). It was a nice stable family unit out there and though here and there a tomcat or two (as well as an opossum or two) came by for a snack it was perfectly manageable. And yes, I feed The Grrrls; it keeps them safe in the back and out of the road.

One of the occasional tomcats was a stripey number who I dubbed The Interloper. No, I don't know why; probably because he was infiltrating the nice power-of-three family unit out there of Spot, Smudge, and Splotch. It's hard to tell with a stripey, since the coat pattern isn't sex-specific (unlike tortoiseshell or even marmalade), but from the glances I was able to steal it did look to be a boy under its tail.

Yeah, well, tonight The Interloper showed up looking distinctly round about the belly; it was also distinctly friendlier, which in a feral cat is usually a sign of counting down to kittens or I suppose rabies. The funny thing is that looking under its tail tonight if I had to guess I'd still say male. Maybe it's just patterning, or shadows?

If it is female, and it is pregnant (which barring a pretty hideous case of worms I imagine it is) then I'll have to start up the trap spay release stuff again. Thing is though that if the charities are anything like they were it may take me a couple months before someone will lend me a trap again. And by then the thing will have exploded in kittens and I'll be here trapping them and socializing them and getting them their distemper shots and giving them away through the shelter again, and besides not wanting to deal with the, shall I say, duplicitous person at the local place (I mean she did help me, but far too many times what she said and what she did were two completely different things), it really is just a lot of work.

Argh!

9 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

You are a compassionate soul, o protectress of kittens.

Logical Timber said...

I would be happy to buy a trap for you, as my Christmas gift to stray kittehs. Email me at logicaltimber at gmail.

Logical Timber said...

Haven't heard from you - if you've sent an email, it must have gotten eaten even before hitting my spam box. If that's the case, post here and I'll see it. Happy holidays!

Anonymous said...

It is wonderful to see that you are posting again, even if it is an ARGH!-type message. Good luck on your newest kitten-related project. You are a very compassionate person and the world sure needs more of those! Have a merry Christmas and an even better new year.

Anonymous said...

well...poop....I am allergic to cats and therefore need to stay miles away! I do appreciate your taking take of the feral felines. Glad you did finally post SOMEthing!!! Was wondering about you.

My hoarder best friend was financially forced to move from her hoarded out house and sadly, the house sold for a good $150K below average selling price in her hood. I don't think she will ever adjust to life in the nice condo she moved to. way too strong a hold on WAY TOO many things from her past, including her mom's 1965 ford that just about rusted apart on the move from the house garage to a storage unit she is paying dearly for while on disability income. No plans to fix it up...what a waste of money and space...

she always make me think of you and your sister and the HUGE task you two have done to clean up yard and garage.

a reader/fan from the northwest burbs of chicago

Iggy O said...

"Barn cats" may live a short life, but if neutered, they provide a most useful service to the farm. Ditto for the junkyard. Our neighbor has a few and they and the snakes keep the mice away from my farm equipment.

Good luck with this and I hope to hear more about your clean-up. I discovered this blog since I am living on a farm and cleaning up after the family member who owned it. I blog over at http://tractorpunk.blogspot.com/

Thalia said...

It's been a bit of a week with the holiday and some (minor and taken care of so I'm fine now) health stuff, so I apologize for not saying anything sooner, Logical Timber. Your offer is very kind, but I couldn't accept as I would not feel right about it. But thank you!

Logical Timber said...

No worries, I entirely understand! I will find a local rescue to patronize. I'm glad the Interloper's cajones have rendered the situation less immanently kittenish.

Glad you're feeling better, and have a great new year!

Elaine in Ark said...

It's good to hear from you again, Thalia. We have some stray cats in our subdivision (in a rural area), and I think about you when I see them. I'm allergic to cats and my dog absolutely hates them, but I'm happy to live and let live. A few people in the area put food out for the cats, but all their prowling helps keep the varmits out.

I hope you and Tara are doing well, and that you post now and again.