The Adopted Family

My cats enjoy the freedom of being indoor/outdoor cats, they always have.  I know that there are some that would disagree with this and, on several points they argue, I would agree.  I am also aware that social environment issues such as neighbors, carelessly busy roads and the like also come into play as to whether or not a cat owner lets their cat go outside unfettered. My strongest argument for this comes from beleiving that quality will win out over quantity everytime. I believe my cats deserve the right to be able to hunt, birds, mice, rabbits, or just chase butterflies and lounge in the sun and the breeze.  And yes, this choice has cost me dearly loved pets, but I also believe that, when you "number" is up, nothing is going to change that - whether man or beast.  I know that if I were confined in such a way and left to a life of longing for what I could see but not experience, I would wither and die from the inside out.  My personal freedom is often the only thing that keeps me going on days when there seems little else to work with.

But I digress. 

About 6 weeks ago, with the back door of the house held slightly open (this home, with screen doors, is not as conducive to my cat door that we had installed in our old house which opened into the garage) a young nursing mamma cat came in and sat in my kitchen.  She was starving and sick... so I fed her.  She left, but came back every couple days or so for the next week and a half.  Then one day she brought me her family.  Four little wild kittens, well, almost all of them were wild - except for a little orange DLH male who is now known as Garf.  He quickly became the ambassador between myself and the other three kittens. They were all very sick with URI, a couple so badly their eyes barely opened.

Garf - always welcomes you with a purr.

Within a couple days I was able to get them on Biomox but what a time my mother and I had in catching those little critters.  Garf was easy, Elvis, the little black and white male was harder but not terribly, Sweet Pea, the tiny little black runt female put a up a good fight but finally succumbed.  But the toughest of them all, all along, has been Tabs - a male brown tabby and the largest of the kittens.  Even with leather gloves on he had me bleeding in a couple spots and once caught, the gloves had to come off to operate the dropper - that's when he bit into my little finger... ouch!

Elvis - who always loves a belly rub

Tabs and Sweet Pea with ghost dog Shelby in the back ground

They have all become healthy, happy little creatures and even though it took nearly a month, I can now pet and even belly rub Tabs. Well, except for the snarking noise that Garf had been making.  Two trips to the vet, the frustrating kind where the symptoms they present at home, won't show up while you're at the vet.  This last time Garf stayed overnight even.  He kept purring so much that the doc had a very hard time listening to his lungs.  But, he got a shot of antibiotics and because he'd seemed to stop eating the day or so before this trip, a small dose of steroids.  I haven't heard a snark since.

Mamma cat and everyone but Garf

I left word with the vet to try and find homes and have actually had three calls for them. One, the first was a mother and her two children who came to look at them and wanted to take Garf.  But, they wanted him to replace a young kitten that had been hit on the road by their house, to put him outdoors (the little girl had allergies) with 2 or 3 other young cats they had.  With Garf's apparent respiratory issues the adoption was politely declined. 

Next came the woman who called insistantly, seeming desparate to get ahold of me about them.  She lived on a farm and it would have been a good home except for the fact that the woman admitted she did not intend to get them fixed because they wanted "a lot" of cats.  For them all to have gone to a good farm home would have been wonderful, but knowing that there was no intention of fixing any of them and sending the girls off to a live of breeding and the boys to a life of fighting to breed - most likely their own mother or sibling, was not acceptable. 

The third caller may well have been a good home.  But me, being me, asked a lot of questions and found that the woman calling wanted two of the kittens - Elvis and Garf, to keep in their garage.  She had 3 children, ranging from 6 mos. to 5 yrs and said that she was certain the children would want the kittens in the house to play with during the day... then they would be banished to the garage.  Though she assured me they would get them fixed, and while it may well have been imaginary lines that I read between, this situation told my gut that they would only be welcome until one of two things happened... either one of the kittens, not used to toddlers and babies, scratched someone out of fear; or, they outgrew being cute kittens.  This woman and I agreed to let her take them on a trial basis, with me offering to take them back unconditionally should things not work out... but she never called back to come and see them.

Oh well. 

I don't need to have 7 cats and 4 kittens in my little trailer, but the thought of worrying about the life I've offered up to these little ones, just to have them out of my house and after so much work put into them to make them friendly, house adoptable, kittens is not worth it.  They will stay until a good home is found, and I trust that one will be... or they will remain with me and I will eventually get them all spayed and neutered and continue to work to find them homes.