The summer continued to wane, yet two kittens remained at risk in the big, wide world. The black kitten continued to be elusive, coming up at random times to eat and play. The light brown tabby often came along and they would chase each other around the pots and table legs. September passed by in a blur of resuming choir rehearsals, and other fall activities. I set up the trap cage as often as possible, and finally in late September, the sleek, black kitten slipped into the cage to grab a snack, and I was finally able to bring in my “black beauty”. I was very glad to have caught this one. On one of my stops at the local SPCA, I saw they had notices up that adoptions of black cats would not be finalized until a week or so after October 31st. (Halloween) At least the little black kitten had been saved from any horrific treatment in the name of Halloween.
About a week later, I had a day off of work, and tried once again to trap the light brown tabby kitten. I was beginning to worry that we would never catch this one, as it was growing quickly. I knew the older the kittens were, the harder they would be to socialize. Finally, the kitten decided to take the plunge and entered my cage. Quickly I pulled the door closed, breathed a sigh of relief, and brought the last of Abby’s kittens inside. For most of our kitten collections, both my sister and I were available to escort the kitten downstairs to the big cage. For this one, I was home alone, Barb was at work but due home in about 2 hours. The little voice in my head told me to just let the kitten sit in the trap cage until she was home to help me make the transfer. Unfortunately, the louder voice in my head told me I could do it myself. Maybe it was because this kitten was older and more feral than the others, but I should have listened to the “little” voice. I had difficulty balancing the little cage close enough so the kitten could cross over by itself. So I decided to do a quick grab and transfer (remember Waldo?). Same idea, same result. The light brown tabby squirmed, scratched, and bit, managing to slip out of my grasp and make a dash for freedom. At least I had remembered to close the door, and the kitten could only hide. Of course, it had managed to discover what may have been the most inaccessible corner of the basement, behind the washer and dryer. Rather than try to re-trap the kitten on my own, I decided to block off the area and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
About 40 minutes later, Barb arrived and I told her “I have good news and bad news. Good news is that I caught the last kitten. Bad news is that it’s behind the dryer.” Took me awhile to live that one down. I set up the little cage at the front of the dryer and we made noises at the far end in the hopes the kitten would become scared and run blindly into the cage. But no luck. So I tried using a broom to shoo the kitten out. I hated to do that, as I was afraid it would really traumatize the little one, but I really had no choice. I ended up really “sweeping” the kitten forward into the trap cage, where Barb closed the door. We left the kitten in the cage to calm down a bit, then with Barb’s help we were able to hold the trap cage up to the big cage so the light brown tabby kitten could join the black one in the big cage.
Both kittens were quite skittish, and took great exception when we attempted to touch them. We decided to name the black kitten “Sabel”. I thought he was pure black, but he does have an occasional white hair or so that pops up in his coat. But you have to look really close. His eyes are green, as are most of Abby’s kitten’s. I was hoping they would change to orange or yellow, but no such luck. I had been calling the light brown tabby “Clarabelle”, and she was a little girl. But Barb said she saw a cow in her head every time I said the name, so we settled on just plain “Belle” for this kitten’s name.
Working with almost feral cats is challenging. Just getting them out of the cage into carriers for the first vet visit required some advance planning. We tried leaving them out to exercise in the stairway, as we had the others, but moving them about was such a challenge, that we eventually just left them out. It took Sabel a little bit, but he has actually adapted to living with humans quite nicely. He doesn’t like to be picked up or handled, but he most certainly does like to have his head scratched. Shortly before bedtime, he usually comes up on my computer desk and either sits there or flops down for his nightly rub-down. He has the biggest purr you can imagine, and is the biggest mooch in the whole herd. If he has the slightest idea that you are eating, he is right there. It doesn’t matter what it is, he has to be part of your mealtime. Check out Sabel’s Picture Gallery here.
Belle and I are still working on our relationship. She is a very lovely cat, the picture of her mother. One back foot is completely tan, while the rest of her coat is a light brown tabby stripe. Belle likes to play and romp with the other cats, but if Barb or I try to approach her, she will run away. She spends a lot of time hiding under my bed or at the bottom of the stairwell with Snickerdoodle. Occasionally, she would follow me around from litter box to litter box as I cleaned them, sometimes taking a hesitant sniff of my extended hand. Lately, I’ve gotten her to follow me to a “special” dinner plate. It is the same food the other cats are eating, but I put it at a distance and as she eats, I am able to pet her a couple of times. Since doing this, she has seemed a little more at ease with me, staying to give me that characteristically aloof sniff. We still have a long way to go, but I am hopeful we will come to an understanding. I do have pictures of Belle in her Gallery for you to look at.
Ok, that comes to 1 old cat (Pagos), 2 kittens from Tortie (Bianca & Petunia), 4 kittens from Brownie (Waldo, Odessa, Pepper-Ann, & Button), 1 drop-off kitten (Snickerdoodle), 1 kitten possibly from Gabby (Darwin), and 5 kittens from Abby (Sunny, Reno, Potsy, Sabel, & Belle), then 1 lost kitten (Button) makes 13 cats at one time. Since the title of this Blog is “my life with 15 cats”, the story is obviously not yet complete. Guess I’ll have to write one more introductory entry. Check back in a few days.
Hello,
Everything dynamic and very positively!