THE HERD (or my life with 15 Kats)

While Tortie’s kittens were both similar colors, Brownie’s kittens were certainly a Heinz-57 variety mixture. There was a black and white bi-color, an orange tabby short-hair, a gray tabby short-hair, and a gray tabby long hair fluff-ball. I admit to having a real love for orange tabbies, and this one was so tiny and cute. But the show really was stolen by the long-hair kitten. As I sat inside the dining room that first Saturday morning, the kittens readily came up to the glass to play. But that fuzzy ball of fluff came right up to the door and looked inside, right at me! I was absolutely convinced this had to be a little boy, and I named him Otto. The only other kitten we “sort of” named before capture, was the black and white bi-color. During a romp and tussle with a sibling, the bi-color rolled off our second-floor deck to the flower bed below. We were concerned, but Brownie didn’t seem to notice. After a few minutes, the little tyke re-appeared on the deck and resumed the same rough-and-tumble play. So we started to call that one Bouncer. The other two kittens were just referenced by their colors, like Little Red, and Little Gray.

Our next capture was quite eventful, an evening two-fer trapping. As I waited patiently, first one, then a second kitten wandered into the cage to eat. I could see we had Little Red and Otto in the cage. I tried to wait to see if any of the other kittens playing on the deck would enter the cage, but none did. When it looked like one of the inside kittens was about to leave, I decided to pull the rope. This time the door closed perfectly, and the two kittens came inside. We were still fairly new at this trapping thing, and for some reason we thought we could take the kitten out of the little cage upstairs and carry it downstairs to the lower level wrapped in a towel. Boy, were we WRONG! The little red kitten scratched, bit, and squirmed as we tried to wrap it in a towel, and eventually managed to escape our grasping arms. It ran behind me, so I could not see where it ran, but from the sounds of skittering claws on linoleum, and bumping against wallboard, we surmised it had found the stairs leading to the lower level. Unfortunately, we had left the door open, and the kitten had taken refuge in our box filled basement. Now what to do??? It was already quite late, so we carried the cage downstairs with Otto in it (a much better way to proceed) and transferred him to the big cage with Bianca. We put a small dish of dry food next to the cage for Little Red, closed the door, and went to bed. The next morning, there was no sign that the food had been disturbed. I stopped by the SPCA after work and rented a humane capture cage and baited it with smelly cat food that evening, hoping to catch the kitten overnight. While the kitten did not try to enter the cage, it did start to cry that second night. I went down very early in the morning and was able to identify where in the the large room the kitten was hiding. Next day, I called in a personal day to my office and set about clearing the boxes and stuff stored in that area. The kitten was behind several pieces of dry-wall propped against the back wall. This was an ideal location, as I could block off one end and hopefully force the kitten out the only open end, into the cage. This ruse worked on the second try, and the little red kitten was relocated to the big cage with “Otto” and Bianca. As the kitten was handled and domesticated, we discovered that it was a little male kitten, so we decided to name him Waldo, for his adventures in the basement. (Where’s Waldo, of course.)

Waldo is my best buddy, now. He sleeps with me most nights, and loves to tunnel under the blankets. It’s not unusual to find a hump under the blanket in the middle of the day. All I have to do is touch it gently, and it will grunt, so I know Waldo is taking a nap. Of all the cats from this summer, Waldo is the only one who asks to be held, and will crawl into my arms to be scratched to sleep. At 2-years and 14 pounds, this behavior getting a bit challenging, but I still love it. Waldo greets me every evening when I come home from work, and will do a head-roll down my foot, landing on his back, but don’t try to tickle his belly! Just scratch that head, neck, and chin, and he will be your best friend, at least for awhile. See his pictures at Waldo’s Picture Gallery.

The second kitten, Otto, managed to arrive safely in the big cage. Over the next few days, I spent time with all three kittens, talking, petting, and providing for their needs. One way we tried to work with them, and give them some activity while keeping them away from Pagos, was to release them in the upstairs bathroom. The room is fairly small, but open, and we can close the door. During one of these sessions, I was able to “check” Otto, and told my sister that I thought we had a little girl. This was confirmed a bit later by my vet at her first visit. So “Otto” was changed to “Odessa”. Dessie (as she is usually called, or OH!! Dessa) was a very bashful kitten. When all were finally released upstairs, she was the last to start feeling comfortable in the area, preferring to hide most of the time. After having such success with Waldo, it was a little disappointing that Odessa was so difficult. She made me chase her all over the house every time we had a vet appointment. But I noticed that she seemed to enjoy the game. Every time I finally caught and touched her, she would begin to purr. So I decided to make Odessa my special project. Every evening, I made a point to seek her out, pick her up, and pet her, usually rewarding her good behavior with a treat. This worked so well, that Odessa is now a certified keyboard replacement. She is not happy sitting off to the side of the keyboard, or between the keyboard and monitor. No, she has to lay at the front edge of the desk, right where the keyboard sits. This is the perfect position for petting and scratching. She will easily fall asleep, making me either work from my lap, or by reaching over her. It’s fortunate that I have a wireless keyboard, as well as a furry one. (Everyone should have two.) Odessa has grown into a beautiful silver tabby with long hair and green eyes. Her tail is very fluffy, and she has the most adorable tufts of fur between her toes. It was so funny to watch her tip-toe across the tacky mat I got for under the litter box You can see how lovely she is by viewing her pictures at Odessa’s Picture Gallery.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Odessa, The Herd, Waldo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.