Friday, July 8, 2011

Suddenly There Are Two!

It went like this:
J. [from the dining area] "How did the kitten get out?"
S. "The kitten is in his cage "
[Runs to stand beside J.]
There is [Groan. Sigh.] an "identical" kitten teetering along the cellarway retaining wall which runs past the newly fenced cat yard.  Indignant resident felines peer through the wire bars at the tiny intruder.
This one was surprisingly easy to capture.  She sprang across to the opposite side of the wall, into the herb garden and shot across the carport to disappear between the box hedge and the outside wall. 
 J. positioned himself at one end of the hedge; I crawled along the edge of the porch until I could block the other end.  J. made shooing noises. The kitten paused halfway along the wall, and while she considered her options, I nabbed her by the scruff.
The cage by my desk is not really a comfortable fit for two kittens. "He" [we disagree on his name] is taking a nap in the clean litter box.  "She" is curled up in a corner.
Tummies are full.
I could rant.
Animal rescue people plead for pet owners to spay and neuter.
Good vets offer their services at reduced prices during spay/neuter campaigns.
Those who prefer to "let nature take its course" always create a huge burden for others.
To be fair--how does one trace a population explosion of unwanted kittens back to the ultimate source?
"Barn cats" have always been lightly valued, easily replaced, scarcely lamented when their usually short lives end.
They simply "come up missing."

I could go on: about the possibility of a stray bringing unwanted disease to our pampered darlings.
There is the undeniable cost of providing for animals, the emotional wrench that can be part of caring.
There are those pet owners who, when faced with the arrival of a stray, sensibly and honestly state that another animal is not an option.
There are those who calmly shoot any unwanted creature who sets foot on their property.
And then--there are the born "suckers" who buy another sack of kibble, squeeze the budget for another trip to the vet.
At the moment, even as I ponder the above, I dare to hope this is the last of the current arrivals.

11 comments:

  1. A born sucker here . . . life is cheap in Wales, if you're a cat. Plenty of sanctuaries trying to find homes for them, grown or kittens. In England they have a price on their heads and fetch £60 a time (just for moggies!!)

    I hope you don't have the rest of this litter arriving or kibble costs will go through the roof. . .

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  2. Jennie: The cost of adoption is sending me into a panic! I'm already serving a lesser quality kibble to the "barn cats" than for the "house cats."

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  3. I too am a born sucker as you know and the cost of food is beyond belief. I tried to buy cheaper food but they are either just sick or it it upsets their insides badly. I've tried the gradual introduction but I still have some that are badly affected and it is such a problem seperating them all at meal times...the vet says it often happens and smiles. I give them the minimum for 18 healthy cats ..and I stll have fat ones and skinny ones.lol and a high food bill ....lets not talk about vet bills.
    Re names ....a friend found 2 kittens in her garden, many years a go, and called them Flotsom and Jetsome.xx
    I do hope there are no more hiding.... but some how us softies cope.

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  4. Lots of oooooooooooooh's and ahhhhhhhhhhhh's going on here.
    So pretty, they look like silver tabbies.
    I know the expense of keeping many cats but I think it's worth it.
    We did have insurance for all of them but cancelled them as they kept increasing.
    We are lucky, we having an animal hospital called PDSA and I am able to take up to 3 cats there for treatment at a very reasonable cost, (they have a box and you contribute what you can ) but the other 2 go to the private vets and that is very costly. We have a fund that we save in just for this purpose.
    For all the worry and cost I could not be without them, they are a part of both of us and give us so much pleasure each and every day.
    Briony
    x

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  5. Well, they don't just appear on their own in my case. People who know I love cats, drop them off in my driveway. The births from Spring mating are now appearing! Good luck and you are very sweet to take them in. As we say, there never is another choice.

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  6. What good people you are, with such a large feline family already, and welcoming in the two wee ones who are needing help. I hope you will be able to manage ok with the extra babes to feed and care for. Some things we just can not walk away from, and little kittens surely top that list...

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  7. Two more Lucy clones!

    Another sucker here...... The two who arrived here on their own, having been dumped up in the woods, are the loveliest cats. The other two are also rescues, but chosen from a local cat shelter.

    Well done MM. Even if you don`t keep these two for ever, they have a good home and a safer start with you.
    Could you encourage your daughter to extend her cat family?!

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  8. Someone has got you pegged, MM. They know you have a soft heart. I'm so glad you have, though.

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  9. another one! I fully understand every thing you have written, and yet if I were you right now, I would have two little strays-in-need indoors as well. You have a huge heart my friend, and how fortunate for these little things that you do. My own six looks very modest now! (and I'll never forget little Sooty, my own charity case for one brief winter)

    Leanne x

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  10. Our local rescue centre in Bath, made you pay a good price for 'rescued' animals, and undertake to have them neutered as well. Barn cats, and feral cats are so difficult to control though. My cats and dogs (and rabbits!) all came from the same sanctuary, but there is only so many you can feed and treat to vet bills

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  11. You are obviously cut from the same cloth as my late MIL who could never refuse a home to a stray animal:) They are gorgeous though with those lovely huge eyes and the elegant grey coats. All my animals have been strays or rescues apart from the first dog and the first cat both long gone over the Rainbow Bridge.

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