Meow – the Sucker Syndrome
Thu., November 14, 11:09 AM
The last time I wrote in detail about our kitties, I really wanted to wash my hands of the whole business. It’s just too exhausting to keep watching over them when I know there are outside forces killing them off as fast as they’re born.
So I pulled back. I stopped feeding them at the crack
of dawn, hoping they’d lose interest. Soon I had only two regulars, Dos-a – who still expects to be patted before she eats – and Floppy, the calico who was one of Dos-a’s kittens. I set out far less food, and I chased away any males who thought they were horning in. A lot of good that did.
A month ago, I noticed that both cats were looking a little chunky. I don’t want any more kittens; it’s bad enough I feed cats, I don’t want to feed foxes too. I continued to feed the two little girls. The boys were no longer around, of course, since the girls were obviously not available.
I saw Floppy squeezing out from under the steps. And U.D. said she was sure she heard mewing there late at night. I don’t want to know. Dos-a tried to lead me into the woods one day, and I didn’t want to know about that either.
Saturday night U.D. walked into the house with a tiny ball of calico fluff. She had fed her just a little canned food, and the little thing must have thought she was Mama. When she took the kitten back outside, it yelled so loudly that the neighbor from out back came to see what was wrong.
So U.D. got all the cat news. Not only is Mrs. Neighbor feeding them, but her son built a shelter for whatever cats want to stay there. (So she’s the one running a cathouse.) At least one fox has made a home in a hollow oak in our backyard. Our little Fraidy had two litters last summer, after which Mrs. Neighbor had her spayed. An old tom that U.D. calls Droopy Drawers has been killing kittens, breaking their necks. And Mrs. Neighbor gave U.D. the names and phone numbers of some organizations that will help care for cats.
Next morning U.D. found another little calico under the steps, a quieter one. Then she had coffee with an old friend, and she told him all about the kittens. He said he would be happy to take both of them.
U.D. came home and went to look for the babies while Friend would come in his own vehicle. There was only one gray kitten under the steps, and it was dead. Friend helped her dispose of the dead kitten. He said that the mother cat – whichever one it was – had probably led her babies away because she didn’t want U.D. to take them, and that she had probably killed the other one because it was unable to follow. Both U.D. and Friend were very sad, but they looked in the woods to see whether they could find the missing calicos.
Friend actually found another kitten on a bush, and he picked it up. This one may be spotted when it gets older, but it’s not quite calico. She seemed most comfortable with him, and he took her home, where she seems to be very happy.
You would think that Dos-a and Floppy would stay away now. They don’t want their kittens near us. But I continue to be the source of food – SUCKER – and they’re still there every morning. And Dos-a still comes to be patted.
Anybody want a cat?
