We've Been Adopted

(You may need to see the last post to understand this.)

I still don't know much about cats, but I'm learning fast. I think the first thing I learned is that starving cats will eat anything. But as soon as they learn the meals keep coming, they get persnickety real fast. I also learned quickly that they learn to manipulate you quickly. They remained outside only till the S.O.S. lady brought them back from spaying. I was told to keep them safe, quiet and dry till midnight. Once again the neighborhood bully cats made that simple order a real challenge. Once it got dark I had to bring them inside. Just till midnight, I told myself. Then never again, I told myself. I watched them real close and we stayed in the kitchen. There was only one incident. They jumped up on my counter. My instinct took over and before I remembered I was suppose to keep them safe, I yelled and knocked them off the counter. Hard. I felt horrid. But it may have been a good thing. It must have hurt that soon after surgery because they still stay off the kitchen counter. (Yea!) Otherwise, they own the house....and us.

Before they taught us they were inside cats, we did buy outside winter proof protection and set it up under the roof of the deck and against the house where they would be safe and dry. It's still there. For awhile they used it at night when we pushed them out every night. At first. That didn't last too long. I'm still amazed at how Bear championed them. I blame him for bringing them in for longer and longer periods. Till it lasted all night. We realized they were going to the door when they 'needed' out to do their business. Maybe because they had survived outdoors, we were not finding any surprises inside. Still, the overnight stays were making me nervous and I bought a litter box. I must say, that was easier then training two small sons.

When the weather is nice, they still like to go outside. But they stay in a lot too. I now feed them inside so the wild cats don't bother the cat food I'm buying. And as personalities came out I changed Mama's name to Diva. She certainly earned the name. Bear's Baby will always be Baby, though sometimes she is called brat, (Bear's favorite is Dumb Cat) and a few other names. Baby loves to go out, but Diva is getting harder and harder to get out. They are filling out, but Diva will always be a small thin cat. It looks like Baby is going around her in size. Diva must feel safer inside. Maybe because of past experiences. Our mailman, when he realized they had adopted us, told us he saw a small boy on a tricycle run over Diva as she was sleeping in the sun. When I run my fingers over her little ribcage, I can feel the healed damage. She doesn't flinch, but it's there. And when she plays too hard, she starts to limp for awhile. I don't know what causes that, but it doesn't last long. Diva is very skittish of strangers, and still goes through spells of acting that way with me. While Baby trusts everyone.

Right now Baby is sleeping on the carpeted window shelf I fixed up for them. And Diva is asleep on the $69 kitty tree in the living room. And my nose is all plugged up and my skin itches. No doubt about it, we've been adopted. And life is no longer the same.

As for the picture....Baby found my water fountain.

God's Sense of Humor.

There is a saying (I'm not good at memorizing exact words) that says something like, if you want to know if God has a sense of humor, just make plans. Let me stretch that to include the statements we make. Only three blogs ago, I wrote a blog called 'About Cats' and stated that I don't really like cats and why. Was I tempting fate or giving God some kind of nudge toward humor?

Earlier this summer, two young kitties showed up on our deck and stayed. I ignored them as long as I could. Bear and I both agreed (I thought) we did not want kitties. This deck must have given them some sense of safety, because they wouldn't leave. And I realized they were starving right in front of my eyes. Then I saw one kitty nursing and the other very small cat was her mother, though they were nearly the same size. The neighborhood cats and strays that I've mentioned before are double the size of these two.

I couldn't let them starve. Even though I knew they would never leave if I fed them, it didn't look like they would leave anyway. I don't know anything about cats. Really. But food is food. I broke up a slice of our oatmeal bread, added a small amount of my favorite tuna and stirred it up with some milk and set it on the deck. It didn't take them long to devour that. This went on a few days. I soon learned that when I fed them, I had to sit on the deck too or neighborhood cats would chase them and eat their food. We somehow gradually started calling them just Mama and Baby. I still didn't want cats, especially in the house. I don't have the typical allergy of sneezing and red watery eyes, but I do have a skin reaction of itching and actual little stings all over my body that keeps me away from cats for any extended period. (A shower will fix it.)

My next step was taking pictures of them and sending those photos out in e-mails to everyone near enough to take them or know someone who might. Meanwhile I also made calls and found an organization who would spay and vet treat them inexpensively. At least I wouldn't have more litters around here. I really believe this little mama cat wouldn't survive another litter and her size probably explains why there is only one baby now. The papers that came back from the vet with the kitties after spaying tell me Mama only weighs 5.2 lbs. and Baby is 4.3 lbs. (And that was after I'd been feeding them about two weeks.) Once I started feeding them the nursing stopped. It looks like Mama would have given of herself till she died to save her baby. But they were dropped off near the deck of the lady who doesn't like cats......but couldn't watch them starve. Yup, God must be laughing at me.

Next blog title will be....'We've Been Adopted.'