We have a colony of feral cats in our neighborhood. It all started around about 5 years ago when our former white-trash neighbors moved and abandoned their pregnant black, female cat. After she had a few litters one summer, we finally caught her last batch of kittens and got her spayed. She had to recoup for about a week in a dog crate after her surgery. When the day came to set her free, she wouldn't leave. Can't say that I blame her! Her name is KitKat and she is now our outdoor, microchipped, black cat. We believe a few of her kittens became what we now call "The Backyardigans" - four feral cats that show up at our house twice a day for food. We have named them for our own convenience since they all look alike (Blue, Biege, Beauty & China - There is also Bart & Bear but they aren't backyard regulars) We refuse to take ownership of them but we have spayed and neutered all but one. The elusive one, Beauty, was caught once in the cat trap but Dear Husband moved her to the dog crate without realizing he had to get he back in the trap to take her to be spayed. Needless to say, she freaked and Dear Husband ended up at Urgent Care getting a tetanus shot. She will not get anywhere near the cat trap now.
So far this summer, Beauty has had two litters of kittens. We found and caught the first batch of three kittens. Since they were so small when we found them, we kept them for a few weeks to allow them to be adoptable. BIG MISTAKE! Don't let a cat-loving family with two small children bond with a kitten and then plan to give it away. Long story short... we fell in love with the tiger-striped male but knew in our hearts our house was too crazy for another cat. We found a home for him and were very sad to see him leave. A week later, his new adopted mom couldn't keep him due to her living situation. We jumped at the chance to get him back.
His name is Sake Beau (Sake:because our family LOVES Japanese food) (Beau:because Princess for some reason wanted to name him that). He is now 5 months old and is living the life of luxury as an indoor cat. We got suckered in, our house is now overflowing even more with chaos, but it was the best decision. Princess and Pirate just love their kitten and he is sooooo patient with them and I love that he is the biggest cuddle cat in the whole-wide world. I am happy to share my pillow with him each night. Neka, our other indoor cat tolerates Sake though she sure seems to enjoy it when he cleans her. She doesn't want to let on but we know she loves him too.
The morale to my story... please spay & neuter your animals but also sometimes there is just a bit more room for one more. (I'll keep you posted when I finally find the current batch of kittens in the yard, just in case you have room in your home & heart)
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