The two 'babies' of the feline family are 'charley stripes' as above and 'Black Betty' as per the song of which I only know a couple of lines and no idea who sang it! Wheras Stripey will pose for the camera ...the hell bat will not. Both are related to Crocket and Scruffy cat having the same mothers but with 12 months and heaven only knows how many litters in between that we never knew about. Just why people will not have female cats speyed is beyond me. The mothers of these kittens started producing kittens before they were twelve months old and are now probably dead...
We started rescuing cats after the only cat I ever 'paid ' for had to be given up to a rescue society for its own good. Mitsibushy was a blue persian kitten I purchased from a breeder...only to find it was unwell....it had the greenapple quickstep...the two bob bits....you know what I mean....continually! I spent a fortune at the vets and eventually Mitzi had to go to Liverpool to the Vet University to be diagnosed. All her digestive tract had been rendered sterile by too many antibiotics as a small kitten......Great! So the special diet that was going to cost about £10 per week for her and her alone would be Ok if there were not other cats in the household...but there were! After much soul searching I figured we had done the best for Mitzi that we could by finding out what her problems actually were...the bill had now hit well into three figures! So it was with a heavy heart I contacted the Persian Cat rescue people who at once found Mitzi a home where she would be cherished and fed her special food and where she would be an 'only' cat.
In return I agreed to give a 'rescued' cat a home......we are up to seven now! They are a family in their own right and we watch their antics, their moods, their squabbles with pleasure. they are safe here well away from the road, with woods and fields to play and hunt in as they wish. They are all fed and watered daily...can come in and out as they wish...jabbed annually for cat lergys and have 'visitors' removed very quickly. I think I have done my bit in return for Mitzi now and there will be no more additions to the feline family! She says! What 'he' says may differ in the face of nice lady from Cat Protection....
17 comments:
I miss having cats. My first cat, Pip, lived to be eighteen and used to collect me from school. My first on-my-own cat was half-Persian and gorgeous - I was just out of college and going to sign on and on the bus....A man had him in a bag, taking him to be put down. I ended up getting off the bus with him in my bag!
Yours are totally gorgeous.....
We have, umm hold on whilst I count them, eight, good lord, indoor cats and 2 feral cats in the barn. I am about to re-home Oscars kittens, she was feral but decide to come indoors to give birth in comfort and has stayed firmly indoors ever since.
Once kittens have gone I shall have her done, poor thing she is a wonderful mother but enough is enough, added to which one of the cats whom the vet declared to young to spay is now rather obviously pregnant so no doubt we shall have another litter before long!!
Don't want any French speaking ones do you?
It is very aad to see the way animals are treated, or rather disregarded here. I love cats, always had them, and my last one lived till 18 also. Here they are rarely sterilised, allowed to have litter after litter, which are then drowned. It is 'natural' they tell me. And as for having a male cat done....oh no no.
Urgh! Just reeling from your previous blog! Cats, yes, I've done my bit for the cat protection league too - none at the moment...
I've only just joined the novel racers and it's almost collapsed! Kate Harrison is handing the baton to someone else so if you're interested I'll let you know. The race has already been run but the racers continue - we meet up for a 'coffee break' every Friday to compare notes and offer encouragement. It doesn't matter where you are in the race but just offers a support group - don't know if that will change with new 'hostess'.
We had an old rescue cat who died (aged approx 20) just before we moved here last year. She would have loved it here. I quite miss her, and the dog still does, they used to sleep together in his bed!
But I wouldn't get another cat now. Next doors farm have six and the other way have one. I wouldn't risk a cat myself now withall my lovely birds around!!
warm wishes
x
I think it's lovely to rescue animals like this. My first and only cat, Jessica, is absolutely adorable and sleeps on our bed when she's not out reducing the rat population.
I love cats. My mum usually had around 15 and many of them were stray cats that were abandoned in the woods near our house. We lived in a famous beauty spot and abandoned cats and dogs were regular finds. I am appalled the way some people treat cats as if they were commodities to be bought and discarded when 'out of date'.
We've always had rescue cats. In fact we really want another one, but littlest is not-quite-four, too young for the cats protection league to place one wth us. Yours are lovely.
gawd, you are as bad as me , we had 8 at one point, I always aquired mine in sibling pairs, as an antedote to desiring more children than I already had. Kittens! just cant resist them. We have 5 now, and an alien invader, who started appearing earlier this year, and has now earned the name smudge (doesn't bode well, he will end up being resident). I intend to be one of those dotty old dears surrounded by cats.
I think I am already one of those dotty old dears surrounded by cats!
Popped back because you sound at your wit's end today. let it out, girl, have a good scream!
I love cats too. We always had cats when I was growing up but when I left home and went into rented accommodation, I couldn't have any and it was awful!
As soon as I moved back to Essex, my friend (who I was staying with) got me two gorgeous siamese cross kittens. They were strays and were brother and sister. I still have them.
For a long while, they were my soulmates as I moved around east London in search of happiness - this is their 6th home in ten years and they have always adapted to every new place without any fuss or bother.
If I had a big garden or lived further out in the country, I would love to have more cats.
You have certainly paid your dues for poor Mitzi in spades! Good on you!
Very, very sweet. We have one cat and one dog and that's it - I hope....
I did enjoy your blog. I have never been a cat person,but we have always had cats about the farm and pottery and they are real characters, but we always get them spayed. The happy potter is a softy with cats and paid a three figure sum to get one of the cat's legs amputated when it got a diesease from the tick, it was that or get it put down.
We've only ever owned a cat once - a wild creature called with great imagination by the children 'cat.' My Mother did rather better: her cats were named after American railroads - Baltimore and Ohio, Atcheson, Chesapeake and Santa Fé (5 cats). Ohio was a vicious Siamese who would leap on you in the middle of the night. My sister continued the naming tradition.
we have two cats (had four a year ago but lost the two older ones over the winter to illness and old age) and feed another two from the farm where dogs really reign. I hope you can make a lunch in church stretton on thursday. I have met two bloggers now, jo and katrina (no longer blogging but lovely, so reckon it is an entirely positive experience. Lovely to meet people you already know something about.
Seven cats! You are a saint - I like cats very much, but seven of anything is above and beyond the call of duty! You have more than made up for the one you gave away! We got two feral cats from a rescue society, thinking that they could stay outside (lots of outbuildings to hide in) but of course they ran away - didn't even hang around for the food.
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