Cat-a-blog: Part 2

So now we come to the current cats and hopefully I will not have to update this log with any other additions for many, many years.  Unfortunately, applications are still pouring in.  If only the people in our neighborhood could get a grasp of what happens when you don't neuter your pets.

Here is a 'cat math' equation.  Take one female cat.  If she is not neutered then she will have a litter of kittens when she is 9 months old.  After her first litter, she will have another litter in six months.  I am going to say she will always have a litter of two kittens, a male and a female.  I am also going to presume that each of her female kittens will always have a litter of two kittens, one male and one female.  Now this scenario is not life like in that cats routinely have litters of many more than two and many of those kittens would be female.  However, it is life like in that many of those kittens will not reach adulthood, so by and large this is somewhat accurate, given the high mortality of kittens and young cats.  We will call this a minimalistic equation.  The actual totals could be much higher given adequate food supply and minimal predation or accidents.

From 1 to 53 in 39 months

This chart shows how one female cat can have five litters in 39 months.  If each litter produces just one fertile female then in 39 months the total number of litters from all cats will equal 26.  Providing that two cats from each litter survive, the total number of cats in 39 months will be 53.  

The good news is that if you love kittens then lucky you!  There are several instances where litters of kittens are born in the same month or just a couple of months apart.  In fact on the 39th month there are 5 litters born at the same time!  That is why I ran it out to 39 months because I didn't want to leave those five mothers all about to burst with kittens.  And just to think - this chart is inaccurate because the numbers are actually too low!!!  There would in reality probably be lots and lots of more kittens!!!

So really, please - for the love of God neuter your cats.  If you have a little bit of extra money then neuter a stray cat.  Most cities will have a 'trap, neuter, release' program where for very low cost you can bring in feral cats for neutering.  Some cities have programs where it won't cost you anything.  If you take just one female cat out of the breeding pool then you have reduced the population of homeless cats by a minimum of 53 in just 39 months.

And don't just think that it is only the females causing the problems.  We have a very tough time with our cats because of wandering tomcats trying to stake out territory.  You would think since all of ours are neutered the tomcats would leave them alone.  Apparently the un-neutered male cat doesn't care and harasses our females anyway.  This leads to fights, nasty cat pee sprayed in our front porch and loud cat altercations at all hours of the night.  Unaltered male cats don't live very long - estimates say they last about 2 years.  They are typically suffering from abscessing injuries and have poor immunity to various cat diseases.  Considering the sorry state of many tomcats I see in our neighborhood I think they are responsible for much of the disease transmission in cat populations.

It was precisely because of a cat math problem that we came to our current cat situation.  Back in 2008 we had our lowest number of cats in years.  Just two which was a welcome relief from the masses we had been caring for prior to this.  I have already shared the story of Wilbur in Cat-a-blog Part 1, but Dory came to us in 1998 due to an un-neutered female cat.

Dory

14 years ago Dory arrived as a stray.  His feral mother brought us two litters of kittens, both to buildings in our back yard.  Her first litter we got acquainted with rather late in their lives when we found them living under the floor of our shop.  We made friends with the kittens, but the mom would have nothing much to do with us.  To our horror, in about a months time after meeting the kittens when they were about three  months old, they all disappeared.  We know one met its fate on the road in front of our house, but the others just vanished.   Mom cat stopped hanging around and we put the whole sad affair out of our minds

A few months later we found a second litter of kittens in a shed behind our house.  We found these kittens when they were just days old.  The mom was no where to be found when we first met the litter.  There were four of them and one of them had something wrong with his back leg.  The leg seemed to be turned the wrong way.  I picked him up and adjusted his leg back into the correct direction then left him with his siblings.  Mom cat must have not liked that we touched her kittens because when she returned she moved the kittens to a new location.

A couple of weeks went by and we found the kittens in the shed again.  I found them because one of the kittens was crying very loudly.  It was the one with the bad back leg and he was about half the size of his siblings.  My guess was that he was not able to get to mom as well as the others.  I found him under a shelf area in the shed and the rest of his siblings were in another part of the shed.  I put them together and planned on checking them every day.

To our horror, the very next day we found the mom cat dead in the street in front of our house.  Another victim to traffic.  We brought the kittens inside and began trying to care for them.  They were old enough to eat wet kitten food and feeding them and tending to their needs became our full time task.  We became quickly overwhelmed with their needs and gave the three largest to a humane organization to foster and find homes for.  The little guy with the bad back leg I did not let go because I feared they would take one look at his puny size and his lame leg and decide to end his little life.

He was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand.  He was solid grey, blue eyed and very loud.  Every few hours I would give him a tablespoon full of wet kitten food and he would then spend about a half hour doing his best to eat.  He used mouth and front feet together so he was a mess each time.  We kept him in a laundry basket and our two Schnauzers would look over the top adoringly at him.  Every day I would turn and massage his little leg and foot and exercise it as well.

We named him Dory, and he grew stronger and larger by the day.  His leg began to work normally but I made sure to massage and adjust his little ankle each day.  He played with our Schnauzers and I am pretty sure he considered himself a dog.  At first I was reluctant to let him outside unsupervised since I felt his back legs were weak and I was worried he might not be able to run fast enough if he encountered danger.  One day when he was out he suddenly decided to climb a tree right next to our back porch.  Up he went blindingly fast then onto the back porch and then the roof.  I panicked thinking he would not be able to get back down so I was hunting for a ladder when suddenly he was by my side.  Then he ran and scrambled back up the tree, porch, then roof again.  So much for his lack of speed.

After that he spent much of his time outside on the roof and via an open soffit vent, in the attic of our house as well.  His arboreal years gave him a strong muscular upper body.  He still has his upper body mass to this day although he now spends much of his time in the space under the porch or under various items we have next to the house.

 

He still likes dogs more than cats.  When our Schnauzers were alive he loved them and they were very affectionate with him.  It took him some time to warm up to the Westie, but that was because the Westie loves to chase him.  They get along great and are super friends, but if Dory ever runs then the Westie is hot on his tail, snapping at him.

Now the Border Collie is just rude and always putting her nose where it doesn't belong.  She would love nothing more than to herd him around and Dory wants nothing to do with her.   

The Front Door Cats

Now one might think it strange that we would divide the cats into a geographic location seeing as how cats tend to go where they please.  This however is the case at our house in that our 14 year old guy is the undisputed owner of the entire back yard and our four others are content with hanging out near our front door.

Ike

Ike is from the original litter that started us down the multiple cat business trail again.  He arrived as a skin and bones urchin with his mother and sister in June 2008.  It was obvious that he had never been around people before because he was very timid and at first would run if he saw us.  Food overcame his fear and eventually we were able to pet him if he was eating. We did not call him Ike, but rather Beaner which was a take off on his mother's name Bino (pronounced Beano).  Typically we name strays the first thing that pops into our head.

How Ike got his name is a story with the kind of drama that seems to surround cats in our life.  Just a few weeks after these kittens were getting comfortable with us an approaching hurricane caused us to have to evacuate to higher ground.  The reports of this hurricane predicted a 25 foot storm surge and since our house is just a little over 20 feet in elevation we packed our valuables and left for my father's house in town that sits at a respectable 50 feet of elevation.  Our valuables included our dogs and cats and we intended to take our three strays as well.  They however had plans of their own and were nowhere to be found.

On the last trip from our house with the storm winds already howling my husband found little Beaner wide eyed and nervous by the front door.  He had just about got his hands on him when a strong gust of wind rattled the eves and Beaner ran off.  We spent the storm devastated that we were unable to save our little wild trio and were certain they would not survive given the predictions of high water.  Low and behold when we finally made it back to our house two days after the storm, little Beaner came crying out to greet us, dry and safe.  He was renamed Ike in honor of surviving the storm.

Ike has become our front door big gun.  Perhaps it is because of his starved beginnings, but if we let him he would be willing to be one of those 30+ pound cats.  His very bright ginger color with his beautiful orange eyes match his bright and sunny disposition.  One of the more distinctive things about him is his tiny little voice.  You will hear this high pitched 'meew' and expect to see a small cat, but there he is the incredible hulk.  His one obstacle between looking truly large is his very small head.  When he is at a more appropriate body size you don't notice his tiny head, but when he gains weight his head remains tiny like some sort of shrunken cat head. 

Sandy

Sandy is the other original kitten of Bino's who arrived so tiny and skeletal I was almost certain she would not make it.  It was very touch and go, especially since any slight movement or noise would cause her to scatter away from the food we were providing them.  I can remember creeping up on a window that overlooked where we had placed the food and holding my breath while I watched this tiny little thing who was only about half the size of her brother.  I really did not hold out much hope that she would survive.  But she was a lot tougher than she first appeared.

She also started out with another name, Beanie, which was just another derivative of the mother cat Bino's name.  She was really attached to her mom and that was one of the reasons we never took Bino in to be neutered.  We were afraid this would cause little Beanie to disappear.  She was slower to warm up to us than her brother, but once she did she became quite affectionate.

After hurricane Ike rattled our cages about these cats we were somehow more invested in them due to the anticipatory grief we had suffered while contemplating their demise in the storm.  The fact that they survived sort of sealed the deal with us accepting the fact they were ours now.  I renamed her Sandy because, let's face it, Beanie is a pretty lame name and since Ike got a new name I felt it only fair that she get one too.  She really likes her name and will come when called.

Her best qualities are her amazing little body that is only the size of a six month old cat.  She is like some sort of miniature cat except she too would love to become a very fat cat.  I owe it to her early starvation.  It is harder to keep her in good weight because what is a normal portion size for a normal size cat is way more than she actually needs.  She sometimes gains so much weight she looks like a little football with legs.  She also has this exquisite little voice that to me sounds like she is saying 'meep, meep' when she cries.

Her favorite thing to do is push open the front door any time it does not latch completely.  She has absolutely no fear of the dogs and in fact pushes her head boldly into them so they can 'pet' her.  She likes to sit with me when I am at the computer and she loves to play with my hand when we are lying on the bed.  Her idea of play is to 'bite' and 'kick' my hand and dare me to try to take my hand away.  Her bites and kicks are deliberately mild unless I tense my hand or try to disengage.  She also increased the amplitude when she gets excited.  This means our 'hand play on the bed' usually ends with scratches.

Zoe

Zoe is one of the kittens born to Bino during hurricane Ike which makes her a half sister to Ike and Sandy.  Her mom was very reluctant to let us see these kittens.  My husband had spotted one when they were about six weeks old and he said it seemed to glow.  I think it must have been Zoe who was solid white when she was little.   We did not actually see her until she was about 10 weeks old and in fact we though that Bino only had 2 kittens.  Then suddenly there was this white kitten.  We kept waiting for the other shoe to drop thinking that Bino might have God knows how many kittens she was hiding from us, but thankfully it was just the three.

I was enchanted with this little white kitten which gave proof to my belief that Bino had siamese heritage.  Not only was this kitten white she also had blue eyes.  I must admit that we had a different name for her at first due to not knowing if she was male or female since we saw her so seldom.  Her original name was Bart (just another one of those 'first thing that pops into your head' kind of names).

We never intended to keep 'Bart' or her other two siblings.  I even made up quite an attractive poster of her that had several pictures of her as well as listed her outstanding qualities.  I displayed this poster at my office and tried to encourage people to adopt her.  I felt certain that her siamese markings and blue eyes would make her an easy 'sell'.  No such luck - not even any interest.  It was probably due in part that we were not able to offer these guys up for adoption early because we had to tame them first.  They were already months old when we first got to see them and it took a couple of more months before they accepted handling and being inside the house.

When it became apparent that there was not going to be another home for Bart we accepted our fate as owning another cat and renamed her Zoe.   She has a quirky personality that is quick to be irritated.  You get exactly two pets with her before she screams in irritation.  She loves to rub up against walls and hates to be picked up.  She is definitely Miss Bossy Pants and is always getting into arguments with Sandy.  She really is disgusted with the dogs and lets them know it.  All in all, Zoe has served as a reminder to me that you can't judge a book by its cover.  She looks like a dream and you just want to pet her, but she insists that life be lived by her terms.

Mini

Mini is the direct sister of Zoe from Bino's second litter.  She was the first of the kittens we routinely saw because she was very attached to her mom and wanted to go with her everywhere.  Since we saw her more than the others she was warming up to us and we felt destined to be very friendly.

Unfortunately tragedy struck early in her life.  At some point when she was only about four months old she received and injury to her back leg.  We did not know exactly what happened to her, but it is likely since it was cold that she made the mistake many cats and kittens make.  We feel certain that she must have been sleeping on a car engine and was injured when the car was started.

We went from seeing her each day to barely seeing her at all and each time she saw us she ran away on three legs, with her back leg held at an awkward angle.  We were anguished over how to help her and the best we could do was to provide her a warm place and food since she was too wild to handle.  There are few things more helpless than having to witness the suffering of some creature you have come to care about and being powerless to help.

Apparently the injury to her leg was not as grave as we first thought and in a couple of weeks she was holding the leg normally, but still putting very little pressure on it.  She eventually recovered fully except that she remains very skittish and easily startled.  There really was never any question in our minds about finding her a home once she was injured.  We realized that her socialization was seriously affected so we resolved to keep her with us. 

She is quite a complicated and smart cat.  She is always the last to arrive when we are feeding the others and she would much rather we pet her than she is interested in the food.  But she wants the affection on her terms and runs if we move too suddenly.  She also refuses to come into the house and will have nothing to do with the dogs.  She has a very suspicious nature which makes it hard for me to do things like apply flea treatments.

Temporary Cats

I felt it only appropriate to list the cats that have passed through our lives as temporary family members.  In some cases we know the end of the story and in others we just have to guess.

Bino

She was responsible for this whole big multi cat mess we currently have, gave us two litters of kittens, would not let us do more than barely pet her and then she was gone, never to be seen again.

Bronson

He was a tomcat, but a very mellow and friendly guy who did not harass nor beat up our cats.  He and Bino had a thing for one another and I suspect he was the father of her second litter of kittens.  We only got to know him for a few weeks and it was obvious he was already a veteran of many cat fights.  He might have been about three years old, but they were a hard three years.  We were saddened to find him one morning in our backyard, lifeless on top of our compost pile.  He is another sad reminder that un-neutered male cats do not live very long.

Toby

Toby was a goofy Manx cat who decided we needed another cat at a time we were already caring for eight.  He was friendly as could be which made us feel certain that he had another home.  Whether that was the case or not, within just a couple of weeks of coming around he just stopped leaving our place and became a permanent fixture.  Our cats did not mind him and he was not in any way aggressive with them, so we just let him hang around.  He was a type of Manx who had no tail at all.  I read up about them because I was curious about his anatomy.  I found out that often these tailless Manx can have all sorts of digestive troubles and this seemed to be the case with Toby.  He got sick one day and seemed listless and then within a couple of days developed a skin infection.  We took him to the vet and it was decided that he was too far gone with too many issues so we had him put to sleep to end his suffering.

Mike

This was the third kitten from Bino's second litter and thankfully we were able to adopt him out to a wonderful home.  Mike is now named Tigger and he shares an inside home with two older cats.  His new mom adores him and he sleeps with her each night.  He is huge like Ike except his head fits his body.  His mom says he weighs about 15 pounds and loves to sun himself on a back screened porch.

Omar

This was the last of the 'joiners' we have had to deal with.  At first from afar we did not even notice there was another cat because his coloration was just like Ike.   Up close it was obvious because he was much smaller than Ike, the other cats did not like him, and he had extra toes.  This gave him his first name 'Poly' which was short for polydactyl.  We were not amused by the addition of another cat after we had worked to bring our number down to five.  He was however a very friendly guy which spoke of him having another home.  Yet, here he was very skinny and very, very hungry.  Either he had gotten lost from his first home or else his first home had decided he no longer needed to be fed.  What were we going to do?

Thankfully his multi- toed condition made him more interesting to potential adopters and that along with his beautiful ginger coat and light blue eyes sealed the deal and a friend adopted him.  She gave him the name of Omar and he is very happy in his new home.

Now hopefully that will be all of the cat updates I will have to make for a while.  If the universe is listening I would like to say - yes, we understand that for some reason we need to have a whole bunch of cats, and yes, we are not making anymore pronouncements of 'getting out of the cat business'.  We would just like to ask could you please stop sending these guys our way?  Certainly by now there must be some positive cat karma built up enough that we can stop at five cats for a while.  Thanks.