New House Guest - Welcome this time!

[JulieSherris]

This morning I got up bright & early... to discover that the spare jar of coffee in the cupboard wasn't there.......
So after getting dressed & making sure hubby stayed asleep, off I went to the village to get some more. Had a chat with the girls in the shop & came home... to see a young kitten in the lane along from our house... he jumped onto the bank & I slowed to a stop - I didn't get out of the car though, but could see he was being quite vocal..... I had a full blast of the 'Awww' factor & then slowly rolled the last 200 yards to our drive.
We're quite used to seeing feral cats here - there's several living in the woods, one of whom that we've nicknamed 'The Panther' who has moved into our derelict cottage since we have restricted the dogs access & it has a comfy chair in it too

Anyway, I got out the car to find the kitten streaking along the lane towards me Well, feral cats always keep their distance..... so after trying to make my way round the house to the back door, tripping over a kitten that was weaving between my legs.... and battling with the bassets who LOVE cats, but want to completely smother them in slobby kisses..... and we now have a new house guest!

He's been out in the garden several times & is showing no urge to go anywhere else, has made friends with the dogs & more importantly has made friends with hubby...
Have made the call to our neighbour who knows everything about everybody & no-one local has lost a kitten, or had kittens in the last few months......... but folks quite often 'lose' (dump) their cats/dogs in the woods here when they no longer want them
So we now have a new cat (after I said no more cats)

The new addition to the family is Rodney - and he's just so cute! Pic here..... http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... 38&t=12525

Just thought I'd better introduce him - It will be nice having a cat around again - my lady died just a week after we moved in here, so I'd best go buy some kitty food tomorrow!
Julie

[Graye]

Isn't it strange how cats decide they WILL live in a certain place and in they come? It seems we have little choice in the matter!

[snapdragon]

No choice in the matter is there?

he's beautiful - so unkind of people to dump their animals like that - but probably all for the best, am certain he knows he has a good home now

[JulieSherris]

You know, I'm not at all sure he's been dumped...
I'm a bit confuzzled..... He's way too friendly to be a feral cat, but he's way too filthy to have been dumped recently......

His white fur looks very white until you start lifting it - I combed him, no sign of fleas, so the cold has probably got them & he is quite thick with dirt next to his skin. His claws are completely shredded although very sharp (!) and his pads & claw sheaths are black, black, black....

Yesterday, I had to almost push his face into the feeding bowls, as tho he didn't know what they were & he was after me taking his food OUT of the bowl to eat it off the floor!
He's also padding incessantly, which makes me think he's not been away from mum for too long. His tentacles aren't there yet, so I reckon he's between 8 & 12 weeks old but his eyes still have a blu-ish tinge like a younger kitty.

So, I dunno, but what I do know is that he's here to stay - I popped him out at around 5 am this morning & he came running straight away at 8 when I got back up again - a good sign indeed

And hubby has started saying things like 'go to your mum for cuddles, don't come greasing around me, dads don't do cuddles, you know'.... all the while he's cuddling the kitty

Ahhhh..... we 're a dual animal household again - feels good!
Julie

[Mylovelyhorse]

Your new house guest looks lovely! And reminds me very much of one of the cats I used to have, several years ago. He too just homed in on me, and moved in immediately. He was ridiculously friendly, but also absolutely filthy. He obviously wasn't feral, but he'd been living rough for quite a while. And presumably when he spotted me, he recognised me as a complete sucker for pussy cats, so wasted no time in showing me how lovable and cuddly he was.

He was a great cat. A real character. I hope you and Rodney are as happy as we were!

[mrsflibble]

awwww, my mum in law can never say no to a cat who wants to adopt her so she's now got 5 hahaha!

[Ellendra]

Kitty stories!

I got my kitty while out deer hunting.

No, seriously! I was walking over a ridge, and something started yowling so loud it echoed through the whole valley. I started searching the nearby brush to see if there was something caught in a coyote trap, it sounded really close. 1/4 mile down the hill, there was a teeny little ball of fur bounding across the field. She raced right up to me and climbed in my coat. Had to name her Snuggles because that's what she did. From her behavior I could tell she was no feral cat, but she looked like she hadn't eaten in a few days, dad fed her a McDonald's burger, she scarfed it down, pickle, bun, and all! When she finally held still long enough for a full inspection I saw her paws were burned, we think she tried to get food out of a burn barrel from one of the nearby farms. We asked around but no one claimed her, so she came home with me. One week later my older cat died.

That same weekend it was in the news that a woman had been sentenced to spending a night alone in the same park where she had admitted dumping over 60 cats and kittens.

[MuddyWitch]

That same weekend it was in the news that a woman had been sentenced to spending a night alone in the same park where she had admitted dumping over 60 cats and kittens.

Maybe it should have been 60 nights: one for each cat?

I aquired a dog under similar circumstances: he followed me and a take-away home one late night. We had a dog, (or more accuratly a bitch in full heat!) but I couldn't leave him out in temperatures of minus five. He thought he'd arrived in doggy heaven: food, warm bed & a hot bitch!!!

After reporting him to the police, we were allowed to keep him. They, like us, felt he'd just got too big so had been thrown out. He was a lovely dog & my constant companion till he passed on.

MW

[Millymollymandy]

You're all lovely people for taking in these poor abandoned animals.

[MuddyWitch]

Actually, MMM, I think they seek us out. All my dogs have been "rejects" for various reasons, and they have all been good as gold for me. I trully believe animals know good people from bad. I'm just glad they think I'm a good 'un

MW

[JulieSherris]

Yep MW, I think you're right.

I started with a kitty from my mum, then over the years we got adopted by 3 more.....
OK, we searched around for our bassets but the cavalier was sprung on us via the RSPCA.... and he's been a superstar

I am about to pop some pix of Rodney on my photobucket, will post a link when I'm done... so cute & so funny when you see a 5 stone basset trying to run away from a tiny kitty in a 12foot room

[JulieSherris]

Pix are up - oh. I love photobucket

http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t62/ ... =slideshow

[Ellendra]

That same weekend it was in the news that a woman had been sentenced to spending a night alone in the same park where she had admitted dumping over 60 cats and kittens.

Maybe it should have been 60 nights: one for each cat?

It was winter.

When the freezing rain started the judge granted her a tarp and a sleeping bag.

I still think the judge was being easy on her, but he probably didn't want the lawsuits if she died out there.