Endless strays

Back on July 6th, we found a friendly adult calico cat in our backyard.  Our dogs had cornered it under a tree, and I was able to crawl under the tree and scruff the cat without it making any protest.  It let me carry it around, purred, and seemed like someone’s pet, except for the fact it had no collar nor microchip.  I put a collar on the cat and affixed my email address to it before I released it, and I never saw the cat again. 

Jump ahead a couple of weeks, and a cat with a voracious appetite has been eating out of my front porch feeder each night.  I also hear the dogs barking at something very specific, but when I’ve gone to look I never see anything.  The only thing I saw about a week ago was a smallish cat, perhaps a calico kitten, sitting atop my neighbour’s wall.  It ran away when it approached.  Tonight the dogs were barking like crazy and staring towards a certain section of the yard, so I went out in the dark and with a whoosh, a small calico kitten ran past me and jumped up on the wall.  I decided to set a trap to catch the kitten, because it seemed awfully tiny, and I wanted to make sure it was in good health.  I wasn’t sure if it would approach the trap, but not to worry—I’d caught in within 30 minutes.  I had a trap full of a kitty firecracker all right… it was crazed and frightened and hissing and I wondered if it was even feral.  After a few minutes of quiet talking, the cat settled down quite a bit, and I was able to gingerly pick it up.  It’s definitely a calico female, maybe 8 weeks old, and it’s very skinny with dry fur.  The ears were a bit dirty (not with mites, just dirt), but the eyes were clear, and the kitten was pretty clean even though it was scrawny.  I decided to stick it in with Missy Mae (poor Missy Mae… she gets all the questionable cats tossed her direction), and that kitten just lit up when it saw her and started to purr loudly.  It climbed onto her back and started to knead like crazy, and it seemed so happy.  I’m glad Missy Mae is good natured about these things, because she even licked the kitten a few times, so she’s helping to relax it.  Tomorrow I’ll take it to the vet for shots and FIV/FeLV tests.

So, now I’m wondering if there’s any chance that calico cat I found a month ago could have been given birth to this calico kitten?  The adult cat could be someone’s pet, because it was sleek and shiny, but perhaps she wasn’t spayed and was allowed to roam.  She could have easily given birth in any of the open areas around us, or even in a car in our neighbour’s backyard.  I don’t think the kitten belongs to anyone because it’s so underfed and fearful, and I just think it’s an odd coincidence that I’d have a stray adult calico around right before having a stray calico kitten.

Assuming the kitten is healthy, it can go up for adoption tomorrow.  It loves other cats, so it should fit into a new home quite easily.  I will keep an eye out for a “lost cat” report, as I always do, but I sincerely doubt there’ll be one. 

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 08/06 at 12:43 AM

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  1. Oh, my. I’m glad she’s in good hands, but I hope you’re able to get her adopted quickly!

    Posted by Helena  on  08/06  at  05:24 PM
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