Update on Those Cats

It took some doing, but I finally convinced Tom that we urgently needed to capture and spay the stray cats (pictured in my last post). I borrowed three humane “trap-and-release” cages from Lynne of the Whiskers and Tails Foundation. Tom had a lot of anxiety about frightening the cats and separating them from one another, but one fine morning he managed to capture Momma Cat within a matter of minutes after baiting the trap with her favorite Fancy Feast canned food.

Momma endured the trip to Animal Birth Control with quiet grace and came through her operation with flying colors. Tom was much relieved – at least until we released her and she decided to pull one of her disappearing acts. I was sure she was so happy to be out of the cage that she was out visiting all of her favorite hang-outs around the neighborhood. Still, it was a relief when she finally reappeared two days later to have a snack and take a nap in the garage.

Snowflake was the next to go. We weren’t entirely certain that Snowflake was female, but our hunch proved correct. Not only was she female but, like Momma, she was also pregnant! Snowflake also came through her operation very well, but cried and pawed to get out of the cage. Thunder missed her, too, as they had been nearly inseparable. So soft-hearted Tom released her, perhaps sooner than he should have, and to our surprise, she and Thunder immediately darted under the house through an open grate. Once again, we worried and watched for nearly two days until Snowflake emerged from her hiding place, happy and healthy and seemingly oblivious to what had happened to her.

As a result of making the difficult decision to capture our free-wheeling strays for just a little while, we avoided being overrun by multiplying stray kittens and will continue to enjoy our three “garage cats” without fear of the situation getting out of hand. Still TBD: little Thunder, a male, will also eventually need to be captured and neutered.

Thunder, Snowflake, and the Momma Cat

A stray black cat gave birth to three kittens in our neighbor’s back yard last summer. Only one kitten survived: a spunky tabby with dark stripes and white feet. My husband Tom named it Thunder. Tom began feeding Thunder and Momma in front of our house and even set up soft beds for them, first in the garden and later in the garage, to protect them from the rain and cold.

Thunder and Momma were soon joined by a small white kitten/cat with one blue eye and one gold eye and a distinctive black tail. Tom called the white cat Snowflake. Thunder and Snowflake soon became inseparable buddies.

I was ambivalent about trying to adopt one or more of the strays, since I already have a 10-year-old cat named Tomo, who stays in the house nearly all of the time and doesn’t much care for other cats. But it didn’t matter anyway. Momma wouldn’t let anyone near Thunder, while Snowflake darted away every time anyone approached. We couldn’t even get near enough to determine the gender of the kittens, although we now think Thunder is a male and Snowflake is female. They are all, I’m afraid, now too accustomed to their freedom to ever become house pets.

As spring approaches, Momma appears to be in heat. Tom wants to adopt one of her kittens next time, if there are any. But Momma is a stray, after all. She no longer sleeps in the garage every night and often disappears for days at a time. Who knows where she will have her next litter. Meanwhile, we watch Thunder and Snowflake from our front window as they grow into mature cats, so close and yet so out of reach.