Wednesday, September 12, 2007

More about the @#$% Cats in My House

As most people know, right now, I have five cats: Callie, a calico, is the oldest; Boudreaux, a large black shorthair, was, at one time, my son's cat, but he's mine now; Buddy, a sweet black and white shorthair, is my "puppy cat." He follows me around; Bubba, mostly black with white, is what I call a "tuxedo" cat; and Golem, a beautiful gray and white cat, came to me from a professor at the college where I work (I'm a rescuer--I have a hard time saying "no." But I'm getting better--five is enough).

My cats have distinct personalities and quirks. Callie likes to drink out of the faucet; Boudreaux, as large as he is, runs away from anything remotely scary; Buddy and Bubba are mostly fearless, but like to sleep cuddled up next to me at night; Golem wants to eat directly from the food bucket--no cat bowls for him.

I usually leave my back door opened just a crack for them to go in and out when I am home. I get annoyed when I have to get up a hundred times a day to let them in or out. The open back door has worked since I moved in, until the last two or three weeks. All of a sudden, they want to go out the front door. They'll come in via the back door, but they've stopped going out that way, mostly. I couldn't figure it out. Until now.

We have a little stray gray and white cat that's been hanging around since last year. I never knew the sex of the cat, but I suspected it was female. It would get really fat, then show up skinny. Pregnancy, of course. This cat eats from the cat dish on the dryer in the laundry room, which is right out the back kitchen door.

Two nights ago, I went into the laundry room to put food in the bowl. In my peripheral vision, I thought I saw something move. At first, I thought the possum had returned and was lurking behind the washer, but, when I turned on the light, I saw a tiny, tiny gray and white kitten wobbling on the floor. I almost stepped on it!

It's cute, but will probably grow up feral if I don't grab it quick and tame it. But, right now, it's too small to take away from its mother--Buddy was about three or four weeks old when my neighbor gave him to me, and he suffers from separation anxiety. I am his mother, as far as he's concerned. So I don't want to create another "clingy" cat. But if I wait too long, the kitten will end up hanging around my house, hissing at me when I pass. It's a dilemma, for sure.

Well, that explains why my cats won't go the back door. They watch for the mother cat to leave, though, and dash in through the back door when she goes. They haven't bothered the kitten, but they are curious about it. I'm keeping an eye on everybody so they don't kill the baby. If the baby gets killed, the mother will go back into heat, and we'll have cat fights all over the neighborhood, and, of course, more kittens. I'd like to tame the mother and get her fixed, but I don't think that's going to happen.

3 comments:

CrackHeadforTennis said...

Hey! You are not getting old. I think that it is cool that you have a thesis. If I had one I would look at my thesis, just to see what I had written. I feel bad for anybody who comes to your house and gets on your bad side. Those cats (children) will destroy him/her. I love to look at baby kittens. I wish that I were not afraid of cats. I don't know if I used "were" right. I'm trying to correct my english everyday. I believe that you will make me a blog star. How cool! I look forward to the blogs that you will recommend for me to look at. As usual, love the blog. Hope to see you soon. Love always'

CrackHeadforTennis said...

PS: Thanks! I always love your comments about my blogs.

Catherine said...

Although I don't have any cats, I have a three year old lab mix from the pound. She is very sweet, but not very smart. Sometimes I wish I had a cat, because they have so much personality and are like little people!

-catherine dickson, english 226