Ten Cats, Two Adults, Two Kids

Hi!  I'm Steff.  My partner's name is Erin.  My kidlings are five and seven.  And we somehow, inexplicably, ended up with ten cats.

The first was Mike and Ray.  We lost our Ray; she was fine, and then only hours later, she died in our arms -- I had just gotten home from work, late at night.  Both were street cats, brother and sister, we took in, got vet care, etc.  Ray's loss was devastating; we barely had her a month, and we lost her.  But we continued on with Mike, and then a woman with cancer was getting rid of her cat Fergie.  We took in Fergie, and then it was Mike and Fergie.

Then, one night after I'd taken Mike for his walkies, there was a cat.  A slim, big-eared tortie who was massively pregnant.  She all but leaped into my arms with a meow and started clinging.  My partner immediately took her inside, upstairs and named her.  I facepalmed, but went along with it.

We took Reinette to the vet, we had her tested and dewormed.  They said she'd probably give birth in a week, maybe two, to four kittens.  She waited three and a half weeks and had six.  She woke Erin up meowing, and insisted upon being loved through the birth.

The kittens remained unnamed for quite some time.  In the meantime, living in an area of very high cat abandonment, we did our best for the outside strays and one, in particular, named Arthur was so sweet that after all his vet care, including neutering, he wanted desperately out to make friends.  So.  Mike gained a new pal.  It's done wonders for Mike's disposition; he was always a good cat, but a bit prickly sometimes.  Now he has a guy friend to play with.

In the meantime, the kittens just turned nine weeks old.  Two are going to a new home together at twelve weeks.  They are: William, Shawn, Bagheera, Molly, Calleigh, Grace; two black, three gingers and a calico.  They and their mother go in for spay/neuter, vaccination, etc. on Wednesday.

Somehow, all of this happened in less than a year, and money earmarked for vacations and everything else has gone into vet care and food and everything else, but I don't think I'd change a thing.

Nice to meet you all!

Wow. You are a busy person. Welcome to The Cat Site. Thanks for taking care of all these little fur kids. Feel free to post some pictures.

Bless you and Erin for everything you are doing for these cats.  It's very nice to meet you. 

Nice to meet you, too!  Sorry for the late reply; yesterday, nine cats went to the spay/neuter clinic to get fixed.  So currently, we have twelve under this roof; two strays recovering called Artemis and Holly.


This is Mike.  He's about a year and a half old or so.  He started off a skittish stray with his sister Ray, and became my good boy.


This is Fergie.  She's estimated to be about four years old.  She's a very sensitive cat to others' feelings; if you're upset, she jumps up on your lap, rubs and purrs it all better.


This is Reinette.  (Reh-net, for pronunciation.)  She's a psychopath.  She's estimated about a year and three quarters or so, and showed up in her last trimester.  She has tried to take the faces off of every cat in this house at least once, except her kittens.  However, despite this, she's one of the most patient, human-friendly kitties ever.  She's beautiful, and regal, and loving.  Hopefully, now that she's spayed and her kittens are getting close to the twelve week mark, she can be reintroduced to the others.  We're praying.
 


This is William, the firstborn of this litter.  He's the sweetest kitten.  He is all head rubbing, nose touching, neck-sleeping purr machine.  He doesn't have his forever home yet.  He (like the others) were all spayed/neutered yesterday.


This is Shawn.  He has a twin named Molly.  He's a soft-hearted, mellow-natured kitten.  He was the first one to purr for me.  He was also, if I remember right, the first to escape from the nest.


This is Calleigh (named by the woman who will adopt her come November 4th).  She is precocious, quick, never rests and always runs and runs.  She's also quite clever.


This is Gracie.  She is also precocious.  She's also crazy like a fox.  She's clever, she's sweet, she does car rides really well.  She fell madly in love with Arthur (the stray we're currently 'harboring' indoors), and they're buddies.


This is Shawn's twin Molly.  She's absolutely a darling.  She is a quick little hunter with a huge personality and a terrific elevator butt.  She got shaved for surgery yesterday in... creative ways that left Erin and I scratching our heads.


This is Bagheera (named by the woman adopting him with Calleigh).  He's a more mellow kitten, but like William, becomes a neck-cat, a purr machine and a total head-rubbing darling.

Four of the kittens don't have homes aside ours as of yet.  We're pretty picky about who we're letting ask for them.  People in this area seem offended if you dare ask for proof they're allowed to have pets, and for an adoption contract.  So, they stay with us until the right folks come along.


This is Arthur (with Grace, and Calleigh looking on).  He was covered in ticks, sleeping in a doorless cat carrier on our porch.  This cat seriously is the king diplomat of cats.  He gets along with everyone, regardless of how they like him.  He's gentle and loving with the kittens, he's sweet with Mike, he avoids Fergie (who came at him), and avoids Reinette.  He's amazing.  He needs a good forever home.

...will post the strays Artemis and Holly later, time for work.  But there's at least some of the cats under our roof! ;-)

Beautiful kitties! 

Your... cats... are.. STUNNING! Great photos!!

Thank you for taking care of all these kitties!!

Hi there welcome along to TCS

You cats are gorgeous!