Hello to all the cats and their owners on this site,
I'm new and I'll tell you how I came to have cats.
Last year, just after my Labrador went to the Happy Hunting Ground, at 13, quite old for a big dog, I was a 2 dog home, 2 little Yorkipoos, black, hairy and under 10 kilos together. One day I saw a poor thin female cat, with milk, eating in their dishes. She was a sorry state, with her bones sticking out, and very timid. I started putting down food for her on the floor below, as we are on the 3rd floor, and the garden door, which is always open, is on the 2nd. After a while she let me approach, then stroke her.
I discovered her history, as I live in a tiny village, very isolated.
Her owners had moved out, and when they tried to touch her she attacked them, then hid her kittens outside. They did sort of give her to someone, but due to the high population of dogs there she didn't stay. So I became the owner of Kit, as I called her.
Eventually she brought her kittens here, all black, and half wild. I realized, after a week or two, that there were 3 in all, as one black kitten looks like another black kitten when you don't know them. It took about a month before I could approach them, and see if they were boys or girls. I thought they were 3 boys.
When she'd finished feeding the babies I got Kit spayed, vaccinated and tatooed.
Unfortunately I couldn't get the kittens operated, due to lack of funds, and, even worse, I'd looked at one twice, because one of the kittens, now quite big, started getting "fat". He was a she, and the day before I had an appointment at the vets she had 2 kittens, hidden in the furniture of a spare room. It took a month to find them, both black, one boy and one girl.
OMG, this was getting to be a big family.
Unfortunately when their mum stopped feeding them she was expecting again, but the vet operated her, then she escaped after a day when I got her home, disappeared, and didn't survive. I felt terribly guilty, but she was too used to being outside. She'd moved her kittens to a shed outside before she died, though.
So now I have Kit, Sweet, Pantha, Tigga and Chinka. Tigga and Chinka are still timid, but I hope I can tame Chinka enough to get her operated before she's old enough to have her own kittens. She's only 3 1/2 months old now, so I hope I've got another 2 months at least.
There is also a cat who visits sometimes, who doesn't seem to get on with his owner, called Taz. He's a cat who ignores me completely, just comes in from the rain, eats a little, and squats a bit of warmth. But there's always a bowl of dry food full, for snacks between meals.
I'm lucky that my vet lets me pay for anything in 3 or 4 installments, as it's quite a little fortune getting a cat spayed here. Chinka will be the third in a year, and as for the males, it's not at all possible for the moment!
The 3 older cats get on well with the dogs, and the 2 kittens are getting used to them, but the dogs do tend to bark, as little dogs do, and although they play with the 2 bigger males, Sweet and Pantha, the kittens will have none of it, yet.
Me, I'm English, but I've lived in France for nearly 30 years, and am now on a little mountain (1500ft), with a road that goes nowhere, so it's beautifully calm, and ideal for dogs and cats. There are horses, sheep, and about 40 people too. A paradise, where I intend to rest for my old age (I'm only 55, but it's not young, and I'm handicapped with a wonky leg)
Thank you for reading my "book", sorry it was so long, but cats can be quite a history. We are now 9, with my friend and I included, in a big old Presbytery, with super views across a valley to more, bigger mountains.
I'm new and I'll tell you how I came to have cats.
Last year, just after my Labrador went to the Happy Hunting Ground, at 13, quite old for a big dog, I was a 2 dog home, 2 little Yorkipoos, black, hairy and under 10 kilos together. One day I saw a poor thin female cat, with milk, eating in their dishes. She was a sorry state, with her bones sticking out, and very timid. I started putting down food for her on the floor below, as we are on the 3rd floor, and the garden door, which is always open, is on the 2nd. After a while she let me approach, then stroke her.
I discovered her history, as I live in a tiny village, very isolated.
Her owners had moved out, and when they tried to touch her she attacked them, then hid her kittens outside. They did sort of give her to someone, but due to the high population of dogs there she didn't stay. So I became the owner of Kit, as I called her.
Eventually she brought her kittens here, all black, and half wild. I realized, after a week or two, that there were 3 in all, as one black kitten looks like another black kitten when you don't know them. It took about a month before I could approach them, and see if they were boys or girls. I thought they were 3 boys.
When she'd finished feeding the babies I got Kit spayed, vaccinated and tatooed.
Unfortunately I couldn't get the kittens operated, due to lack of funds, and, even worse, I'd looked at one twice, because one of the kittens, now quite big, started getting "fat". He was a she, and the day before I had an appointment at the vets she had 2 kittens, hidden in the furniture of a spare room. It took a month to find them, both black, one boy and one girl.
OMG, this was getting to be a big family.
Unfortunately when their mum stopped feeding them she was expecting again, but the vet operated her, then she escaped after a day when I got her home, disappeared, and didn't survive. I felt terribly guilty, but she was too used to being outside. She'd moved her kittens to a shed outside before she died, though.
So now I have Kit, Sweet, Pantha, Tigga and Chinka. Tigga and Chinka are still timid, but I hope I can tame Chinka enough to get her operated before she's old enough to have her own kittens. She's only 3 1/2 months old now, so I hope I've got another 2 months at least.
There is also a cat who visits sometimes, who doesn't seem to get on with his owner, called Taz. He's a cat who ignores me completely, just comes in from the rain, eats a little, and squats a bit of warmth. But there's always a bowl of dry food full, for snacks between meals.
I'm lucky that my vet lets me pay for anything in 3 or 4 installments, as it's quite a little fortune getting a cat spayed here. Chinka will be the third in a year, and as for the males, it's not at all possible for the moment!
The 3 older cats get on well with the dogs, and the 2 kittens are getting used to them, but the dogs do tend to bark, as little dogs do, and although they play with the 2 bigger males, Sweet and Pantha, the kittens will have none of it, yet.
Me, I'm English, but I've lived in France for nearly 30 years, and am now on a little mountain (1500ft), with a road that goes nowhere, so it's beautifully calm, and ideal for dogs and cats. There are horses, sheep, and about 40 people too. A paradise, where I intend to rest for my old age (I'm only 55, but it's not young, and I'm handicapped with a wonky leg)
Thank you for reading my "book", sorry it was so long, but cats can be quite a history. We are now 9, with my friend and I included, in a big old Presbytery, with super views across a valley to more, bigger mountains.
