Long overdue update!

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cherriey

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My family has grown a lot since I was here last! My kitten Popcorn has had a litter of her own. Three beautiful kittens. One didn't make it unfortunately. There are only two left: a male with no tail (Bob) and a female with a tail (Monty).

Also, recently a gorgeous cat (who, consequently Popcorn absolutely abhors) appeared in our backyard. For the sake of peace both human and feline we couldn't take her into the house. She looks like she's been on her own for awhile but is incredibly friendly. We call her Reese (after reese's pieces... you'll get it when you see her coloring) but she and the remaining two kittens need to find homes. Unfortunately the entire area where I live is one huge kitten factory; no one wants them. I'll post pictures later in this thread for anyone who's interested.

Reese has a kitten. Incidentally he looks a lot like Popcorn! I couldn't resist and brought him in. After a rough first few days Popcorn started nursing him as if she had never attacked him when they first met. I call him Cheese (Swiss Cheese to Buttered Popcorn). It looks to me like he has a very oriental face... perhaps it's not very oriently but it's pronounced next to the other kittens.

When Cheese comes of age I'll be breeding him to Popcorn. Partly this is just a fond curiosity to see what sort of kittens they will have (I've also promised my mother a kitten from Popcorn but the only one of this batch she was even remotely interested in died). If anyone wants one from that batch let me know.

Anyways here are the pictures.


Cheese's mama Reese. (The picture doesn't do her justice really. Her orange is very bright.)


Monty the firstborn. (She's more spot than stripe.)


Bob the whiny baby. (The bare skin around his eyes is black and of course he has no tail.)


The new cat tree we got for my birthday. Not exactly what I'd like but with this many cats hanging around we needed some sort of jungle gym.
 
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cherriey

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Well, I'm headed off to tease my babies with a feather wand! lol
 

trouts mom

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Wow, those all all really cute kitties!!

You are planning to fix them all right? No need to add to that "kitten factory" town of yours.
 

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They're very cute, but I just hesitate to think that you know your town is a "kitten factory" and yet you are going to contribute to that and bring more kittens into the world, even after one has lost its life already. I think you should rethink that and make sure that you know you have homes for all the kittens before you even breed them.
 
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cherriey

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Well, I've got some time to find homes for Popcorn's next litter if I start now. If I can't find anyone to take them I'm not sure what I'll do... probably pray that there is only one and it's exactly the kind my mom wants. I did promise her a kitten from Popcorn. Phew... something to think about. Fortunately I have until little Mr. Cheese is grown up.

Get them all fixed? I hadn't actually thought about it. My main thought had been toward finding homes for them.
 

trouts mom

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Originally Posted by Cherriey

Well, I've got some time to find homes for Popcorn's next litter if I start now. If I can't find anyone to take them I'm not sure what I'll do... probably pray that there is only one and it's exactly the kind my mom wants. I did promise her a kitten from Popcorn. Phew... something to think about. Fortunately I have until little Mr. Cheese is grown up.

Get them all fixed? I hadn't actually thought about it. My main thought had been toward finding homes for them.
You'll find that everyone in this forum is FOR speutering all pets. The main reason being so there are less misplaced and euthanized animals. Also, it is better for the health of your pets. We should really be leaving the breeding to the breeders if possible because you just never know where those precious kitties will end up. There is a video you should watch..let me go find it.
 

menagerie mama

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Thank you for posting that video again. I hadn't seen it. It broke my heart. But it NEEDS to break hearts. It NEEDS to connect to people with it's message.
Cherriey, please make sure there is a stipulation for people who get your kitties, that they must spay and neuter them, so we can lessen the suffering. And I beg you, please spay Popcorn and neuter Cheese! If possible, catch and spay Reese too....there are just too many unwanted cats. Please!! I cannot stress this enough!
 

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What wonderful pictures!


I tend to agree however that it is probably best to retire your kitty and have her spayed.

Thanks for sharing your pictures..Reese is a beauty
 
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cherriey

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It would probably be best to get them fixed. Unfortunately it never seems to end. One family constantly feeds fifty cats (most of which can't be caught to be fixed). Reese will be easy to catch. She comes to you and you can just pick her up and cart her purring self around. Does anyone know how early kittens can be fixed?
 
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cherriey

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Here are some fun pictures...

Cheese playing hide and seek.


Bob using my box springs as a temporary jungle gym. (Cheese had been in there with him but the sound of my camera turning on made him jump out.)


Popcorn caught just before she licks her chops.
 

trouts mom

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Originally Posted by Cherriey

It would probably be best to get them fixed. Unfortunately it never seems to end. One family constantly feeds fifty cats (most of which can't be caught to be fixed). Reese will be easy to catch. She comes to you and you can just pick her up and cart her purring self around. Does anyone know how early kittens can be fixed?
I think generally they are fixed around 6 months, but some vets do juvenile spaying/neutering. It's up to the vet, I would ask your vet.
 

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Originally Posted by Cherriey

Well, I've got some time to find homes for Popcorn's next litter if I start now. If I can't find anyone to take them I'm not sure what I'll do... probably pray that there is only one and it's exactly the kind my mom wants. I did promise her a kitten from Popcorn. Phew... something to think about. Fortunately I have until little Mr. Cheese is grown up.

Get them all fixed? I hadn't actually thought about it. My main thought had been toward finding homes for them.
I really hope you reconsider this. Maybe you can find homes for her next litter, but those homes would be better used to place kittens that really do need a home, not ones that were planned. If your mom really wanted a kitten from Popcorn, one of the ones you have would have sufficed. Popcorn will lead a happier, healthier life if she is spayed. Pregnancy & nursing is very taxing on her.

If your kittens are too young to speuter before they are adopted, you should get a spay/neuter contract from the adopters...they sign it saying they will get it done.
 
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cherriey

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Contracts would not work up here. Besides that I wouldn't have anyone sign one... not about this. I may love cats but they are still just cats and not a good enough reason to make someone sign a piece of paper. If I did want a contract from people no one would want a kitten from me. Most would probably get them fixed anyway... the maybes I have right now would anyway. The plots of various animals can be sad but in the bigger picture it matters very little. It would be better for me to write Christian books than to begin a crusading cause for the ban of jar kittens in the world. That is probably signing my death warrant here but no matter how much I love the furry darlings I will always feel the same way. =0)
 

clixpix

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Originally Posted by Cherriey

Contracts would not work up here. Besides that I wouldn't have anyone sign one... not about this. I may love cats but they are still just cats and not a good enough reason to make someone sign a piece of paper. If I did want a contract from people no one would want a kitten from me. Most would probably get them fixed anyway... the maybes I have right now would anyway. The plots of various animals can be sad but in the bigger picture it matters very little. It would be better for me to write Christian books than to begin a crusading cause for the ban of jar kittens in the world. That is probably signing my death warrant here but no matter how much I love the furry darlings I will always feel the same way. =0)
I am...stunned...by your attitude. Nobody asked for you to "crusade" for anything. The only thing asked of you is the responsible thing. You spoke about in your other posts how bad the situation for stray cats is in your area, yet you continue to breed them. Not only are you not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Also, the plights of any individual, human or animal, may not matter in the "big picture", but they matter nonetheless. Who are you to judge that their lives and happiness don't matter? With your attitude, I would put authoring Christian books on hold as well.
 
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cherriey

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I never said you mentioned crusading. That's just my over the top phrase I use sometimes.

At this moment I'm not sure whether I'll get them fixed or not. Whether I let her have another litter or no I had already decided that that would be the last even if she did have it. I'm continuing to pray about the decision. Once made there is no going back.

I'm not trying to antagonize people but I also don't want to tip toe around my beliefs in this area. I apologize if I offended anyone. This was most definitely not my intent.

As for their happiness I'm not sure. When nursing and playing with kittens mother cats always seem to look so content and happy. On the other hand can we ever really tell for sure when they're happy? I read somewhere that they even purr when in pain. We speak completely different languages and make major life decisions for them. I'm not really sure how I feel about any of it; I don't really want to think about it because it could get rather sticky and twist my mind into circles if I looked at it from enough angles.

I will never stop loving my babies though let alone any other kitty I come across. I can only do so much for them.

I must say that the kittens (and Reese) being fixed is a very good idea and I thank you guys for bringing it up. I was too intent on finding homes for them for that to enter my head. I'm looking into an affordable way to do it (there are several options that I have to choose between).

Again, I apologize if I seemed like some sort of extreme antogonist. =0)
 

trouts mom

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Originally Posted by Cherriey

That is probably signing my death warrant here but no matter how much I love the furry darlings I will always feel the same way. =0)
You have it pegged. You can honestly say you love cats with that point of view?
 

menagerie mama

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Originally Posted by Cherriey

I'm not trying to antagonize people but I also don't want to tip toe around my beliefs in this area.
What you have to remember is that this is a cat welfare board, not a "beliefs" board. Everyone here is passionate about cats' welfare, and part of that welfare includes owners being responsible for their pets, and not adding to the overpopulation problem. If you continue to post things about cats whose welfare is compromised, you should expect to get a lot of ill remarks from people here. It's in the rules of the board. Have you read them? Did you watch the video Trout's Mom posted? Can you honestly say you feel the same way after watching it?
 
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