I had mentioned Scottie in a number of threads over the past year. He was a totally feral tough cat that came to be my friend. In fact he came to want to hang around me more than any of my others. Maybe he was wanting to make up for all those lost years when he was on his own with no home. You have all heard of the "Cat On Lap" can't answer the phone? Well with Scottie it was anywhere he could get to, not just a lap. A few weeks ago I had to do some work on one of my vehicles, which anymore is not something I really enjoy. So I am laying there on cardboard with the wind blowing the dirt around, under the car and Scottie climbs on my chest and starts purring. "Time for a break!" He was right, I was worn down so we actually ended up having a for real cat nap, under the car, on the cardboard, purring away. I had to take a break, I had a cat on my chest and couldn't disturb him. So we grew pretty close over the last year. He had a bed in my entryway that was a large but shallow basket with a comforter it. He spent most of last winter curled up in it. Even now he would still lay there and play "tag your it" as I walked by. Because it has been so hot lately he spent most of the days there and then would go out when it cooled down at night. This last Saturday I went to a big estate auction and was there until after dark. My mail box is a rural box on the road and so as per routine I got my flashlight to get the mail. About 10 feet away from the mail box Scottie was laying on the side of the road. He had been hit and killed. It was fast, he probably never even saw it coming. But our adventure came to an end that day.
So life goes on, the others need their food. I need to keep watering to try and keep things from turning into a desert. As I came in from moving the water on Monday, 2 days later, I was surprised because sitting there in Scotties bed was a couple of kittens. They were more than surprised to see me and scrambled for cover, HIDE HIDE you could almost hear the alerts. I thought "now what, a couple of dumped kittens"? But they really acted wild. They were eating the food that I put out for the others. I feed them all in the entry way now because I was getting tired of feeding birds and having to find bowels blown by the storms. Anyway, it's been a fun year so far complete with an old water heater springing a big leak and flooding the underside of the house. I have left the access door open to dry it out so under the house has been open and thus the connection to the entryway. Unknown to me a feral queen found it to be the perfect place to have kittens, and now about 5 weeks later and wandering and hungry, here are the kittens, sneaking food along with their mom. I have now seen the mom with the kittens in Scotties bed. I have a big window that I can see them. It's actually pretty funny because I get withing a couple of feet and they don't even notice. Then one turns around and see's me through the glass and panics and runs for cover while the mom and the other try to figure out what's going on. Finally the mom looks around, sees me and dives for cover leaving the one kitten sitting there with a "what did I do?" expression. I recognized the mom as one I had seen around a few times. Actually all I really saw of here until now was her tail. She is in pretty rough shape. Half her tail is gone and both her ears are frosted so life for her has been rough. But then close up in the entryway I see the pattern on her side, the distinct bulls eye tabby marking. I realize that she is very likely a decedent of Romeo, the feral tom who fathered all of my first kittens and started this whole adventure. And then thinking on it for a moment I realize that it is also very likely that these 2 precocious kittens are Scotties. I watched her today for a while, sitting in the threshold of the outside door that was open. She has one kitten on top of her and another at her side. No fights with the other cats, just a few hisses. And I realize I guess the adventure continues. Well done Scottie.
So life goes on, the others need their food. I need to keep watering to try and keep things from turning into a desert. As I came in from moving the water on Monday, 2 days later, I was surprised because sitting there in Scotties bed was a couple of kittens. They were more than surprised to see me and scrambled for cover, HIDE HIDE you could almost hear the alerts. I thought "now what, a couple of dumped kittens"? But they really acted wild. They were eating the food that I put out for the others. I feed them all in the entry way now because I was getting tired of feeding birds and having to find bowels blown by the storms. Anyway, it's been a fun year so far complete with an old water heater springing a big leak and flooding the underside of the house. I have left the access door open to dry it out so under the house has been open and thus the connection to the entryway. Unknown to me a feral queen found it to be the perfect place to have kittens, and now about 5 weeks later and wandering and hungry, here are the kittens, sneaking food along with their mom. I have now seen the mom with the kittens in Scotties bed. I have a big window that I can see them. It's actually pretty funny because I get withing a couple of feet and they don't even notice. Then one turns around and see's me through the glass and panics and runs for cover while the mom and the other try to figure out what's going on. Finally the mom looks around, sees me and dives for cover leaving the one kitten sitting there with a "what did I do?" expression. I recognized the mom as one I had seen around a few times. Actually all I really saw of here until now was her tail. She is in pretty rough shape. Half her tail is gone and both her ears are frosted so life for her has been rough. But then close up in the entryway I see the pattern on her side, the distinct bulls eye tabby marking. I realize that she is very likely a decedent of Romeo, the feral tom who fathered all of my first kittens and started this whole adventure. And then thinking on it for a moment I realize that it is also very likely that these 2 precocious kittens are Scotties. I watched her today for a while, sitting in the threshold of the outside door that was open. She has one kitten on top of her and another at her side. No fights with the other cats, just a few hisses. And I realize I guess the adventure continues. Well done Scottie.
