I have six indoor cats, so adding any more to that is right out. I don't have any more rooms where a litterbox could go, even if I did get a successful introduction (I have one that is only partially successful--Mabel and Cosette most emphatically do not get along, but they each separately get along fine with the other four).
A few years ago, I started putting food down for a cat-about-town (who fled from me, but only about 20 feet distance, and he'd watch and let me put the food down). That was a gray-and-white tux, but he hasn't been around for the last two years. Shortly after the gray and white tux came, there was a black tom (who still comes around occasionally, but he's very clearly getting "up there" in stray tom years, as sometimes he's so battered I wish he'd let me get close). When the gray and white tux was still showing up, suddenly three half-size cats started showing up, too.
Well, now the three grays have grown up, and all three of them are female. So, you know where this is going ... Last spring, I know that there were two litters, which originally had a total of five kittens (three belonging to the gray with white socks, two belonging to a mostly-gray dilute calico). Of those, two kittens remain and my best guess from fleeting glimpses is that these two are both male. There's now, also, occasionally a tabby tom who shows up, and he is most definitely the father of one of surviving spring kittens (the "stripes" are rows of leopard spots on both the older tom and the kitten).
More recently, there was at least one more litter of kittens. Last Thursday I glimpsed four still-blue-eyed gray and tabby kittens. Last Friday, I found two of them dead on/near my driveway. I have since seen one of the gray babies, but not any more dead kittens, so I don't know if the fourth died elsewhere or is just not coming out at the same time as the one I've seen.
My next door neighbor has a raised porch, where he's got a lot of feeding bowls and I know at least some of them sleep over there. Others have found their way into shelter on my property.
The females are all rail-thin (which might be why their kittens are not faring so well?). Obviously, they'd be a lot better off if they could be spayed and not be stressed out by pregnancy/nursing. The two older kittens (probably born in April/early May) are pretty tolerant of me (they don't run away when I'm outside--I think they just associate me with food).
The vet I take my cats to is pretty old-school (5 months/pounds) vs early spay/neuter (I'm thinking specifically of the three kittens), and I'm not sure how that would work with the females as far as post-spay care. And then, too, there's the cost factor. How does one go about starting, as it seems I've got a bit of an outdoor colony going on top of my six indoor cats.
A few years ago, I started putting food down for a cat-about-town (who fled from me, but only about 20 feet distance, and he'd watch and let me put the food down). That was a gray-and-white tux, but he hasn't been around for the last two years. Shortly after the gray and white tux came, there was a black tom (who still comes around occasionally, but he's very clearly getting "up there" in stray tom years, as sometimes he's so battered I wish he'd let me get close). When the gray and white tux was still showing up, suddenly three half-size cats started showing up, too.
Well, now the three grays have grown up, and all three of them are female. So, you know where this is going ... Last spring, I know that there were two litters, which originally had a total of five kittens (three belonging to the gray with white socks, two belonging to a mostly-gray dilute calico). Of those, two kittens remain and my best guess from fleeting glimpses is that these two are both male. There's now, also, occasionally a tabby tom who shows up, and he is most definitely the father of one of surviving spring kittens (the "stripes" are rows of leopard spots on both the older tom and the kitten).
More recently, there was at least one more litter of kittens. Last Thursday I glimpsed four still-blue-eyed gray and tabby kittens. Last Friday, I found two of them dead on/near my driveway. I have since seen one of the gray babies, but not any more dead kittens, so I don't know if the fourth died elsewhere or is just not coming out at the same time as the one I've seen.
My next door neighbor has a raised porch, where he's got a lot of feeding bowls and I know at least some of them sleep over there. Others have found their way into shelter on my property.
The females are all rail-thin (which might be why their kittens are not faring so well?). Obviously, they'd be a lot better off if they could be spayed and not be stressed out by pregnancy/nursing. The two older kittens (probably born in April/early May) are pretty tolerant of me (they don't run away when I'm outside--I think they just associate me with food).
The vet I take my cats to is pretty old-school (5 months/pounds) vs early spay/neuter (I'm thinking specifically of the three kittens), and I'm not sure how that would work with the females as far as post-spay care. And then, too, there's the cost factor. How does one go about starting, as it seems I've got a bit of an outdoor colony going on top of my six indoor cats.
, plus many many more here) - the world, esp the feline one, would be even tougher. So know that lots and lots and lots of us are rooting for - and thinking of - you!
