The Elephants in the Room Need a New Home.

I am trying.  I am trying to get back to day to day life, but I am still a work in progress.  I miss my Penelope.

I feel that I want to get back to blogging.  Not cat problem blogging, but regular blogging.  I think before I can do that though, I need to talk about the elephant in the room.  Once I get this off of my chest, hopefully I can move on to other things in my life.  Sorry, you have to go through this part with me!

Where to start this long story about my outside cats?

Last summer, I had four kittens find my porch.  I had three orange tabbies and one small gray striped tabby.  I am assuming the orange tabbies are all siblings and the gray one could be too, but I never considered her their sibling.  Don't have proof one way or another, just a feeling.  Since cats can have more than one male father a litter of kittens, she COULD be, I just don't know.  Anyway . . . .

The gray striped cat is Adrienne and the three orange tabbies are Tarzan, Junior and Blondie.  They have been coming to my porch for food since last summer and have stayed on after winter.

Y'all know how I feel about my cats, even my outside cats.

Adrienne has been strong, healthy and independent since her first day on the porch.  She has never let me get near her and will run if I try to get close.  She is the only one of the four without eye infections.

At first with the orange tabbies, I didn't know the boys from the girls.  Blondie was much more blonde obviously while the boys were more orange.  She was named first, just because she was more different in coloring than the other two.  I kept finding Tarzan up in the pine tree next door, hence his name.  Junior was named last.  I saw he had a black mark on his lower lip, just like Hemingway did.  (I am also assuming Hemingway is their father!)  The black spot earned him the name Junior.

All three quickly warmed up to contact.  All three would wind around my legs and let me pet them.  All three would lay on the porch next to me and expose their bellies to me.  That is huge in the cat world!  I had never picked any of them up but would pet them every day.

They have been with me through last summer, fall, winter and spring.  Blondie and Adrienne had kittens on my porch.  Adrienne is a great Mom and out of these four, three are still around.  I don't now what happened to the fourth, I'm hoping someone took him in.  My fantasy world, I'll live in it.

 

This picture was taken April 29th so the kittens are MUCH bigger now and they are all over.  They spend their time in the area and they are amazing to watch as they grow and chase each other and pounce on Mom.  Like their Mom, they won't let me get close to them.  Good for them!

Blondie has not had such good luck in the kitten department.   She had a litter of five but one had died at birth.  I buried the still born one in my yard.

Of the remaining four, I had to take one to be euthanized shortly after this picture was taken.  Then another died in the nest and then another died in the nest.  The last dead kitten I found on May 19th.  That was a red letter day for me.  I buried the third kitten in my yard.

I took the dead kitten from the nest and went to the garage to get the shovel to dig another grave.   When I went to the site where the other two were buried, Blondie was there.  I don't know if she really knows her ktitens are there or if it was just happenstance that she was standing on their graves.

That same day, for the first time, Blondie had her last surviving kitten out and about and the kitten did not look good.

Between Blondie's eye infections and seeing this little one literally blind from eye gook, it broke my heart.  The final straw on this same day of kitty sadness, I watched Tarzan get hit by a car right in front of my house.

This was Tarzan.  What a beautiful boy he was.

Such a good and loving cat.  This broke my heart.  I still close my eyes and see him get hit.  That one was all my fault.   One more dead kitten, one dead cat, and one injured cat mama and baby.  Mentally I was done and succumbed to an emotional decision.  Not a good decision, but an emotional one. 

The first thing Monday morning (May 20th) I scooped up Blondie and her baby Maggie and took them to the vet.  Upper respiratory infections and eye infections.  They both got a shot of antibiotics and sent home with oral antibiotics and a gel that goes into their eyes.

Here is Maggie, the day of the vet appointment where they did a great job of cleaning out her eyes.  Poor little girl is still in pain though.

The next day things were a little better and mama and baby were making themselves at home on their new bed.  Once they found OUR bed in the room, this bed doesn't get used so much! 

Because they were contagious, they had to be kept apart from Ava and Benny, until they got through their meds.  So, Blondie and Maggie spent their first 10 days at our house locked in our bedroom.  There is only so much exploring a young cat can do in there, especially one that is busting to get out and explore, now that she can see!

She explored me just fine.  Trust me, those baby claws are sharp as needles and I have the marks to prove it!

She plays with her Mom constantly.  Mom's tail and ears are Maggie's favorite toys.  She will also chase her own tail!

 
She is growing so fast!  And getting into everything.  She climbs to the top of this scratching post like it's Mount Everest.

I took Blondie back to the vet on Monday since I didn't think her eyes were 100% better and she was out of meds.  I have to tell you about Blondie and meds.  The eye gel comes in a tube and looks like Vaseline that you put into their eyes.  Maggie was small enough to over power and make it happen but I was a little worried with Blondie, especially since she has all of her claws.  But she was a champ.  Ron would hold her, I'd grab her head and pry her eyes open and put the gel in.  She would bring her paws up to my hand and push back a little, but she never opened up her claws.  She may not have been thrilled with the eye meds, but she took them without trying to do any damage to me or Ron.  Good girl!

Anyway, we went back to the vet to have her eyes looked at.  They gave her a stronger shot of antibiotics and this should do the trick.  I think since she'd had these eye infections for so long (before winter at least!) she just needed a good dose to get her healed.  She does not have feline leukemia or any other disease that they thought would slow down her healing, so we just need a little more time.  This picture I took Monday night after going to the vet.  Are they happy and healthier kitties or what!  That baby is too much.

 

I have tried to integrate all four cats and things go okay until they don't.  I think part of it is the kitten.  Mom is ok with Ava and Benny until the kitten is in the room and then there could be bloodshed.  Ugh, not good.

I made an emotional decision, not a good decision, when I decided to bring them inside.  I really need to find homes for Maggie and Blondie or at least Maggie.  Blondie is scheduled to be spayed on June 20th and I will even agree to pay for the spaying of Maggie when she's old enough if someone would like a kitten.  They really are good cats, just not good for my house.  Four of them are just too many.

I have tried calling the Friendship APL (a no-kill shelter) but they are FULL of cats and won't be taking any more until after August at least.  I don't want to just boot her out of the door, I need to find a good home for them desperately.  I can NOT keep them.

Blondie is about a year old cream colored female, to be spayed on June 20th.

Maggie is a gray tortoise shell who was born on April 15, 2013 which makes her 8 weeks.

Anyone out there need some kitty love?  I desperately need some help.  It's not fair to any of them to lock up two of them at a time since I can't seem to get them to integrate together.  They all deserve better than this, better than I can give to them.  

So, if you would like a cat, or know someone that could take one in, please let me know.  Blondie and Maggie are anxiously waiting to meet you.  Please help me help them have a better life.