Friday Cat Blogging

by Bryan

13 comments

1 Steve Bates { 08.31.07 at 1:26 am }

KT wasn’t wild about being photographed, was she?

I am always astonished… though I shouldn’t be… at how quickly kittens grow into cats and produce kittens themselves. And one can’t always manage to prevent it, especially with ferals.

You’ve been hit; hipparchia has been hit; our local friend Catherine has been hit… by feral cats that were young enough that one might not expect them to reproduce, or by feral cats that could not be caught for spaying/neutering, or whatever.

Thank you for what you do; I know you do what’s possible, and I know some things are just not possible. I hope KT gets some rest.

2 Modulator { 08.31.07 at 1:42 am }

Friday Ark #154…

We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….? Visit all the …

3 jams o donnell { 08.31.07 at 5:04 am }

I bet she needs the rest Bryan. I remember what a bag of bones Bebe was when we got her. She had her first (and only) litter when she was rescued from a feral colony. By the time she came to us her kittens had been homes and I think she was damn glad to see the back of them!

4 Bryan { 08.31.07 at 12:01 pm }

KT is extremely skittish even for a feral, and has been paranoid since a kitten.

Having kittens just wears them out, but some will never get close to a trap or anything else that smells of man. With all of the food that I and my neighbors leave out, most of the feral kittens succumb to dehydration from parasites or fireant bites when they pick the wrong place to sleep. Something as simple as cold is just too debilitating for them to deal with.

You feed them all, and capture and fix those you can.

5 hipparchia { 08.31.07 at 5:13 pm }

you can add coyotes, cars, and animal control to the list here.

6 andante { 08.31.07 at 6:58 pm }

Man, I sure sympathize with the poor kitty.

My baby may be an adult now, but I distinctly remember feeling the same way when she was minus-one month old.

7 Bryan { 08.31.07 at 7:43 pm }

Hipparchia, for kittens you can add raccoons and possums, as well as an occasional hawk.

For ferals it starts every four months, Andante, a two month pregnancy followed by two months of lactation [which may be shorter] followed by pregnancy.

8 hipparchia { 08.31.07 at 11:48 pm }

true of the raccoons and possums, especially in my old neighborhood, but i’ve seen more coyotes and some foxes on this side of town.

we’ve got one pair of hawks [that i know of] nesting in the neighborhood, but there’s lots of trees and not much open space, so i’m not sure what they’re eating. small birds, maybe, or perhaps they’re catching fish.

9 Bryan { 09.01.07 at 12:07 am }

The hawks may be scavenging from local highways, although there are plenty of small rodents around. I think they view the kittens as rodents.

10 hipparchia { 09.01.07 at 9:29 am }

that would be curmudgeon cat’s view of kittens. fortunately for them, he’s a bird specialist and considers rodents beneath notice.

we’ve had reports of hawks trying to carry off chihuahuas. far be it from me to belittle any dog for its size [anything smaller than a wolfhound and calling itself canid is suspect in my view] but honestly, so many of the toy breeds do look like rodents.

11 Bryan { 09.01.07 at 11:25 am }

The bigger hawks will go for rabbits, so they are definitely a threat to cats.

12 oldwhitelady { 09.02.07 at 8:37 pm }

KT is quite the pretty kitty. She’s hiding out from the kittens to get a rest, it looks like:)

13 Bryan { 09.02.07 at 9:32 pm }

The kittens must be young, because doesn’t come out very often. She probably has them under a house somewhere nearby.