"A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere." ~ Groucho Marx

Me and Mr. Creme

 

Lexi

We’re in the process of getting our cats up to date with their vaccinations.  Charlie took Mr. Creme and Lexi to the clinic this week.  He was told that after these shots, because of their age, 13 years, and because they had had regular vaccinations through the years, they had built up an immune system and wouldn’t require any more shots for three years.  That was good news because we were undecided about continuing vaccinations because of their age.

Jezibel

Jason and Kaci

The others will go to the clinic too and eventually all will be up to date.  We take two at a time so it will take a few visits.  Plus we have three, Jezibel, Kaci and Jason (6 years), who have had severe reactions to the series of shots.  They have to have one shot at a time and that will require three visits, but we will get it done.

Mr. Creme still continues to be stable on his insulin and Lexi, who is on blood pressure meds as well as thyroid meds, is also doing fine.  I still have to give her Veriflox which helps her with her chronic congestion.  Their mom, Jezibel, 14 years, is in good shape.  She does have to have Terbutaline as needed for her congestion.

Now back to the big kitten rescue:

On August 17, about a week later, I received a call from my friend.  There were two(!) black kittens in the trap!  So much for that last kitten.  I went over to get them.  One was fairly calm and okay to pet.  The other one was very afraid.  The ears were flat back.  It hissed, growled and if looks could kill, I’d have been dead.  I got them home and we separated them because we have discovered that when one is more afraid, eventually the other one will also be afraid.

Annie and Indy

Indy, not as bad as he seemed

The smaller of the two was a female.  She was very sweet and wanted to be petted.  We called her Annie.  I finally got up the nerve to see if I could pet the other one.  It still hissed, growled and laid its ears back.  How ferocious it looked!  I decided to challenge it and reach in to see if I got clawed or bitten.  The kitten just froze and amazingly, I was able to pet and pick it up.  It was a boy.  We called him “Indy”.  So happy that both Annie and Indy were not feral, only afraid.

My friend immediately started looking for a home for them.  We made an appointment with the vet to do the spaying and neutering.  It all went well with no complications. 

Jackson.  His family has come to visit and are still here!  lol

All of the kittens trapped so far, Cali, Simba, Annie and Indy, are Jackson’s littermates.  Now they were re-united.  They remembered each other, but since Jackson was caught when he was only four weeks old, he hissed at them and didn’t really want to be with them on the patio.  They were now about three months old.  Jackson finally decided they were okay to play with though. 

Simba, what a sweet boy before going to his new home

A week later, August 24, Simba went to his new home in Los Angeles with my friend’s son and girlfriend.  He is now a little prince who is very spoiled.  I’ve seen some pictures and he looks very happy.

A day or so later, I received a call from my friend.  They had seen another kitten who looked like Simba.  I jokingly told her that she was seeing things!  At least I hoped she was seeing things.

In the meantime, we still had the black kittens, Annie and Indy, and although there were a couple of possible homes, nothing materialized.  The kittens were now about four months old.  We were beginning to hope that all the kittens were finally caught.....,

but the saga continues.....

My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D _^..^_

The cat and the love you give away always come back to you---Proverb quotes

It was almost two months later when my friend asked me to bring my trap over so she could hopefully catch “Mama Jackson”.  I took it over to her.

Two weeks later (8/6/13) she called.  She had not caught Mama Jackson, but had caught one of Jackson’s siblings.  It was a tiny girl, who looked just like Mama Jackson, a tortie.  I went over to pick her up and brought her home to get her settled.  She was a tiny, sweet little kitten. 

In just a couple of hours she called and said she had found a home for the kitten and her name would be “Cali”.

Cali

Mama Jackson

Later that day she called and said she had trapped “Mama Jackson” (8/6/13).  I went over to get her.  She didn't hiss or growl, but there was something about her that told us that she was feral.  We set up an appointment to have her spayed and vaccinated.

"Cali's" new mom was picking her up the next day.  My friend was hoping to trap the last kitten soon.

“Mama Jackson” was spayed and vaccinated (8/7/13).  Since we were releasing her, we asked that the right ear tip be clipped.  That way if she was trapped again or if someone saw her, they would know she had been spayed.  The vet asked us to keep her overnight before releasing.  If she hadn’t been so wild, we might have tried to find a home for her.

“Cali’s” owner came by and picked her up (8/8/13).  We took “Mama Jackson” over to where we had trapped her and released her.  Although she was feral, I felt a little sad letting her go.  When we opened the kennel, she jumped out and ran.  As we drove away, she was in the ivy in the yard next door.  We saw her ears sticking up in the ivy.  She was in familiar territory though.

The next day (8/9/13) my friend caught another kitten, the last one.....!  We hoped anyway.  It was a pretty little buff-colored tabby.  My friend's young daughter was calling it “Peaches”.  It was a boy.  He was very sweet.  Afraid and hissing, but not scratching or biting.  Although he looked bigger, we thought he was Jackson's sibling since he was seen with Mama Jackson.  He would be about two months old. 

Simba

My friend's son wanted “Peaches”.  He planned on picking him up in a couple of weeks.  He renamed “Peaches” to "Simba”, which was a good name for him.  He looked like a little “Lion King”.  We made an appointment to get Simba neutered and vaccinated (8/13/13).

Simba, sweet boy

My friend said there was another kitten yet to catch–a black one.....

and the saga continues.....

My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D _^..^_

Me and Jackson

.

“The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer.” ― Paula Poundstone

Jackson C Bell (June 6, 2013)

I haven’t officially announced the arrival of our newest addition to the family, Jackson.  Yes, I wrote about him, Jonesie and Ellie, when they went with us to Idyllwild, but I didn’t explain how and when we got him.

Like most of our cats, Jackson was totally unexpected.  It’s been awhile since we made a conscious decision to actually go out and find a pet.  We don’t have to.  They find their way here.

One afternoon in early June I received a call from a friend.  Another friend had found a kitten in her yard.  “Can you take him until she can find a home for him?” 

I told her to bring him over.  When I saw the kitten she was holding I immediately took him and it was love at first sight.  But, I knew I was only fostering.  I brought him in and we got him settled in a kennel.  He was only about four weeks old, just barely weaned.  She had brought some milk replacement.  I fed the kitten with a syringe.  He didn’t know yet how to eat food from a bowl.  By the next afternoon, he was eating fine though.  I called him “Jackson”. 

Jackson had gotten tangled in a bush.  My friend heard him crying late one night.  Early the next morning she went out to find him.  There were other kittens too, but she didn’t know where they were.  The mother cat, a tortie, had been seen in her yard several times.  She wanted to trap her and get her spayed at some point.

I was pleasantly surprised that my friend wanted to help the stray cats in her neighborhood.  There are lots of people who catch, spay/neuter, and release feral cats.  The shelters are so overcrowded and I think if a cat is living in an area and people don’t mind having it around, at least it should be fixed.  It’s better for everybody.    

We had Jackson just a couple of days when we were told that there might be a home for him. I told her I really liked Jackson and wanted to keep him.  She was happy and I thought that would be the end of it.

Charlie took Jackson to the vet for an exam and first kitten shot.  I kept him in my computer room for a few days before releasing him into the house to meet the other cats.  He sat on my lap when I was at my computer. 

When we took Jackson out to the cat patio, he zoomed in on Buffy and they wrestled and played together.  Buffy was so patient with him.  It was amazing.  Jackson was so aggressive, but Buffy didn’t get mad, growl or try to hurt him.

He’s so cute.  He is a brown tabby.  His face and legs are striped, but his body is mottled and looks like a squirrel. His body and legs are long.  The back legs are bowed and he’s pigeon-toed.  When he walks, it looks like he swaggers.   He’s about five months old now and I thought he would have green eyes, but I think they are going to stay gray or hazel.

The only cats who do not like Jackson are the Calicos, Jezibel and Lexi.  But, they don’t like any of the other cats either!  Jackson still tries to be friends with them.  When they hiss at him, he lays down, but doesn’t run away.  He just doesn’t give up. 

Jonesie tolerates Jackson.  He’s three years old now and really has never liked kittens. He was only nine months old when we got the six week old Rhody, so he helped to raise him.  Jonesie is a sweetie though. 

Jackson

So, that’s how Jackson came to become a part of our family. 

But, the saga continues....

My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D _^..^_