Ms F

First, this is not an angry cat.  This is a yawning cat.  She does look a little evil though doesn't she.  Meet Ms. F.,   Alejandro and T. W's sister.  Ms. F is a double for her sister T.W. with the exception of the eyes.  There is just something goofy about her eyes.  Not quite crossed but not quite right. 

It is interesting to me how different she is.  Alejandro and T.W. are extremely friendly.  They will even jump up on the chair and sit with me.  Always greet me when I come out, rubbing and leaning.  Not Ms. F.
She has never come within five feet of me.  If I sit perfectly still she will eat from her nearby dish but with one eye (one goofy eye) on me.

But with feral cats one never knows what they have encountered.  She has been in my yard since birth but who knows where she goes at night.  Maybe someone has frightened her.  Maybe it's just who she is.
I will continue to try to be friends and time will tell.  But you know, it's ok if she chooses to remain aloof.   I don't care for these cats to get love in return.  I just take care because I should.

Quote for the day:

               "I love cats because I enjoy my home;
                          and little by little,
                    they become its visible soul."
                                          Jean Cocteau

Cat Park

The other day I was driving by a dog park and wondered, why are there no cat parks.  After I stopped laughing I decided to analyse, why?

First you have to transport your pet to the park.  Now every dog I ever owned loved the car.  They would get positively giddy over the ride.  I have never had a cat that enjoyed the car.  They either go into a kind of shock and don't move or utter a sound or they make weird noises you've never heard before.

Let's say you get to the cat park.  No self respecting cat will walk on a lease.  Have you ever seen a cat on a leash they resemble John Travolta dancing Staying Alive only not as graceful.

Now, you have your cat in the park.  Do they romp? Do they frolic? Do they greet each other as long lost friends.  I don't think so.  I think there would be a mass exodus.  Cats would be racing over the fences, up the trees, under the bushes.  There would be chaos.

So, no cat park.  Except...I think that is what my backyard actually is! Aside from my colony of six ferals I do believe half the cats in the neighborhood visit my yard (park).  It's perfect.  There is food and water.  There are trees to climb and bushes to hide in.  And no one cares to frolic. And they chose it themselves.  Note the photo above.  This is it.  This is cat frolicking in my park. They spent 10 minutes staring at this ball and then went to sleep. 

What is the major attraction of my yard?  Well, aside from the cat friendly landscape, I have dogs on either side.  So all these cats sit and stare at the dogs.  The dogs have fits and the cats don't care they just  say, "Get your own park."

 It's a good life.

T. W.

If you are wondering what T. W. stands for I will tell you.  But first it is important that you understand I had nothing to do with the naming of this cat.  I do take some pride in coming up with just the perfect name for my cats.  It becomes more difficult when one 'adopts' six feral cats.  I let my guard down and allowed others to name some of these cats.  T. W. is an example of that.  I have my own lovely daughter to blame for this one.  T. W. is what I call her...her name is Mrs. Absalonia Tinklewhiskers. 

Naming of a cat reveals, I think, a personality not of the cat but of the owner. Mark Twain was particularly fond of cats and had many.  Some names; a black cat named Satan and her kitten named Sin, Motley, Cleveland and my favorite Twain cats..Pestilence and Famine.

Another famous cat lover was Ernest Hemingway.  On my list of places to visit is Hemingway House in Key West where you can find descendants of Hemingway's original multi-toed cat.
http://www.hemingwayhome.com/HTML/our_cats.htm  They have kept the tradition of using  famous names for the cats.  My favorites are Hairy Truman and Picasso .

According to T.S. Eliot it doesn't really matter what we humans call them. In his book Old Possums Book of Practical Cats he writes:
                  
                 When you notice a cat in profound meditation
                    The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
                 His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
                 Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
                  His ineffable effable
                       Effanineffable
                   Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

T. W. I should mention is one of two of the feral cats that will let me pet her.  So I guess she really doesn't mind about the name.

Fuzz Bucket

I am going to digress a bit today.  Fuzz Bucket is not one of the colony.  He is not one of my cats. He is, I think, an apparition.  Fuzz has been appearing for about a year.  I say appearing because he never seems to move.  He sits.  He waits. He scares me.

I've actually seen Fuzz, or a vision of him, down the street.  He must live elsewhere and only appears at my house to stare.  Why, I ask you? The other cats are oblivious to him.  There is never any interaction, human or animal.  I think he's waiting for something...but what!

Alejandro

Alejandro, Alejandro...Ale  Ale jandro...Ale  Ale jandro.  Oh I start each morning with a song.  Yikes, that sounds like a line from a bad 50's musical.  The song is in my head when I see Alejandro in the kitchen window each morning.  Why did I name him Alejandro?    Well, it's a great name.  Say it like this;  Alejannnnnndrrrro. (roll the r).  See, wasn't that fun. 

Alejandro is one of the feral colony in my yard.  He is the friendliest of the cats. Each morning and evening and anytime I step outside Alejandro is waiting for me.  You know how kittens walk between your feet as you walk, until they figure out this gets one stepped on?  Well, Alejandro hasn't figured this out yet. Now, my mother would say this is 'cupboard love' but he will forgo food to be petted.  I think it's true love (I've been single too long!).

Did you know that a cloned cat will often not match the color of his donor.  Everything will genetically match accept the coat.  HA, Cats win again.  "Excuse me, I am unique, don't even think about cloning me'.


  

My children have started calling me the crazy cat lady by the railroad tracks.  Now, one could be insulted but in this case I must concede they are right.  I am a little crazy, I do love cats and alas, I do live near railroad tracks.

I've always been an animal lover having grown up with dogs. Had many dogs and cats as my children grew up and a number of caged animals (whose cages I always ended up cleaning..but that's a different story).  We had hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, a bull frog and two snakes named Hisssssss and Her.  But cats are my passion.  Why, I'm not sure.  I think it is because they keep you balanced.  They don't fawn all over you telling you that you are the most important thing in the world.  They love you when they feel like it, look at you with disgust when you probably deserve it.  And they are particularly funny when they do something stupid as it is against their nature to be stupid.

So you are probably wondering how many cats does a crazy cat lady have.  Well, I don't think it's so many. I have four indoor cats and five (sometimes six or seven) outdoor cats.  Now, really the outdoor cats aren't technically mine.  I admit I do feed them, but they belong to the yard not me.  Only two of them come near me, the rest either run or sit out of reach taunting me.

I was very concerned as one particular female kept bringing kittens into my yard.  Now kittens are about the cutest thing there is but it is irresponsible to allow this constant reproduction.  So I did research and found a clinic that practices TNR.  That's Trap, Neuter, Release.

I borrowed six traps and with expert training by a dedicated volunteer.  Set the traps.  I was a nervous wreck.  What if I didn't catch any? What if they were hurt in the traps?  What if I couldn't find the clinic? (I tend to worry about silly things).  Anyway, all went well and I captured all six including Nadia, Octo cat. the mother of them all.

They are home now and I'm learning about feral colonies (yes, there is a name for this madness).  I hope to continue to learn and report my life as ..The Crazy Lady by the Railroad Track.