In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
I'm getting soft as I get older, cat story
Big Sky Redneck
Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
Last year someone dropped a stray off here, she was friendly and not scared of people. She hing around and we started fiving her a bowl of dry food once a day, the rest of the time she hunted. My gophers that I enjoy hunting with a 22 slowly began to dissapear and little skeletons began appearing around the house. We had a nice population of cotton tail rabbits that started to dissapear as well. Deep down I knew this cat had two options, the .22 or the animal shelter but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
One day Bry'ann commented about her getting fat in a hurry and she also noticed another cat hanging around, this cat is pregnant and now I'm really faced with a decision. I avoided making the decision with her and one day I found the kittens, aww jeeze now what! I am not running a cat house. Well, we decided that we would allow her to nurse the kittens them I would trap them and take them to the shelter, all of them. As the kittens got bigger that cat got pregnant again, now I'm mad.
Mother nature helped, took care of something I didnnot want to do, Bry'ann heard the coyotes one night and we never saw the mamma cat again. The kittens have all become skittish, they are not friendly but we feed them. The decision was made that we would trap them in time for the next spay/nueter clinc at the shelter and get them fixed, by now we are used to having them around and will keep them but they need to be fixed.
Too late, one of the kittens is pregnant! Paranoid about having a thousand cats I trapped the pregnant cat and we took it to the shelter. I told the shelter she was pregnant, they told me the kittens would be aborted and mamma spayed. My heart sank and Inwanted to take her back home but the reality of more cats told me to let things be. I did inform them that if she was unadobtable due to being wild do not kill her, I'll come and get her and take her back home. Big tough me, manly man, tattooed biker heavy metal music headbanging tough guy, I cried when we left the shelter, I felt terrible.
Two days later the shelter called, she delivered her kittens before they could operate, they would let the kittens live and adopt them out, I smiled and said Good Job mamma cat [:I]
Later on we lost two cats to predators, hair and blood found on the back deck, something came and got two of them. Then wr discovered that two weeks before the free clinic for spay/neuter another one is pregnant, damnit! We talked about making another trip to the shelter, I thought about what would happen and drug my feet making excuses, it paid off, she had her kittens and I didn't have to feel guilty for destroying the kittens.
She had seven kittens, I know full well they won't all survive, I won't interfere and let nature handle this. I can't help myself though, I'm out there visiting the kittens getting them used to me so they are not scared of us like the other ones.
Last night we noticed mamma was moving the kittens, a storm was coming and she was sheltering them under the deck. Bry'ann told me last night there was still two in the little kitty hutch I had put out for them. I told her to let them be, mamma would get them. This morning she went out to check, she came back in eyes all teared up holding a kitten, it looked dead. I knew mother nature would cull a few of them and told her to put it back. The look on Bry'anns face told me that wasn't happening. So this morning instead of cooking breakfast I've been nursing this kitten back and so far it's working, as I sit here typing this I can hear it in the living rook making kitten noises. Yes, we went against mother nature and saved this tiny kitten.
Ya know, in my younger days even though I have always liked cats I would not be in this predicament. I would have done what needed to be done. Now, I can't do it. So here we go again, make plans to get these cats to the vet and rehome some of these cats. I'll keep a few of them around to keep rodents down but I'm not running a cat house.
I don't know if letting my heart make the decisions is rhe right thing to do, but it makes me feel better.
One day Bry'ann commented about her getting fat in a hurry and she also noticed another cat hanging around, this cat is pregnant and now I'm really faced with a decision. I avoided making the decision with her and one day I found the kittens, aww jeeze now what! I am not running a cat house. Well, we decided that we would allow her to nurse the kittens them I would trap them and take them to the shelter, all of them. As the kittens got bigger that cat got pregnant again, now I'm mad.
Mother nature helped, took care of something I didnnot want to do, Bry'ann heard the coyotes one night and we never saw the mamma cat again. The kittens have all become skittish, they are not friendly but we feed them. The decision was made that we would trap them in time for the next spay/nueter clinc at the shelter and get them fixed, by now we are used to having them around and will keep them but they need to be fixed.
Too late, one of the kittens is pregnant! Paranoid about having a thousand cats I trapped the pregnant cat and we took it to the shelter. I told the shelter she was pregnant, they told me the kittens would be aborted and mamma spayed. My heart sank and Inwanted to take her back home but the reality of more cats told me to let things be. I did inform them that if she was unadobtable due to being wild do not kill her, I'll come and get her and take her back home. Big tough me, manly man, tattooed biker heavy metal music headbanging tough guy, I cried when we left the shelter, I felt terrible.
Two days later the shelter called, she delivered her kittens before they could operate, they would let the kittens live and adopt them out, I smiled and said Good Job mamma cat [:I]
Later on we lost two cats to predators, hair and blood found on the back deck, something came and got two of them. Then wr discovered that two weeks before the free clinic for spay/neuter another one is pregnant, damnit! We talked about making another trip to the shelter, I thought about what would happen and drug my feet making excuses, it paid off, she had her kittens and I didn't have to feel guilty for destroying the kittens.
She had seven kittens, I know full well they won't all survive, I won't interfere and let nature handle this. I can't help myself though, I'm out there visiting the kittens getting them used to me so they are not scared of us like the other ones.
Last night we noticed mamma was moving the kittens, a storm was coming and she was sheltering them under the deck. Bry'ann told me last night there was still two in the little kitty hutch I had put out for them. I told her to let them be, mamma would get them. This morning she went out to check, she came back in eyes all teared up holding a kitten, it looked dead. I knew mother nature would cull a few of them and told her to put it back. The look on Bry'anns face told me that wasn't happening. So this morning instead of cooking breakfast I've been nursing this kitten back and so far it's working, as I sit here typing this I can hear it in the living rook making kitten noises. Yes, we went against mother nature and saved this tiny kitten.
Ya know, in my younger days even though I have always liked cats I would not be in this predicament. I would have done what needed to be done. Now, I can't do it. So here we go again, make plans to get these cats to the vet and rehome some of these cats. I'll keep a few of them around to keep rodents down but I'm not running a cat house.
I don't know if letting my heart make the decisions is rhe right thing to do, but it makes me feel better.
Comments
Don't feel bad, I have never been a cat person. But guess who makes our Kitty her nest to sleep in every night?
I take the adopted (fed) critter to the spay clinic, get all the shots and a check up so I don't ever have issues with kittens, puppies and tom cats spraying around my home.
If I see a feral cat I shoot it as no amount of work can make it tame again and I don't want diseases spread to my barn cats.
We all do but what does this have to do with cats? Don
It has everything to do with them, they turned me into a big lush [:D]
Now comes the fun part of feeding it with a syringe and the touch choice of giving her back to her mamma.
One thing I've learned about cats, they're a better judge of character than we can hope to be. The first time Lonnie came to visit, one of mine was in his lap, ...about a minute after he sat down. Just got in his lap and gave me the look, "you don't have to shoot this one, just add him to my staff".
Brad Steele
I don't know if letting my heart make the decisions is the right thing to do, but it makes me feel better.
You're a good man.
Had a bunch of strays and then a coyote showed up and we went from 14 cats to 2. One had 4 kittens when the yote got it so we hand fed them. Took them to an adoption place and they found them homes.
I have 1 stray that I have $800 invested in vet bills.
She is an inside cat now. I could have bought a calf for less.
welcome to the cat club
we had about 8 to 10 cats all strays or drop offs a couple from family and friends who did not want them . wife can not turn away a stray or stand some one mistreating or abandoning a pet
we had them all "fixed "
but then gained two more "yep pregnant females" of course
now we jumped by 12 cats two moms and 10 kittens one group is 8 weeks old the other about 5 weeks old ..
my wife said she would look for a good home for them ( translates to our good home there going nowhere )
years ago I would have helped thin them out [:0] now no, I just can not do it unless one is hurt or suffering , getting old makes any life precious I guess
so some more "fixing " in the future
I know the road will take a few a few will migrate to the neighbors dairy farm and a few will become food for the coyotes ( very rare but I am sure they get one on occasion )
oh a the unintentional car ride when they get in the engine compartment in the winter and go for a ride
but for now we are at 20+ cats and kittens
I just modified one of the out buildings into cat digs [:D][:D]
as most of the current ones have a building and area staked out already
Carried him in, plonked him in a sink of warm water, cleaned and thawed in one step. For the next month, he hung out, usually in my coat pocket. George spent the next 5 years as my shadow- you would have thought he was a puppy. For the cost of some vaccinations and a bag of kibble, I gained a companion more loyal and trustworthy than a lot of people.
That's a pretty good deal.