Sunday, July 10, 2011

Mad as a....

We lost our second barn kitty last week. It makes me sad because she had started to warm up to me.  She allowed me to pet her and she talked to me when I came into the barn.  She liked to sit on the top of the hay bales to watch me do my barn chores from her high perch.  I lock the cat in the barn at night so I suspect that another hungry Coyote made a daytime hunting run and nabbed her while she was playing hunting.

Prior to our losing the cat a neighbor mentioned that she volunteered for a cat house... I mean a cat sanctuary. I told her that I wanted a barn cat to keep Thing 1 company, so if she ever came across a cat that needed that type of job to let me know. She stopped by last Tuesday, a few days after we lost our kitty. She told me she knew of the perfect cat. Apparently the cat sanctuary is filled to overflowing with cats and kittens. An older guy stopped by a booth for the cat sanctuary on Saturday to ask about what they do. He told them he had a cat he wanted to bring to them, as he had too many cats and this one was hanging around his house, eating all of the food and wouldn't let the others eat. The sanctuary volunteer explained that they could not take any cats at this time and he should check later. On Tuesday he showed up at the facility with the cat in a carrier. OK, so Tuesday is 'later'... I guess! They refused the cat, but when my neighbor found out that I would take it, she said she'd pick the cat up and put it in my tack room (we were in the middle of moving and wouldn't be around). So, Wednesday night when we got home, I got to meet Boots. Well, I guess you could actually say I sorta got to see Boots. Poor Boots was petrified. She was hunkered down behind the feed bins and wouldn't budge. She made ugly faces and noises at me. I left her some canned food. She had already eaten some of the dry food that I have in a 'self feeder'.  The next morning I got to see her from afar, again. But finally, by Friday, she had stopped hissing and growling at me, and Friday night she actually sniffed my finger. Progress! So, yesterday I visited again and low and behold, Miss.... well, uh, Mrs. Boots came up to me as I was holding the cat food, took a few licks, and then let me pet her. Imagine my horror when I ran my hand over her side and felt enlarged mammary glands. This poor cat had kittens someplace, and had been taken away from them. I called my neighbor to see if she knew about it and she indicated that based on what the man had said she suspected that might be the case. I was livid. Yes. I understand that there are too many cats. But, I don't understand knowingly taking a cat from her kittens and leaving them to fend for themselves or starve. That is not humane and that makes me mad as a..... wet hen cat!!
I crated Mrs. Boots and she is now 'living' in one of our stalls at the new barn. She hates me again! She, too,  is mad as a ....
Ah, poor Mrs. Boots. Just wait until I take you to get fixed! Then you will REALLY hate me!

Meet Mrs. Boots... not a very flattering picture, but it was hard to capture her best side. She either has her head buried in the cat food tin or is brushing against my hand for some loving.

9 comments:

  1. Some humans have no idea what it means to be humane. I'm glad that Mrs. Boots has a new good home with, but sad you lost Thing 1 (or was it 2) to the food chain of life.

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  2. Have you considered adopting Mrs. Boots' kittens --- after finding them, of course. A family of cats would really keep the critters away from your barn and might provide some protection against outside forces. BTW, do coyotes roam your new neighborhood?

    Anne

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  3. I'm so sorry that you lost your cats. And, I am very happy for Mrs. Boots, that she has found a home with you. Some people, like that man, just don't have any feeling for animals. I don't understand why they even have them.

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  4. You have a kind heart. I hope Mrs. Boots learns to appreciate her new home, and to hide from the coyotes. We have a big problem with them too, and after losing several cats that way, I now only have tabbies with no white on them, and try to keep them in at night. Good luck with your new cat!

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  5. Oh those poor kittens. Dang, that makes me ill to think of them without their mama.
    Hope this one stays long enough to be an old cat.

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  6. That's a sad story. Poor Mama cat.
    I used to be a volunteer for the SPCA, and the horrible stories I could tell you. But her situation reminds me of this old man that brought in a Mama cat, full with milk. One of our volunteers was getting out of her car and overheard the man talking to another man that was a passenger in his truck, about "sacking the kittens in a barrel of water" after he dumped off the Mama cat.
    She was horrified and came in and told our manager, who asked the man to go home and please bring us the Mam cat's kitten asap!

    Thankfully he did, although he did hint to us that he wasn't able to find homes for the kittens, who were less than 2 weeks old and needed to get rid of them as there were too many cats in his barn....including several un-neutered tom cats. Oy!

    ~Lisa

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  7. I hope this cat can stay away from those darned coyotes. My husband camped on our land a couple of years ago and said he heard the coyotes at night so I'm sure we have them too.

    I just don't get why people have to be so inhumane when there are organizations out there willing to help. I hope those poor kittens were old enough to not need mamas milk. I think if I were your neighbor I would have told the man he would have to bring the kittens too if he wanted to get rid of the cat.

    Cindy Bee

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  8. Oh Dreamer, I'm so sorry about the 2nd kitty. I was just wondering about her last night and how she was doing with the move. I'm sorry she went missing before your move. Blasted coyotes. I know they are part of our prairie wildlife, but can't they stick to eating all these gophers digging up our pastures? I'm glad Mrs. Boots found a home with you. I'm curious too if you have coyotes around your new property. They seem to be everywhere. They were quite loud around here last night. And the neighborhood dogs were all in a tizzy. I thought, 'oh no...I hope they aren't after someone's pet dog'.

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  9. I am so sorry to hear about your barn kitty. As a predator, coyotes play an important role in the balance of nature and keeping certain populations in check, including mice. Urban sprawl has brought wildlife closer and closer to us. Perhaps your cat and the hungry coyote were even stalking the same prey. So sad.

    Mrs. Boots is a beauty and how lucky is she to have found you??!!

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