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rejectomorph

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Oh, Dear [Aug. 26th, 2011|12:00 am]
rejectomorph
It's odd, but I never really took a close look at the feral kittens until today. My regular glasses don't give me a very clear view of anything up close (and are no longer all that good for seeing things in the distance, either,) and my reading glasses are usually sitting in the house when I go outside. Today I went out while wearing my reading glasses, and two of the three kittens were close enough and calm enough that I could take a good look at them. Although I always thought that Timmy and the other two-toned kitten were males, it looks like they are both actually female.

I've always thought that the tabby kitten was female. If, once I get a good look, it turns out to be male, I'll be 0 for 3. But I think I have probably been right about the tabby. The two kittens who vanished from the original litter of five were probably the males, and it was probably Tommy Two-Tone who snatched them. He probably killed his potential rivals and let the females survive as potential future mates.

The kittens have probably outlived Tommy, though. I haven't seen him since a few days after they were born. In fact the night he probably snatched the last of the male kittens was the last time I remember seeing him. Old Gray cat, small gray cat, and Alger all disappeared about the same time. I thought it was only Farah running them off that kept them away, but now I'm beginning to think that animal control might have made a visit to the ares and trapped a lot of feral cats about that time. If they did, then Farah was saved by being stuck here with her new kittens.

But four female kitties could prove to be a real problem in the future. Especially if they all think of my yard as their home. I could end up feeding an entire colony of cats if they all get pregnant. Oh, dear. Time to see about some spaying.
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Comments:
[User Picture]From: saltdawg
2011-08-26 02:39 pm (UTC)
What ever happened to the rescue people?
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[User Picture]From: flying_blind
2011-08-26 09:09 pm (UTC)
The local cat rescue organization is a volunteer outfit run out of one woman's house. We kept mis-connecting, until the kittens were too old to be domesticated. A feral cat is pretty much set in its ways by the time it's eight weeks old, so nobody would be able to adopt these kittens now.

The only option remaining is the organization's trap, neuter and return program. The idea is to spay the kittens before they get pregnant, and Farah before she gets pregnant again. Then they will be brought back here and be released.

They will each get the tip of one ear clipped, so if cat rescue traps them again they'll know they've got a cat who has already been fixed, and so animal control will know the cats have been fixed and are being fed by volunteers, so they won't be hauled off to the pound in any of the occasional sweeps animal control makes.
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