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I was trying to be cold and hard hearted but I just can't be.


Lisa O`Brien

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It's nothing major, just a kitten !  My first cat, when we moved here from Manchester in 1999 was a stray. She just wandered in one day and kind of made herself at home !!  I could tell she was feral, but I kept her. She was already pregnant,which I didn't realise until a good few months later. We kept the mother and, unfortunately had to keep two of the female kittens as well because even though I advertised,nobody wanted them. Had them both spayed. Sadly the mother and one of the kittens died . So,we were left with Blackie,who had her 15th birthday on 18th May this year; Margot Fonteyn's birthday !  Me and Sean over the last six months or so had decided that Blackie would be our last ever pet. We have had three cats over the space of the last fifteen years and we both love cats [i was bitten on the arm by a German Shepherd when I was three so I never had an affinity with dogs]. But that said, we've done our bit. Then the last couple of weeks this kitten shows up in the back garden. The mother,a stray is an ugly looking,googly-eyed thing,bless her. But the kitten is really lovely. She has been sitting in the back garden, looking in through my dining room window, miaowing at me. At first I ignored her. Sean kept going out into the back garden to pet her. She really took to him. Sean asked me if we could keep her. I was like, " No way, Jose"!  I said to Sean we had discussed and both agreed that when Blackie eventually dies, we will have no more pets. I said if he wanted to get a pet when he's older and he has his own place he can go ahead and do what he wanted. But she kept appearing and crying. Trying to come in to the house when I had the back door open and was feeding Blackie in the kitchen. Blackie. She is absolutely fine around her. I thought she would spit and snarl at her but quite the opposite. She's lovely to her. If I put food out for Blackie the kitten will barge in and start eating her food [Must get her some kitten food. She's eating Blackie's age 7+ food and it can't be healthy for her]. Blackie just goes and sits in the garden and waits until the kitten has finished eating, even if she has been out all night and must be hungry herself. Of course, I have been making lots of fuss over Blackie,especially when the kitten is around,so she knows she is still loved and is not being left out. The two of them,after eating, go and sit near each other in the back garden and groom themselves. Not a bit of animosity or anything.I tried picking up the kitten a few days ago and she was having none of it. I picked her up again this morning and she stayed very still in my arms and was purring away like anything. Noticed this morning that the two brothers who live next door have bought a pink pet food bowl. So she's clearly getting food from them too.And probably half the street ! I'm going to phone up a vets next week and make an appointment to get her spayed. I don't know how old she is, but even though she is still a kitten she certainly isn't tiny. I read that kittens can become pregnant from four months old, which i'd guess she probably is. We haven't given her a name. I want to try and keep SOME sort of emotional distance from her. TBH I really don't want to have to go through this from scratch for another 15 years or however long. Blackie, being 15, might not live that many more years. Then I was thinking last night,when Blackie dies eventually, and one day Sean moves out [she hopes,LOL !!]. I'll be here for most of the time on my own. Probably lonely. So I might be glad by then of having another cat for company ,who can sleep on my bed at night like Blackie does in the winter. It's just the thought of another 15 years or longer commitment, all over again. Sigh. But she IS a real cutie though. What would other people do?

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Have you established she is a stray? You could get into serious problems if someone lays claim to kitten and you've neutered it. I would speak to Cats Protection League and ask their advice, they will trap and neuter the kitten and more importantly the mother if necessary. We've had a few strays around here (very rural) that I think abandoned as ill, the CPL have offered to use traps (never been necessary as the cats have walked into carrier byself) and then meet vets bills. Some have been so far gone had to be put down others rehomed.

One year we had a stray that was in physically poor health but very friendly, after establishing he wasn't chipped,and a found poster campaign within 7 mile radius,CPL paid for him to be neutered and asked if we could continue to feed whilst he had access to our out buildings until they had space to take him. We agreeded but he decided his home was with us and promptly moved in, my neighbour isn't convinced it is same cat as change in physical appearance is amazing.

He gives is a lot of pleasure but is a long term, expensive commitment.

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Thanks Jane. I was thinking of asking all the neighbours on our street if she belonged to any of them, just to be on the safe side before going ahead with booking a vet's appointment. Of course, she might belong to someone further away than our immediate street, but there's no way of knowing. I wouldn't want to interfere and neuter someone else's cat, that's for sure, but time will definately be running out before she becomes pregnant.

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I'm almost certain this googly-eyed cat,which is quite new to the area is a stray, and i'm almost certain is her mother. Although the kitten doesn't look anything like the mother, the mother has been attacking the kitten and i've seen it myself [she had the kitten backed into a corner and was really battering her until I chased the mother away]. This makes me think the older cat IS the kittens mother. I might be wrong though of course.

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It is worth asking as far as possible and put up posters. I've phoned local vets, RSPCA, CPL to see if anyone reported a missing kitten/cat. They log the information and it will give you a foot to stand on if in a few months someone turns around and claims the kitten as theirs.

Years ago, a few nights before Christmas a family passing our house came across a very bedraggled kitten on the road. They knocked and asked if it was ours, it wasn't but as the family were stuck we took it in. Friends husband did an emergency visit with cage, flea treatment, food and litter. Next day husband took it to vets, it was in a dreadful state and needed treating for everything. We made CPL aware that we had kitten. Christmas morning someone knocked on door claiming kitten as theirs, bought for a brother's Xmas present. They had heard in pub through local chat about kitten. We had no choice but to hand over kitten with all its medication and with some stern words but will never know if it really was theirs. We were all upset that Christmas Day as kids had quickly got attached to kitten.

Edited by Jane
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Sounds like the cat you believe is the mother needs attention too. I would certainly be asking for help for her to be neutered and health checked. She probably isn't very old and will soon be having another litter no doubt.

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I've just been chatting to one of the men who live next door. I was bringing in clothes off the line and I noticed he came into his garden with a tin of cat food in his hand. I asked him about the kitten. Like me he has only seen her around here recently. He thinks she is definately a stray, as is the "Googly-eyed" one, who he said is a Tom and it's this cat he has been feeding in his garden every day. He said he is as wild as anything. I told him I was thinking about getting the kitten spayed but I was worried she might belong to someone. He said he doubted very much she is, and to go ahead with a vet's appointment if I wanted to. The kitten also has an injured front paw/leg. She sits with it up in the air all the time and hardly puts any weight on it. Sean yesterday picked her up and looked at her paw. He said it looked red and sore. So while i'm at it I may as well get the vet to look at her paw as well. She might need an antibiotic or something. I know this will be an extra expense for me, but I don't like the thought of her being in pain. Edited to add.. Just as I had finished chatting to my next door neighbour, the weirdo neighbour emerged from his house in his dressing gown and sat down on his deckchair. I just went in and pretended I had not seen him. He has not once sat in that chair in the back garden, despite all the sunny days we have had. Until now. Unlike last time though i'm prepared for him. I've noted down the date and time. Didn't hang around to see if he was up to anything. Didn't want to know,to be honest. But i'm thinking he must have heard me talking to the man next door. He would know straight away it was me and not someone else because of my English accent.

Edited by Lisa O`Brien
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So far our healthy moggy Harlequin has only cost us annually for his vaccination and food. Moggies tend to be very healthy. Even his neutering was free as a local bequest to our veterinary surgery paid for neutering as many local cats as the money could cover. We were absolutely skint at the time and tremendously grateful to the unknown donor.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well we have called the kitten Biscuit. She is a tortoise shell and is adorable. But I really don't think it will be either practical or sensible to keep her.I telephoned the USPCA . They have a re-homing service. But they will only take in a stray if there's a good chance of finding somewhere new for a cat to live. She told me because of the kitten's bad leg,she doubts very much that anyone will want her. Because of this,she said it was highly unlikely they will be able to take her off my hands. She's eating me out of house and home,and to be honest, I really can't afford to be feeding both of them. So anyway then I rang a local vets. Explained about the kitten,and the woman said there is someone who works there who would take her off our hands and take her in and look after her properly. Need to wait until the cat carrying case arrives in the post off someone on Ebay in England. But she said I didn't need to make an appointment and I could just take her down whenever I wanted to. [sean's just come in from his placement at school. He seems really upset at the thought of giving her up]. We need to have a long chat over the next few days what we want to do.

Edited by Lisa O`Brien
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