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The Word is Out

June 10th, 2010

I guess the word around the neighborhood is that Chiot’s Run is a feline friendly establishment. Remember when I mentioned that we had a feral cat show up last winter? The cat lived somewhere across the road because I would see it heading over there all the time.

We were going to trap it and take it to the vet, but that proved to be difficult. We rarely saw it and it was very scared of us and would run whenever it saw us. This spring we noticed it coming around again and it looked a little chubby. I wondered if it was pregnant. Pretty soon one day it was skinnier than usual, so I figured it had kittens. We decided to wait 6 weeks or so until the kittens would be older then try to trap her to get her fixed. I tried following her a few times looking for her kittens so we could get them fixed as well, but I never was able to find them. I checked all the neighbor sheds and under their porches. Yesterday I came home from the post office and noticed the cat running out of the garage. Then I heard a tiny meow in the garage. I looked around and saw a tiny kitten in our garage. She decided that Chiot’s Run would be a great place for her babies, so she moved them into our garage yesterday. They look to be about 6 weeks old.

We saw them a little later outside with mom as she was taking them for a stroll. I managed to get a few photos from inside. We think there are 3 kittens but we’re not for sure. We’re going to make up a small house in a box for them and hopefully this will make them easier to take them to the vet, which hopefully will happen early next week if we can catch them.


Looks like we’re going to have a few garden/garage cats to help with the chipmunk/mice/mole population around here.

Any new and exciting pets at your place?

19 Comments to “The Word is Out”
  1. Sense of Home on June 10, 2010 at 8:25 am

    Those kittens are so cute! I love cats and kittens are irresistible. We don’t have any kittens around now, but our Elroy looks a little like that mother cat, only a lot bigger. He is not fat, but he is the biggest cat we have ever had (18 to 20 pounds now)
    .-= Sense of Home´s last blog ..Poet Pablo Neruda: "Ode to Bicycles" =-.

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  2. Sense of Home on June 10, 2010 at 8:56 am

    By the way, this is how we got our Elroy. Someone in our area trapped a wild mother cat about to give birth and then they helped raise the kittens and had both the mother and kittens fixed before giving the kittens away. We are glad to have him, he is the sweetest cat we have ever had.

    If we were in your area my husband would take that black cat in a heartbeat.

    -Brenda
    .-= Sense of Home´s last blog ..Eating Well In Season =-.

    Reply to Sense of Home's comment

    • Susy on June 10, 2010 at 9:16 am

      Yep, this is how we got our two indoor cats as well, from a feral cat rescue in Cincinnati. I love that they still have some feral instincts. They kill every bug and spider in the house, unlike our previous fully domesticated cat. They also drink with their paws and other interesting things.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Sense of Home on June 11, 2010 at 8:47 am

        All our cats have had these traits, I never really associated that with being feral. But then, all of our cats have been “wild or farm cats” as they are called around here.
        .-= Sense of Home´s last blog ..Bringing the Garden Inside =-.

        to Sense of Home's comment

  3. liane on June 10, 2010 at 9:52 am

    cuties. we’ve had kittens in our barn but they disappeared before i could catch them. always wondered what happened to them.
    .-= liane´s last blog ..anonymous works =-.

    Reply to liane's comment

  4. Renee on June 10, 2010 at 10:09 am

    Aw, they are so cute! The only baby animals in my yard this year are birds and bunnies.

    Reply to Renee's comment

  5. MAYBELLINE on June 10, 2010 at 10:20 am

    Thank you for getting them fixed. Try your local animal shelter for the loan of a trap.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Boysenberry Mystery Solved =-.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  6. Jaspenelle on June 10, 2010 at 10:34 am

    Awww, baby animals never cease to melt my heart. That said, I am glad you are trying to catch them to take her to the vet (I assume to neuter?)

    Windigo (one of cats) got out & disappeared after we moved her last year and Aos (our other cat) hasn’t been the same since. We’ve been considering looking for another cat recently but are still mulling over the idea (with a 2 year old & 6 month old such ideas require some planning.)
    .-= Jaspenelle´s last blog ..In the garden =-.

    Reply to Jaspenelle's comment

  7. Sincerely, Emily on June 10, 2010 at 10:36 am

    man-o-man! Kittens. Love them all! 10 years ago we took in a feral cat family. Mama cat had taught them well to run and hide so we had to live trap them to catch them. We were able to place a few of them to good home but kept the rest (after fixing them all!). I estimate they were about 6 weeks when we got them and it took a long long time to socialize them but it was worth it. Three in the liter were black, so black kitties have a special place in my heart. well, all kitties have a special place in my heart. Emily in So. TX

    Reply to Sincerely, Emily's comment

  8. warren on June 10, 2010 at 10:57 am

    We’ve acquired a cat and a dog in the last 2 months or so…the cat was from a feral momma who dropped it, but the dog was on purpose. This is harsh but there is a sustainable number of ferals that an area can handle (I think) and the rest takes care of itself…we have 8-15 each spring that seem to roam around our area…not so many later on
    .-= warren´s last blog ..Bullseye! =-.

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  9. lee on June 10, 2010 at 11:55 am

    Oh you big softie, you’re a cat magnet. That smart mother cat knew exactly where to take her babies to keep them safe.

    Reply to lee's comment

    • Susy on June 10, 2010 at 12:31 pm

      I know, cats know don’t they!

      So far we’ve spotted 4 kittens in the garage, 2 gray ones and 2 dark ones. One appears to be kind of long haired. Mama is getting more and more tame, she even rubbed on my leg today.

      We called the vet today and they recommended waiting until at least until the end of next week to trap mom to get her fixed and maybe till the week after that depending on how old the kittens are. Then we’ll be taking all the kittens in for shots/fixing over the next couple months I’m sure.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • lee on June 11, 2010 at 12:18 pm

        That’s going to be very expensive.

        to lee's comment

  10. Missy on June 10, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    Holy cow! Cat city at Chiots Run. You’re on your way to being Ernest Hemmingway! =)

    Reply to Missy's comment

    • Susy on June 10, 2010 at 1:54 pm

      Yes, if only they were polydactyls!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  11. Morgan G on June 10, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    Yes! Well, at work. We had two beautiful chickens show up at work yesterday. We think someone tossed them over the fence thinking they were doing the ladies a service since we are located on a farm. They look happy and healthy. We have named them Thelma & Louise.
    .-= Morgan G´s last blog ..3 Fab Things To Do With Used Coffee Grounds =-.

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  12. Amy on June 10, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    Mama’s green eyes are beautiful! Best of luck catching her and the babies!
    .-= Amy´s last blog ..Slow boat to veggie land =-.

    Reply to Amy's comment

  13. Dave on June 10, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    Unless you count the deer that’s munching my plants no new pets here! Cute kitties at your place! We had a cat similar to the mother cat around here last year but it disappeared and never returned. I afraid something not so good happened.
    .-= Dave´s last blog ..Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly =-.

    Reply to Dave's comment

  14. deedee on June 10, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    too cute! i wish our dogs were cat friendly….

    Reply to deedee's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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