Nosencrantz was eagerly among the other cats when I came out to feed them this morning! She even let me pet her, but she was far more interested in food.

I counted 37 again this morning. Unfortunately, that includes Shop Towel. As soon as Nosencrantz saw him in the yard, she did this.

She was still up there when I finished my rounds and came inside. The kibble under the shrine, where she prefers to eat, was already gone, though there were still some in the kibble house. I shooed Shop Towel away, but I know he’ll come back.

I so wish he weren’t aggressive with the other cats. I hate to have to chase away a hungry animal, but he’s already chased off the other toms permanently, and I think some of our own males that have moved on have been driven off by him.

Well, we might be down a few more yard cats, soon. The homesteader we have been buying eggs from has only one cat. Quite a lovely gentleman, too. However, with having feed for so many animals around, she has a lot of mice, and he can’t keep up with catching them all! I’ve offered some of ours. Depending on how her schedule is, I’m hoping she can come over to choose. She would rather have females, as she thinks her cat (yes, he’s fixed, and yes, she’ll fix any cats she takes) would be more accepting of females. Of course, males are the ones that are the most socialized around here! However, there are a couple of females that we can pet fairly regularly. I would much rather we reduced the population of females here, too, since it’s so difficult to get them fixed. I was able to pet Beep Boop this morning, and even feel under her belly, and she has no active nips, making her a good candidate. Adam and Broccoli would also be great to go. I have been able to pet Broccoli while she’s eating, though I couldn’t check to see if she was nursing – she did bring her second litter to the house, and I’ve seen them together, but I’ve never seen her actively nursing them. They definitely are old enough to be weaned. As for Adam… she won’t let us near her at all. She was creche mother for so long, along with Beep Boop, I don’t think she would have gone into a second heat, like Broccoli did. Then there’s Caramel. She’s been an odd one, lately! If I’m going around the cat house, for example, she will run around on the roof, following me, meowing for attention and even grabbing at me to pay attention to her – but when I do, she attacks my hand, scratching and biting! Yet if I pull away, she starts meowing for attention again.

Nosencrantz is another possibility, now that she actually comes up and lets me pet her. She doesn’t want to go indoors anymore. I don’t know how good of a mouser she is, after being indoors for so long, but she would be much happier around fewer cats. Especially to get away from Shop Towel. Plus, she’s already fixed.

I miss her nightly cuddles!

Well, time to get to other things. I’m taking my mother’s car in to the garage today, so I’m leaving much earlier to stop at the clinic and drop off my husband’s medical files, first. Then grab “breakfast” somewhere. Maybe the new Dairy Queen is open by now? If it is, I’ll definitely give it a try.

The Re-Farmer