kittens

Kitty cats and sour cherries

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I’m happy to say that I’ve been seeing Potato Beetle around. He joined me while I was tending things in the garden, yesterday evening.

The cats do like the cardboard mulch around the silver buffalo berry!

Unfortunately, he’s a bit too spry and back to normal. He went after Rolando Moon. Then I saw him and Sad Face stalking each other. I broke that up before it became an actual fight, only to later see him stalking The Distinguished Guest!

I dissuaded them from fighting, but Potato Beetle is looking like he’s wanting to reestablish his top spot in the pecking order.

Aren’t they supposed to be less aggressive after losing their nibs?

Well. At least he’s staying close to home.

He showed up this morning, while I was putting kibble out, but he had no interest in the other trays. He wanted his personal food dish in the sun room! So I let him in and left the door open, so he could come and go as he pleased.

While doing my morning rounds, I took recordings for a new garden tour video. I’ll be working on editing it later today.

I also had a chance to pick cherries.

These are the cherries that I could reach without a ladder. I could pull some branches down, but there are still plenty higher up that need to be picked. The gallon bucket was about 3/4 full. These have been laid out in a pair of trays in a single layer, and are in the big freezer. Once they’re frozen, we’ll bag them up. I wouldn’t mind trying to make wine with these. It’s bee a long time since we’ve tried to make wine. The problem is having a cat-safe space for the carboy. There just isn’t any. 😕😒

After washing off the cherries with the hose, I starting into the sun room, only to find the netting I’d put on the swing bench, on the floor in front of the door.

The bench was occupied.

The sun room was just crawling with kittens! These three, and their mama, were relaxing, but you can just see the tail tip of the one that ran between the window and the bench. Some of the big kittens were in there, too. My presence was panicking them, though. One ran into a window, and another into the back of the inner door, trying to get out. *sigh* So I was careful to skirt around and make sure they could access the door as I picked up the netting, then brought the cherries inside. The mama ran off, too, but the three kittens in the photo, stayed.

That mama has this permanent angry expression on her face. 😄

Today is looking to be a really nice day for work outside, so I’m going to see what I can catch up on. Maybe say hello to the cows. I can see them on the security camera’s live feed, at the fence along the driveway. 😊

Mostly, though, I need to finish mowing. After working in the old garden area last time, though, I had better check the blade and see if I need to sharpen it, first!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties, and more progress!

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I was a bit later with the kibble today – after yesterday, I allowed myself to sleep in! So there were plenty of mamas waiting for me outside the sun room door.

I was very happy to see Ghost Baby was back. She is so hungry, she almost doesn’t run away while I put the kibble out. In the background, you can see Broccoli’s Mini Me with the black and white.

Oh, I let Potato Beetle out of the sun room yesterday, as he was doing so well. I saw him happily making his way through the outer yard soon after. Today, no sign of him. Hopefully, he won’t have the urge to wander too far, since he won’t be sowing any wild oats anymore.

The little kittens came around later on. I am so happy about these two! They don’t run away unless something has made them nervous. They let me pick them up and pet them. I was even able to pick them both up at the same time, after taking this photo!

At least we are managing to socialist two kittens so far!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties

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It is so fun to putter round the yard, and see kittens playing all over the place!

Some of the mamas are pretty ornery towards them, too. Especially Junk Pile, who just hissed at the cringing black and white kitten. It had jumped up into the kibble house and she did not like that at all!

Junk Pile looks like she’s pregnant again. Which might explain the orneriness, except she’s usually ornery at the best of times.

I’ve also seen the toms spending way too much time following Broccoli around.

This is a really bad time of year for any more kittens. It’s unlikely they would survive the winter. 😥

Junk Pile’s kittens are hanging out more often, along with their second mom. They made short work of the kibble on that tray!

After we’ve finished painting the stairs, that insulator water dish will be moved back beside them. I missed the shot, but that black and white kitten had been balancing on top of it, drinking water. It’s easier for them to reach while sitting on a step.

I haven’t yet looked to see if there are paw prints in the paint or not. 😁

The Re-Farmer

Now and then

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While putting about the yard and doing my evening rounds, I was seeing more kittens closer to the house.

In early July, we found this little guy, cold, wet and alone in the yard. He was reunited with his mother, and then we didn’t see him for many weeks.

Now he comes to the kibble house on his own!

So handsome! And so densely fluffy looking!

The kitten in the background is, I believe, from the same litter that has been hanging around the house for some time, sibling to the calico that preferred to hang out with the bitty kitties. Either that, or it’s a new kitten from a completely different litter.

I saw the tuxedo that is sibling to the black and white but couldn’t get a picture. He kept running behind things and hiding from me.

The important thing is, kittens are getting to know where they can find reliable food, even if their mothers aren’t comfortable being around us. In fact, I think I may have seen a completely new little tabby with more caramel colour to its fur.

By winter, we should finally have an idea of just how many yard cats we now have!

The Re-Farmer

So many kitties!

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We had some rain this morning, which made the temperatures much more pleasant outside, though it did start heating up again awfully fast. We dipped to a low of 10C/50F overnight, and are expected to hit 29C/84F by this evening!

When I headed out this morning, there were many, very hungry kitties waiting for me.

Even Ghost Baby was waiting. She was so very wet, and so hungry, she didn’t run away! She jumped onto the roof of the cat house and hissed at me, but stayed close. So I made sure to put some kibble on the roof for her, and she dove right in.

The bitty kitties are no longer in the board pile, so I brought the trays I was using for food and water over to the kibble house. The cats like having a bit more space between them when eating.

I toss a couple of handfuls of kibble into the shelf shelter, and this little tabby was quite happy with that!

This is the black and white that I have not been able to touch. It usually runs off as soon as it sees me, but with the food tray on the ground, it was willing to hide under the kibble house and eat at the same time.

Hungry babies!

Hungry Ghost Baby, still eating, even as I kept moving around her, leaving kibble in the usual spots. She didn’t even run away when I used the hose on the water bowls!

I so want to socialize this one. She looks like she’s having a rough time of things. 😢

The Re-Farmer

Greetings, human! Feed us!

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Look who was waiting for me this morning!

Every morning, the mamas gather outside the sun room door, waiting for me to come out with the kibble. Usually, at least one of the bigger kittens are with them, too. This morning, the little kittens were there, too!

I was even able to pick up and cuddle a couple of them, while their mamas stayed well away.

Even the big kittens are coming around in the mornings! These ones are more cat-tens than kittens. 😉 Just look at the size of that tabby! You can see the black and white, under the spirea. The tuxedo was around, too.

The littler ones have been hanging around the kibble house and in front of the sun room, playing enthusiastically. Hopefully, the older kittens will start coming around and staying, too.

Oh! Last night, while crossing the outer yard, I might have, maybe, possibly, seen a kitten following Broccoli into the tall grass. The first possible sign of her litter.

I suspect we’re going to be seeing a lot more new kittens showing up at the kibble house over the next few weeks.

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties, young and old

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Heading out this morning, Potato Beetle really wanted out of the sun room – but was content to stay once I refreshed his food bowl and added some treats and catnip. 😉 I really want to get some meat back on those skinny bones of his. It’s going to be hard to keep him in the sun room until after he’s had his vet visit, but we don’t dare let him out, or we might not see him again for weeks.

At least he’s finally started using the litter box. 😄

This guy is one of the other reasons why I don’t want to let Potato Beetle out.

I’ve been trying to get close to The Distinguished Guest and get a better look at his injury, but it’s all I can do to get even this photo. He used to let me near him while he was eating, and even pet him at times, but no more. He’s far more nervous.

The older part of the injury looks like it has fur trying to grow back. It seems he’s been injured at least twice, possibly three times, in the same area, with the wound extending further across his shoulders each time. This is Sad Face’s doing, and the few times I’ve been around to break up the fights, I can see how this one spot keeps getting hurt again. Sad Face managed to latch on to there and hang on, even as they roll across the yard as they fight.

What Sad Face is doing to TDG, TDG has been trying to do to Potato Beetle, and I would really like to prevent that!

Of course, once the kibble started hitting the trays, all manner or cats came running, including some little ones. 😊

The kittens love dashing into here. They are still small enough to be able to turn around inside it. At the other end, they can get under the entry way of the cat’s house.

Later on, I saw a mama nursing this fuzzy one, and the fourth, darker tabby that is even harder to catch glimpses of. The other two of this bunch were in the board pile, with the bitty kitties. 😊

I’ve taken to leaving small amounts of kibble by the grape vines regularly now, instead of at the pump shack, and here you can see two of the oldest kittens had come out. Later on, I just caught a glimpse of the tabby, disappearing under the spirea. Once in a while, I’ll spot them at the kibble house, too, but they get startled off very easily.

I don’t know why, but all of the outside cats seem to be acting super nervous lately. I’m used to them moving away when I get close. Every now and then, though, I’d be able to touch Broccoli while she was eating in the kibble house, or give Rosencrantz some pets. These days, not even Rosencrantz will let me near her. They all are acting like big balls of anxiety. The only exceptions have been Rolando Moon, who likes to follow me around while I do my morning rounds, and Potato Beetle, who just loves attention. Not sure what’s going on!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties

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While I was working outside, my husband worked his magic, and fixed our internet problems. Now let’s see if I can catch up before another thunderstorm hits!

First, we gotta have the kitties!

The calico that hands out with the bitty kitties must have been really hungry, because she came over to join her brother (sister?) in the kibble house! they’re over on the left, and you can just barely see her behind her sibling.

I left a bit of food by the grape vines, and the black and white kitten from the oldest litter showed up for breakfast. :-)

The fourth kitten ran off before I could get my phone out. Throughout the morning, I was able to pick up and hold the two on the right a couple of times, but not the fuzzy one. The other black and white kitten disappears so fast, I barely see it, never mind try to touch it!

As for the adult cats, Potato Beetle is still in the sun room – and he really wants to leave! Unfortunately, he doesn’t like to use the litter box, so I did have a mess to clean up. I’ve been making sure his water was a frozen water bottle in it, and have even left the door open into the old kitchen, in case he wants to go somewhere cooler. It’s difficult to keep him in, when I have to go in and out of the sun room with tools so often.

I have noticed one thing, though. He is still limping! The last time we took him to the vet, it was for his limp, and they found some puncture wounds, but not much more. They figured the tooth or claw that caused the punctures caught on a tendon, too. Still, I would not have expected him to still be limping after all this time!

Oh, the thunderstorm is almost on us! Glad I finished up outside when I did. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Huge kitten progress! Also, how many are there?

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Not only did I see the little kittens this morning, I got to have HUGE progress with them!

First progress was with this one. This one kept right on eating as I came closer, then reached out to pet it. That’s when I spotted a wood tick on its ear. It took some doing to reach over the water tray, hold on to the ear with one hand and pull the tick with the other (getting a wet boob in the process. 😂), but it never stopped eating! It just let me do my thing and ignored me.

The others had moved away, but this little fuzzy one likes to just sit there, posing so adorably, to watch me. After a while, its sibling came out – the less fuzzy one that I’ve been able to handle more often. I did manage to pick up the fuzzy one last night, but it wasn’t happy about that, so I didn’t hang on to it for long.

The calico and the other black and white started to come closer, too. They wanted that food, but not quite enough to go to the tray while I was there.

When these three were in the tray, I was able to pet ALL of them! Yes, even the fuzzy one! They just kept on eating.

Eventually, they all came out, though the other black and white one didn’t want to be too close to me. Still, I was able to pick up the container I use to carry the kibble, without them all running away. Even the calico just froze in place and watched me, then went back to eating after I picked up the container and moved away.

For the past while, I’ve been rather confused about these kittens. While they were in the branch pile, I counted 6 small kittens, and even saw the mama nursing all of them. Then there were the 4 larger kittens, including that calico, and they all played together. I just went back to some older photos to confirm, and that calico is definitely one of the kittens we would see under the cats’ house last month. The one that, when we first saw it, had leaky eyes that were almost glued shut. That dark patch on its forehead is quite distinctive.

So the calico has simply moved in with this younger litter. The other three older kittens still frequent the area by the sun room, playing in the old kitchen garden or on the laundry platform, and eating from the food there.

That accounts for 8 kittens.

So I went looking at older photos.

This is the very first photo I got of this litter, when I discovered they were in the entry into the cats’ house. There are 5 kittens. You can see the two black and white kittens on top of each other. In the foreground is the fuzzy one, and beside the mama is the other one that I’ve been able to pick up every now and then.

The dark kitten next to the fuzzy one is missing.

Also… where did the 6th kitten I saw among them in the branch pile come from? I suppose it’s possible it was in the cats’ house with the 5 pictured above, just out of sight.

Whether it was originally part of this litter or not, where did it go when the mama moved her kittens to the board pile?

I found some video I took of the kittens in the branch pile. The quality sucks, because I had to zoom in so much, but I can still figure out which two kittens are now missing.

So are these two actually gone gone? Was there three, rather than two, litters in the pile at the time? Are the two unaccounted for kittens hidden away somewhere else? The mamas don’t seem to care all that much about which kittens are their own or which are part of another litter.

These guys are hard to keep track of!

The Re-Farmer