Friday 3 April 2015

Sudden pussy predicament - now resolved.

(These are not my own, sadly. Picture taken from internet.)

Because I don't blog often on what's going on in my own life (pretty uneventful, if truth be told), it won't be known that a new one of my occasional furry visitors, as a result of my open-window policy, first started poking nose in about mid-Jan, tentatively at first, then gradually getting bolder until about a month ago she started sleeping on my bed every night with me and it was clear that a full move-in was on the cards. A little tortoise-shell tabby, collared (which she was soon mysteriously to lose) but disturbingly 'chubby' - which my own feelings of denial preferred not to think of what was the most likely cause. My enquiries in the vicinity as to who could be its owner came to nothing. Anyway, she was here sleeping day and night, being fed by me (impossible to refuse) when, about a week ago, she suddenly disappeared for 24 hours, and then re-appeared looking substantially thinner. My denial to face up to likelihood continued. She seemed to be carrying on as before- at least I assumed that all was normal - until, just after 5 p.m. yesterday, I followed where she was making for in my bedroom and discovered under a pile of old clothes which had been chucked in a corner.......three tiny kittens! All writhing about in lively fashion, their eyes still as yet unopened making the occasional little squeaks as they felt out their tiny paws for mummy, who was watching me anxiously in my having discovered her new offspring. I must have been sleeping in the same room for several nights and been entirely unaware of the new occupants. 
There was no way I could keep them, already owning two cats in a flat where having any pets at all is not allowed, my landlord having turned a blind eye to my present other two. It would have been a stretch too far to expect him to approve still more. So my moment of near-panic progressed to practicalities. Discovering them on the eve of Good Friday, when help and advice was unlikely to be forthcoming before next Tuesday, was all that I needed! Managed to get through to my local animal clinic just as they were closing and they suggested I try the local Cat Welfare Trust. Rang a lady there as she was on way home. But she rang me back an hour later, bless her. She arranged that someone could come and collect all four pussies this very Good Friday morn, which was done - assuring me that the mother would be spayed and found a home and the three kitties would be comfortably looked after, have done what's necessary to them including having tag implants and will also, when old enough, be given new homes. And all at no charge!
    Naturally I was sorry to see Tortie go (the name I gave her and to which she'd started responding) as she was becoming another cuddly fixture, undesirable though it was. But there was no alternative and in the now four hours since she's been taken away I've tried to stop my mind from dwelling on her and the kitties. The lesson for me is that I'll just have to be more careful as to who I allow to settle here in future and, as sexist as it is, keep all tabbies out, or at least in the unlikely event that I know that they've been neutered.
   I never took a picture of Tortie, and certainly not her kitty-kids, which is maybe just as well. It would be heart-breaking to have reminders of her until my present mental 'trauma' has subsided.
It's been an emotionally-fraught few hours since yesterday evening. Can only now try to get back to giving my entire attention to the two elderly co-resident companions which I have got.

As another revered blogger whom I avidly follow says - heigh-ho!

36 comments:

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  2. such a shame that you couldn't keep them, but pleased you got the matter resolved in such a good way where they shall all find lovely homes :) x

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    1. Thanks so much, U.D. If I'd had my way I'd have let them stay and given them all my doting-ful best. Feelings are still a bit raw but the way it worked out could hardly have been better, all things considering.

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    2. aww i can imagine :( you're bound to be upset, me too! If i had my way ALL of the stray cats and dogs would be living with me! Sadly The Bearded Wonder (hubby) and my landlord don't agree with me :( x

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    3. We are obviously kindred spirits, U,D. I'll do just about ANYthing to keep an animal contented, comfortable and happy. I'd also have my home over-run by them and be in my element, while fearing getting to the point where I've got to start turning them away, which wouldn't bear thinking about. If I won the National Lottery very near the top of my list of charities I'd give to - or even the top itself - would be animal rescue.

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    4. We most certainly are Ray :) Me too, if i won the Lottery (if i ever remembered to put it on! haha!) I'd open my own rescue centre/ farm (no kill for the strays of course) you can come help and work with me :D x

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    5. I may well take you up on your invitation, U.D., so don't be surprised. Thank you for making it.

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    6. i'd seriously love it :) i'll let you know if i win ;) xx

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    7. I look forward to the day, U,D, - and even more, if I dare say, to when I myself scoop the jackpot. Race you to it!

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  3. Oh, this would break my heart, so I can begin to imagine how it must have hit you. Glad she had a safe haven and given such a wonderful start I have a feeling the kittens, too, will grow up loved. Good job! (And good job not turning your place into an illegal cat house.)

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    1. The way it turned out was the best I could have wished for, Mitch - and it all happened so quickly. Although I had got attached to Tortie herself it was all too quick for me to get emotionally involved with the kitties, apart from the all-conquering cuteness that such new arrivals have. So, all for the best, I suppose - but will I learn from the experience? Hmmm, I wonder - but really hope so.

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    2. Oh yes - cat house. Exactly so. That's one only for my fantasies, sad to say.

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  4. Ray,
    Bless you for taking care of these kitties. If there is a Heaven, there is a special place reserved for kind and caring people like you. Reading your story this morning made my day.
    Ron

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    1. The experience of giving them up has scarred me a bit, Ron, but there was really nothing else I could do without getting into serious trouble - and it's worked out marvellously, compared with what might have happened to them if Tortie had had a less sympathetic owner.

      Btw: Mentioning heaven (I'm sure I've said this before), when I was 9 or 10,. we were told at school that there aren't any animals in Heaven because they've got no souls. That was the moment when I started having serious doubts about religion (specifically R.C.) I just wanted to say "Stuff that! Then I don't WANT to go to Heaven!" Honestly, the nonsense we are fed with masquerading as 'Truth'!

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    2. Ray,
      I think when we die, that's it. But if there is a Heaven, I am sure our pets will be there. Absolutely positive.
      Ron

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    3. I'm with you totally, Ron. Without the company of my previous pets when I was a boy, and the company of many more 'new' ones in Paradise, it won't even be worthwhile going there, leaving me eternally moping for my much-missed loved ones.

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  5. Hey ho indeed
    Every dad has to let his babies fly the nest
    Chin up

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    1. Well, c'est la vie - and how cruel it can be. Practice for when my present dear two say goodbye, I suppose, which surely can't be long now. (I'm choking up just by saying that!)

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  6. I, too, would have hated to give them up, and Carlos would hate, or at least be annoyed by, me for demanding we keep them, but it's good you found a nice place for them.

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    1. It could have turned out much worse than it did, Bob - and the speed of it was dizzying.

      I suggest you acquire more and more cats until Carlos gets the message. If he doesn't, threaten to leave him - and even do it! ;-)

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  7. round here (at our local no cage, no kill animal rescue cat house) kittens are adopted VERY quickly. and after young mama tortie is fixed, she will be adopted also. you gave her a safe place to have her babies. bless you, dear raybeard!

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    1. It all happened like a whirlwind, A.M. The way it turned out was what I would never have imagined just a few hours previously. I was saying to my sister, when I discovered the kittens, that I'd just rather not KNOW what was going to happen to them, fearing the worst. But now I know they've been taken by a caring concern I'm feeling much better even though, of course, I'm haunted by the memory of Tortie's little face looking up at me as she suckled her babies, purring as their tiny paws kneaded her tummy like dough while they drank. She was also very much a lap-cat, giving me the impression that she hadn't known what real affection could be until she found my place. If she'd been happy in her old home she would have stayed there, but her owners, whoever they were, clearly didn't value her presence. Still, I've got to get over it now and move on.
      It's reassuring to know that where you klive there are such refuges where one can be sure that the little things and their mother will get optimum cared in circumstances similar to mine. It won't happen in our lifetimes but I am confident that our attitudes will eventually prevail to be majority, not only in our respective countries but throughout the world, though some Asian and African countries, as well as certain of the rest, are going to take an awful long time in getting there.

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  8. It's odd to think that you were sleeping in the room with the new born kittens without realising that they were there! You handled it well Ray and the cat welfare trust were wonderful. By the way, are you rid of your hostile neighbour from a couple of years back?

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    1. Yes, can only think that their little squeaks and squeals (very weak anyway) had been muffled by the bank of clothes they were under. However, for the one night I knew that they were present I got very little sleep, thinking that they and their mum were not aware of the fate that awaited them the coming day, though it was the best that could have been hoped for. So grateful for Cat Welfare not only to have been so eager to assist, but to come round and collect them on a Bank holiday morning too.

      Regretfully, the short-fused, ex-con Mr Nasty is still there below me. When he moved in three and half years ago he told me that this was going to be his last address intending to stay here for the rest of his life. I make no further comment.
      I regularly hear his shouting sweary dialogue on the phone or to other persons present. I always try to avoid contact with him, dreading any accidentally encounter with him, making forced, false-smile salutations. Even without seeing him it's as though I'm walking around on egg-shells here, avoiding giving him the least reason to complain. Additionally, I've never dared play my Yamaha electric keyboard since he moved in.
      Well, you did ask! :-)

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    2. Oh dear Ray, I was rather hoping that you were going to tell me that he was long gone. With his personality, he's sure to upset the landlord at some time and you'll be rid of him! In the next day or two I'll be positing my 2015 picks for the Eurovision contest next month on my blog. You, John and I are probbaly the biggest Eurovision geeks I know! And we're proud of it!

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    3. Craig, the landlord doesn't care who are his tenants as long as he gets his money. I think Mr Nasty, being impecunious, doesn't pay the rent himself but gets the Local Council to pay it, so the income is guaranteed and safe from the landlord's POV (unlike me, who has to pay the rent out of my pension - and taking by far the lion's share of it!)
      Mr Nasty's predecessor was a chap who'd play his pop music so loud the whole building would shake with the thumping bass and I couldn't hear my own radio and TV. (He left suddenly after two years to live on a canal boat - and he didn't bother to tell the landlord). When I told the landlord about the din that was coming from below he though I must be exaggerating and didn't do anything about it.
      I daren't tell you what I hope may happen to Mr Nasty. He's a couple of years younger than me, though looks at least 10 years older, even if I say it myself. Weather-beaten face with permanent grizzled chin - and toothless apart from an incongruous single front tooth which I can't help being transfixed by whenever I have to come face to face with him - as rarely as I can make it. Oh, and he's had a heart by-pass, yet still smokes and drinks, often a lot of the latter. (You can guess where my mind goes.)

      Yes, we Eurovision fans have to stick together. Apart from a period in the late 70s and most of the 80s I stopped watching it on the grounds that it was just too 'naff'. Silly me! - That's what makes it so good! But I still recall all the now forgotten early ones - including Brian Johnson, Ronnie Carroll (twice), Kenneth McKellar, Kathy Kirby, Olivia N-J, New Seekers, Cliff's second appearance etc etc.
      So you're sticking you're neck out with your own choices? Up to now I've never made a particular point of listening to the entries before the event but in recent years it's not easy to avoid hearing at least some of them, which isn't really fair for those which one doesn't hear until the actual night. But I'll look forward to your forecasts, though it's very rare indeed when what I consider the best song wins.
      Stand together and be proud! God bless Eurovision - even if this year it includes Australia, but the more the merrier!

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  9. What a wonderful story - especially since it has a satisfactory resolution. I can fully relate to it.

    I recently moved from Texas to Tennessee. When I lived in Texas, one of my neighbors moved and abandoned her twelve cats. They all migrated to my yard and I began feeding them. Needless to say, I was soon overrun with felines and new litters. It took over a year for me to finally find homes for all of them. I love cats, but having that many was a complete nightmare - especially since I am easily sentimentally smitten.

    I adopted two of the sickest kittens. They are now both one year old and healthy.. I also have a ten-year-old cat, who has (reluctantly) accepted the two little ones.

    I discovered your blog via Ron in Delaware.
    (I'm Jon from Lone Wolf Concerto)

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    1. Hi Jon - and a warm welcome to you. Extending my hand in friendship I've now added your own Lone Wolf blog to my BlogRoll. (I see that you started yours just four months before I did mine)

      We cat lovers have got to stand together. I actually have a profound love and respect for ALL animals - and is the main reason why I'm veggie. You can understand that, for that reason, feeding my pussies is never an easy task - but cats are right at the top of my league, though dogs come a good second, making runner-up by only a cold, wet nose.

      My own blogs have, up to now, mainly been film reviews with only the occasional cat-related one. But now it seems there might be a problem with writing about films as regularly as I used to, and if that continues I'm not sure what direction my blog will take, but we'll see.

      I'll investigate your own story in a little while and, hopefully, you'll find me throwing comments in your direction pretty soon.

      Meantime, nice knowing you, friend. I'm honoured.

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    2. Thanks for your kind comment and for visiting my blog. I have admittedly been reading (and thoroughly enjoying) your movie reviews. I have a passion for films, especially from the Golden era. Unfortunately I don't know much about the newer films, so I appreciate your input.

      I'm originally from California (where I lived for nearly 30 years). I lived in Hollywood during my wild and misguided youth and was a professional pianist.
      I don't mean to bore you with the story of my life.

      By the way, I am gay and I'm over 50 - - two things that I seldom mention on my blog. I'm not quite as outspoken as Ron is (*smile*).

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    3. Thanks for that little 'preview', Jon. I'll look at your blog and history in more detail later today and read some of your more recent postings to get a flavour. However, it already seems more than likely that we do have a lot in common, and I suspect that there's going to be even more than I realise.
      Among my own circle of blogpals only Ron has chalked up more years than me, but it'll be good to know someone else who is, if not quite my own age (68.5), less than a generation younger.
      'See' you later, then.

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  10. Bless you, Ray, for your tender heart and care of Tortie and her kitties. My two felines would be incandescent at the thought of another cat coming to live here (the late, great Jim made a valiant effort and won over Jo for the most part, but Phoebe not.a.morsel), although several neighbourhood kitties snoop around from time to time.

    You did the right thing and were, I think, a pivotal link in the chain of Tortie's life. You showed her trust and love, and she saw your place as a safe haven where she could have her brood. Sometimes we are only a short chapter in another's life, even if we wish otherwise.

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    1. Thanks for that, Megan. You'll be as pleased as I was yesterday to hear that Tortie and her three kitties are doing fine and are content. The lady from Cat Welfare who had taken them rang to tell me that I could now collect back the carry basket I had given to her containing the three pussies. I hadn't ask her about their state (I didn't dare!) but she offered the information, and she, being another cat lover (of course, working for an organisation like that) was evidently at least as concerned about them as I was.
      I still think a lot about Tortie, who was very much a 'lap-cat', wondering if meeting me was the first experience she'd had of anyone being loving and appreciative towards her - otherwise if she'd been happy where she was she would have stayed.
      Yes, it's sad when one considers what a short life cats have - as also most animals, at least domesticated ones, and it's in my psyche, as it is in yours, I sense, to do all I can to alleviate them from any distress. I only regret that everyone doesn't share our feelings.

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  11. A heart warming yet bittersweet story. Thank you. I feel your sorrow but you did the right thing. They will all have a new loving home with food and regular inoculations, boring as it is. We have two rescue cats and they are real cuddle sponges.

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    1. One has to move on, Anna, otherwise dwelling on the ones we've lost, for whatever way it was, will drive us mad.
      I have a number of regular 'visitors' through my kitchen window and over the years I can't help but think about those who made such regular pop-ins and then suddenly stop. Only about a month ago a very large all-black would visit at least twice a day, was most affectionate with me, and then his visits suddenly ceased. I can only think that my greatest fear for them all is what happened to him, and I still miss him an enormous amount. But that's the way these things happen, although with Tortie there's at least the consolation of knowing that she and her kitties are being well cared for.
      If I move somewhere where having a cat is an option and I've lost both of my present ones by then, I'd also go for an adult rescue cat. Must admit, though, I'd be worried about the realistic possibility that, at my age, I would 'go' before my pet did. But that's an entire different story.
      Thanks so much for your visit which is greatly appreciated..

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  12. Heavens! I leave town for a week and I miss this.
    I was delighted to read some news about you but saddened of course to hear what sort of news. I was glad to see so much love and support is here for you.

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  13. Yes, Dr Spo, I'm quite overwhelmed by the massive sympathetic response. I'm getting to think of the incident as water under the bridge now, even though it only happened just over a week ago. Obsessing about it will help no one.

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