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stoutfellowLet me begin by making one thing clear. These are not, in any sense of the word, my cats. They are, at most, lodgers for an indefinite period. I expect the kittens to follow their mother into straydom; but if they, or she, need a haven, they have one. No more than that.
Since it's likely that I'll be talking about them from time to time, though, it'll save time and words if I assign them names. This is purely for convenience, of course. Mamma cat will get no name; she is simply mamma cat. I will refer to the kittens as Shadow and Tab.
Anyway. I put out food and water for mamma cat this morning, but there is no sign that she has partaken. The two kittens are tucked safely into the deepest part of the nest.
I'm a bit torn about how to proceed, though. On the one hand, I do want to make sure that they're alive and well; on the other, every time I go out to check them, mamma cat takes fright and runs out. I think I'm going to restrict myself to one, or perhaps two, checks daily - once in the morning, and, perhaps, again in the evening.
I'm a bit concerned about one thing. Both dogs are aware that something's going on; on several occasions, Murphy has wandered over to the inner doggie door, stuck his head out, and looked around. I'm not worried about him, though; he doesn't go out into the garage any more. Ben is a different story. Years ago, I erected a barrier of sorts to keep the dogs out of most of the garage; they can pass between the two doggie doors, but that's it. It's a flimsy barrier, though, as much psychological as physical. I've added more blocks to the more obvious points of attack, but I don't want to cut off my own access, or mamma cat's escape route.
This is going to be a nervous time for me, I can see.
Since it's likely that I'll be talking about them from time to time, though, it'll save time and words if I assign them names. This is purely for convenience, of course. Mamma cat will get no name; she is simply mamma cat. I will refer to the kittens as Shadow and Tab.
Anyway. I put out food and water for mamma cat this morning, but there is no sign that she has partaken. The two kittens are tucked safely into the deepest part of the nest.
I'm a bit torn about how to proceed, though. On the one hand, I do want to make sure that they're alive and well; on the other, every time I go out to check them, mamma cat takes fright and runs out. I think I'm going to restrict myself to one, or perhaps two, checks daily - once in the morning, and, perhaps, again in the evening.
I'm a bit concerned about one thing. Both dogs are aware that something's going on; on several occasions, Murphy has wandered over to the inner doggie door, stuck his head out, and looked around. I'm not worried about him, though; he doesn't go out into the garage any more. Ben is a different story. Years ago, I erected a barrier of sorts to keep the dogs out of most of the garage; they can pass between the two doggie doors, but that's it. It's a flimsy barrier, though, as much psychological as physical. I've added more blocks to the more obvious points of attack, but I don't want to cut off my own access, or mamma cat's escape route.
This is going to be a nervous time for me, I can see.
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Date: 2007-04-25 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-26 02:10 pm (UTC)But things seem to be going well; mamma's been eating the food I set out, and both kittens seem well. (I didn't see Shadow move when I peeked in this morning, but I'm pretty sure it was asleep; Tab was yawning and lying on top of it.) (We need a pronoun for animate-of-uncertain-gender...)
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Date: 2007-04-26 06:24 pm (UTC)Why Tab? Shadow I get.
And yay mamma for eating.
You may end up with cats in spite of yourself [g].
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Date: 2007-04-26 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 06:28 pm (UTC)