Cat of the Month—Mama Cat
Just squeaking this in before the end of the month—Mama Cat seemed like the perfect cat for the month that has Mother’s Day. She is not technically our cat, she’s the neighborhood cat. She’’s a beautiful dark tortoiseshell kitty with a peach colored bib over her chin and throat.
When she first showed up a couple years ago, Mama Cat was extremely wary and I couldn’t get near her. Now she trusts me and will actually roll over for the occasional belly rub. When I’m outside in the garden, she’s a good companion, taking a mild interest in whatever I’m doing and enjoying a good chin rub. She keeps up an easy conversation of whispery meows and purrs. She obviously enjoys life and kneads her paws up and down to show it. She currently has a litter of six kittens who will be weaned soon and then she’ll be off to the vet’s to be spayed and vaccinated. I hope to find homes for her kittens and ideally a home for her as well.
May 27th, 2009
A couple years ago a young mama cat and her two kittens showed up in our barn and I started leaving food for them. They were all extremely shy, but I felt in time I’d be able to win their trust. But one day the little family was gone. Two weeks later, the two kittens came back, alone. Where they had gone, and how they found their way back, I’ll never know.
When I brought them food, I could see one of the kittens had an injured lower jaw. It was so infected, the flesh had rotted through the bottom of his mouth. I managed to catch the kittens and took them to the vet. She held the little kitten in her hand and said “Hhmmm….” in a resigned tone of voice, looking in his mouth. He purred the whole time. “Well,” she said, “I can put him to sleep right now, or we can do surgery and he still might not make it, and it may cost hundreds of dollars.” Turned out his lower jaw was crushed into tiny pieces and was terribly infected, probably due to a bite from a raccoon or possum.
I named the kittens Fred (now more often called Freddy) and Ginger—while they were small they were inseparable, now they are more independent. More on Ginger next month. (Can you believe some people have no idea who Fred and Ginger were—even if I elaborate and say “You know, Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers!”). Freddy is a sociable cat and has shown an unusual tenderness towards any cat that is ill. Lately Rosie was sick with a bad cold and Freddy got in the cat bed with her and curled himself around her. When she got better, he went back to his old perch on the top shelf of the linen cabinet.
Daisy is the first cat to find us once we moved back to Brown County. I was coming home one evening and she was waiting on the bridge near my house. Of course I stopped and rolled down my window. “Are you Mark’s cat?” I asked, because my brother who lives near by had at the time a calico cat like this one. She stood up and walked up to the car and I could see she had no tail—making her not Mark’s cat, as his calico had a tail. Naturally I opened the car door, and called “kitty, kitty” and just as naturally she hopped in. I made it home safely, despite this cat purring and climbing all over me. Eric met me at the door—“Look what I found!” I said. “She was waiting on the bridge for me to come home.”
Daisy was full of fleas and ticks, and had a lump on her abdomen which turned out to be mammary cancer. Her unflappable personality has seen her through two surgeries for her cancer and she is doing well now. She is a laid-back, friendly cat who knows what she wants and doesn’t take any guff from the other cats. Daisy is one of the few cats who was unfazed by Cricket’s boss cat glare—Rosie who’s blind is the other.
Daisy is also a quirky cat—though when it comes down to it, what cat isn’t? She will “catch” one of the many cat toys and then meow with her mouth full of it till someone notices—I assume this is a mothering thing, catch the prey then call your kittens to it. A couple of the younger cats fall for it and are a little put out to be called in for a nice meal of fake mouse. Daisy is also a snuggler and a nuzzler—she loves to rub her head against Eric’s bearded chin, blissfully kneading her paws into his shoulder. With Cricket gone, I wonder if Daisy will fill the Top Cat spot.
No, I haven’t run out of cats for this category—are you wondering how many we have? Guess you’ll just have to stay tuned…
Milo is our last Spencer acquired cat. Like Pogo, he just came walking up one day- young, skinny and demanding (like a typical teenager). However, he was a lynx point Siamese and I assumed he must belong to someone. Who would dump such a gorgeous cat? So for a few days I ignored him, figuring he would go home. We checked the paper and called the vet to see if someone had reported him missing. Eventually I decided I couldn’t let him go hungry, and the rest is history.
Like many Siamese cats, Milo has a distinct personality and can be vocal at times. He is a bit of a mama’s boy, sleeping curled against my arm at night, and prefers to keep me in sight during the day. If I venture outside, say to fill the bird feeders or gather the eggs (did I mention we have chickens and ducks? No, there won’t be a Fowl of the Month entry, sorry) Milo sits in the window and meows for me to come back. Being such a beautiful cat, I’ve tried to paint him, but the texture of his fur and the mystery of his eyes are hard to recreate. He can be a bit of an ornery cat at times—as of this writing he is in “time out” for chasing Freddy (a huge orange cat who could squash Milo if only he didn’t have the heart of a cowardly lion).
Almost caught up for ’08. Pogo is the December Cat of the Month for 2008. Pogo is another Spencer cat, discovered as a kitten of around 14-16 weeks old. I heard his sad meows one day while I was out on the front porch and he gladly came running when I called. I brought him inside, carried him up stairs where Eric was reading on the bed. I plunked this madly purring bit of orange and white fur down next to him and said “Look what I found! Can I keep him?” Pogo was climbing and rubbing and purring all over Eric—he didn’t stand a chance.
Over time Pogo has become more reserved, in fact he does this shrinking thing sometimes when petted. He sees my hand as a limbo stick and goes belly to the ground to avoid contact. Other times I ask him if he’s been in the friendly juice, as he becomes the friendly Pogo of old and delights in human contact. Unlike 
Tigger is the November (of ’08) Cat of the Month. She came to us in Spencer, a half-grown, semi-wild tabby cat. She is still a little on the wild side, even after all these years. She despises the other cats and most humans. I think she wishes she and I were the only creatures living in our house, maybe on the planet—and is secretly plotting on how to make this come about.
Every once in a while when the door is open, she makes a lightening fast dash to the outdoors and quickly reverts to her feral cat persona. Any approach is met with hisses and deadly glares—we simply have to wait her out. Eventually, we begin a conversation of cajolling “here, kitty kitty” (on my part) and tentative meows (on her part) and slowly the trust is built up again and she’ll scoot through the door. Of course this involves holding back the other cats who naturally want to see what’s up—so I alternate between “Get back!” (sternly) and “Come on, Tigger!” ( encouragingly). When she finally comes in, we all breathe a sigh of relief and have a glass of wine, or cup of tea, depending on mood.
Pumpkin, appropriately enough, is the Cat of the Month for October. She is the petite sister of 
Sadly, Pumpkin was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism which has caused her to lose a lot of weight. With her we opted to try the medication route until we can spring for the radioactive iodine treatment that 
Okay, so this is barely getting in by the end of the month, but let’s be realistic here—how many people are checking in to see who the Cat of the Month is? Well, it’s Smokey’s turn at last. He is 
With his shyness comes sweetness, he’s generally been a kind and gentle cat. For some reason his face reminds me of one of those old teddy bears—the ones with the long arms and triangular heads. If he knows you and trusts you, there’s nothing he likes better than a belly rub.
Like 
Sparky is one of 
Pogo (who you will meet later) is Sparky’s pal; they often snuggle together in the window seat at the top of the stairs, or wash each other’s face on the bed. One day I was sharing the window seat with them, looking through a book on Monet—seeking inspiration. I took a break, laying the book down, and came back to find Pogo resting his head on it. So the book inspired me, though not quite as I had planned. The result is “Monet’s Cats” which I feel is one of my very best works. You can also see this pair in “
