We never planned to become pawrents to cats. They just came to us and adopted us. I was thinking about this last week after I watched a video saying that cats are like angels sent to you. We were apprehensive about having cats since none of us had experience. My doctor also forbade me from having pets.
Looking back we were actually eased in to become pawrents. Grey came and started hanging out in our laundry area. We suspect he's been hanging out there way before we noticed him sleeping there. We had no clue how to take care of cats so we started with giving him a bed, then water, then some food. He was very skittish and would run away whenever we came close. Eventually he became comfortable with us and he started recognizing his name.
Then came Kaley Boo the calico cat. She'd only visit for snacks. Sometimes she'd come with other calico cats, Sandra and Cheyenne. Cheyenne was the first cat who'd allow some petting. Sandra though is very fierce and would always fight with everyone else to get some food. Among the three calico cats, Kaley is the only one who comes everyday. She knows her name too, but still doesn't allow to be touched. Nose bumps only.
It was around May-June last year when Grey brought it Brimsley. She was still quite small then and we thought she was male (we obviously don't know much about cats). She would hide in the boxes in the garage. Little did we know she was pregnant. We were just surprised one day when she disappeared. I asked Miggy to look for her and he found her inside a box with a kitten. Whoops! We panicked a bit since we don't have any experience with cats giving birth. We got up to speed by watching YouTube videos on how best to take care of new cat moms. Since Brimsley is a feral cat, she knew what to do. We just had to create a safe space for her and the two kittens, Mando and Grogu.
We intended to get Brimsley spayed a few weeks after she gave birth. There was a risk if we had her spayed immediately because her bloodwork showed some issues. We had to give her medication before she got spayed. Unfortunately, she got pregnant again and had two more kittens, Eevee and Pikachu. She and Mando got spayed at the same time. We were scared that Mando might become a teenage mom like her mother. In time Eevee and Pikachu will be neutered and spayed too.
So we thought having 5 full time cats (the Brimsley family) and 2 regular cat visitors (Grey and Kaley) was where it would end. Nope, we were sent one more, Meredith. We think she was abandoned by a neighbor who moved out. The sad thing is Meredith experienced dystocia. She gave birth to a stillborn kitten. Ran across the street with the baby to our garage (we saw it through CCTV footage). Left the baby and disappeared. A day or two later she was back and looked really sick. At that time we thought she had an owner. She could barely eat. Miggy nursed her back to health with cat broth we just made. She survived and has been living with us for about two months now. We just had her spayed since we're afraid she might get pregnant and die. The vet said her uterus had been calcified already. Poor thing. She's so far the sweetest cat in the family and is our full time garage cat resident.
From one cat to 8 cats in just a year. We see it as a gift since they bring us joy. We accepted the responsibility and that's why we're actively getting them spayed/neutered. Not sure though how we can do that for Grey since he is still very skittish. We'll just make sure Eevee and Pikachu are neutered/spayed at the right time. We've probably hit quota already with 8 cats, haha.
#BeKind #StaySafe
