We have one kitten still awaiting a new home. As it turned out for this litter so far, all were taken as companions to another cat. For all you hear about cats being independent and loners, they are very social critters and enjoy feline company. When they’ve been spayed, it simplifies the entire web of relationships. So if you have a single cat who may seem lonely and listless, consider a little companionship from our last monastic kitten (holy cats!).
By the way, I strongly recommend having your cats neutered. A single breeding female could produce 200,000 kittens in her lifetime! There are already more cats than available homes. As readers of this blog may we recall, we’ve tried to have this mother cat neutered twice: the first time she totally evaded us until it was too late in the day for the appointment; by the next month’s rescheduled appointment she was too pregnant. She will he “fixed” this Wednesday, 18 April. She’s been a good mother, but enough is enough. Luckily for the environment, she’s a good mouser and leaves birds alone–in fact the birds don’t even take her seriously. But she takes the juvenile bald eagle very seriously!
That’s another pointer to consider: watch your cats! If you let them loose they can have a terrible impact on the environment; we need our birds for a balanced bio-diversity. Cats can learn to be taken for walks; on a farm property, that can be done without a harness when the cat is intelligent and responsive–and with some compromise about how long the walk will take.
Unlike dogs and horses–and a few other domestic breeds–as cats evolved with us, we weren’t too interested in what they could do for us. They don’t herd sheep or help us plow or hunt (we’re not very interested in what they can catch–though dormice were a prized hors-d’oeuvre in imperial Rome) so they’ve retained more feral qualities. Zoologists say that though we consider the characteristic “meow” as the cat language, cats only use that with one another as kittens. As they grow up–as you may have noticed–they use a whole other range of soft or threatening chirps, gurgles and growls. So, some experts say, they relate to us as oversized, clumsy and not too bright (OK: we can open cans and doors!) mother cats. That’s one theory. Sometimes I wonder if they could also be speaking “baby-talk” to us because they think we’re so dim. That would suggest, from either speculation, they are relatively patient and even broad-minded. Their complexity makes them very interesting creatures with whom to share a home!
You know, a writer on this website could clarify the Holy Trinity and maybe end up with a few comments to that post before the week is out. But post something about cats and expect eight comments before high noon. I suspect it’s not much different on Youtube.
In any event, consider giving our last kitten a home!