Patch and Rusty

Yvonne G

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Yesterday my daughter called me in the afternoon and asked if I'd like to ride with her on a short trip. As I don't spend as much time with her as I'd like, and I enjoy her company, I said yes. Oh lordy, lordy, how I wish I had said no. We went one town over, to Sanger, to see a woman who had placed an ad for free kittens on Craig's list.
My dream cat is a wildly colorful calico, and I've wanted one for a very long time. You may or may not know, that I live "out in the country", so when people don't want their cats anymore, they drive "out in the country" and dump them out of their car. So I have no need of going out and getting a cat because they just automatically show up on my doorstep - frequently. At the moment I only have 4. This is real light weight for me. I've had upwards of 10 in the past.

My cat regimen is to chase them away. If they come back and stick around for a couple weeks, I trap them, take them to the vet to be spayed or neutered, then release them back onto my property.

So I rode with my daughter to this gal's house in Sanger. When we pulled in, there were two pit bulls in the front yard. We drove around back as we were told to, and went into the house with the lady. There were cats all over the place. She had two litters that she had advertised. One litter was three months old and the other were 5 weeks old. And because the mothers were orange tabby, the babies were all very colorful. And, wouldn't you just know it, there was a calico in each litter. The older calico was very shy, and I couldn't get a good look at her, but the little one, Patch, was very friendly and purred when I picked her up. Well, I knew right away I was going to take her home. But I didn't want to have to spend my day entertaining a very young kitty, so I also took Rusty, an orange tabby with white paws and a white bib.

Truth be told, I THINK these kitties are younger than 5 weeks. They don't really know how to use the litter box, just pooping in their bed whenever the spirit moves them. And sometimes the poop is left half in and half out. I'm having to "wipe" them to make them go.

They are used to eating ONLY dry Purina kitten chow. And they are good eaters. I've only seen Rusty drink water. I don't want to upset their tender digestive tracts, but come on folks. . . only dry Purina Kitten Chow?

They both have goopy eyes - dry goop, not runny, and dried poop under their tails. My daughter (who took one of the older kittens) and I are going to the vet with the kittens this afternoon for a check-up. I don't want to clean up their eyes and tails until the vet has seen them. And after they're cleaned up, I'll take pictures of them for you all to see.

Here's a picture of them just after they were born around October 1st:

Patch and Rusty 10-2-19.JPG
 

Yvonne G

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A month later, into the middle of December and looking like gawky teen-agers:

Patch and Rusty 12-11-19 a.jpg Patch and Rusty 12-11-19 b.jpg Patch and Rusty 12-14-19 a.jpg patch and rusty 12-14-19 b.jpg Patch and Rusty 12-14-19 c.jpg Patch and Rusty 12-14-19 d.jpg Patch and Rusty 12-14-19 e.jpg

When they get really rambunctious and are running around chasing each other like crazy people, Misty wants to join in and play too. The kittens are still a bit leery of her because she's so big, so she can't play with them.
 

wellington

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Cute little buggers. I bet it's a hoot watching them play.
I knew the second you said you always wanted a calico and going to look at some kittens what the rest of the story was going to be. The only surprise was you got two. Lol
 

Yvonne G

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Then, to top it all out, I've got a new stray cat outside. A neighbor was transporting two more or less feral cats she had had neutered and de-wormed to their new home and one of them escaped. He's pretty wild, but has stayed here now for a couple weeks. So I've added Tony (the tiger) to my outdoor repertoire. That makes Charlie, Spencer, Mr. Kitty and now Tony. Tony looks so much like Spencer that I have to stand there and study him before I walk on. They're all strays, neutered and spayed (Spencer's female).
 

TammyJ

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Well, they are certainly all very lucky cats! And gorgeous.

I have three cats now, having just recently added a "crazy" (almost dead when I took him home) stray kitten (B&W) to the other two, who were definitely NOT amused, but now after three months, they have seemed to reach a kind of understanding about who is the boss. And it's NOT the B&W noobie.
 

bouaboua

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Then, to top it all out, I've got a new stray cat outside. A neighbor was transporting two more or less feral cats she had had neutered and de-wormed to their new home and one of them escaped. He's pretty wild, but has stayed here now for a couple weeks. So I've added Tony (the tiger) to my outdoor repertoire. That makes Charlie, Spencer, Mr. Kitty and now Tony. Tony looks so much like Spencer that I have to stand there and study him before I walk on. They're all strays, neutered and spayed (Spencer's female).
You have a very big heart:<3::<3::<3:!
 

Blackdog1714

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Footprints in the dust are like mini love letters. Dirty footprints on a freshly waxed car is a declaration of war!
 

Yvonne G

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Rusty learned a new trick:

Patch and Rusty 1-13-20 a.jpg Patch and Rusty 1-13-20 b.jpg Patch and Rusty 1-13-20 c.jpg Patch and Rusty 1-13-20 d.jpg

I was at the sink preparing the morning's tortoise food. He reached up and grabbed the handle of the silverware drawer then pulled himself up onto the counter top. I said firmly, "NO!" and put him back down on the floor. So this time he actually jumped up, caught the edge of the counter with his front paws then climbed the rest of the way up. I took advantage of the photo opportunity, then said firmly, "NO!" and put him back down. He's a slow learner!
 

Yvonne G

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Destruction in the living room.

Patch and Rusty 1-15-20 a.jpg Patch and Rusty 1-15-20 b.jpg Patch and Rusty 1-15-20 c.jpg Patch and Rusty 1-15-20 d.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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Seems like just last week I brought these two little bundles of energy into my home. Next week I have an appointment with the vet for spaying and neutering! My kitties are growing up.

Patch and Rusty 3-10-20 a.jpg
 

KarenSoCal

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And by their furnishings, I see they are spoiled rotten, too! :) Are they in/out, or do you keep them indoors only? I have 2 that stay in...between stray dogs and coyotes, kitties disappear around here.☹
 
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