Watch my trick

Kitten antics

I put a spell on you

My sister, Amber, and I spent some time "socializing" the kittens today. It was a tough job, but it had to be done. Amber fell under this kitten's spell, but still managed to capture this precious photo.

Kitten Nursery vs. Kitten Romper Room

I've been neglecting my kitten duties this week. I'm teaching a summer class at noon, so I'm not available for the lunch feeding.

On Wednesday I was missing them terribly, so I visited in the middle of the afternoon even though it wasn't time for a feeding. Sarah has been keeping momma cat with a hand-picked selection of five kittens in the garage, while the rest of the kittens spend the day in the kennel in the kitten shed.

My first stop was the garage, where I sat on the cold, concrete floor and gave the momma cat some much deserved attention. The kittens, the smallest and youngest of the 14, eventually found my lap. The kittens in the kitten nursery play, but they don't take it very seriously. If one kitten happens to roll into the sight of another, you might see some light batting and biting, but they easily lose interest and are more apt to fall asleep than to pounce.

When I moved to the kitten shed, I sat on the wood floor, opened the kennel door and watched the chaos ensue. The fat furballs came tumbling out pouncing, biting, and zooming across the shed floor. I couldn't believe how much they had grown and how active they had become in the three days since I'd seen them. It was total madness in that shed. The kitten romper room is not for the faint of heart.

Happy Mother's Day

My nominee for Mother of the Year

Kitten mound

My lap today...

Rainy day in the kitten shed

I took a break from grading exams this afternoon and instead spent an hour in the kitten shed taking shelter from a heavy rain and appreciating the simplicity of the experience.

Several of the hungry babies charged my lap trying to latch onto the bottle in my hand. I held one against my chest for a little while after he ate. He reached for a strand of my hair, his round, blue eyes wide with fascination. I stared into those eyes for a long time while the rain spattered the roof above me.

Once the kittens' bellies were full, eight of them fell asleep in my lap. I thought for a second that I might drift off, too, as I fell under their spell.

One little marmie kicked in her sleep. One of the sleeping tigers slowly stuck his tiny tongue in and out of his mouth. I don't know if he was dreaming about eating or bathing. Another stretched, wimpered, and pressed a paw against the face of another.

I left the kitten shed unwillingly--those final exams weren't grading themselves. As I drove away, it occurred to me that those moments with the kittens were the first in months that I had sat in silence and really listened to the what the silence had to say.

I'm really glad I went to the shed today.

Time to play

Time to eat

These babies are good eaters, and when they latch onto the bottle, it is precious. Check out those ears!

Too many tiger stripes

One of the many challenges in bottle feeding 14 kittens is trying to keep track of who has eaten and who hasn't.

The problem with this litter is that nine of them are tiger-striped, and they only vary in size and lightness or darkness. Sarah decided to straighten out some of the confusion by determining the sex of the kittens.

We have six boys:

• One solid black kitten she calls Maker because he makes messes and makes noise


• One orange kitten (she prefers marmelade or "marmie") that she calls Butterball


• Four gray tigers

And eight girls:

• Two marmies


• One calico


• Five gray or gray/orange tigers

Cat round-up

We recovered nine adult cats and 19 kittens last week from my grandparents' farm in Posey County, Ind.

On April 29, we captured eight cats and 14 kittens. We discoverd five kittens by themselves in a five-gallon bucket in the garage. We found a mother cat nursing nine kittens in a box in an old grain silo.

We used humane traps to catch the other seven cats, which were spayed and neutered at The Neuter Scooter, a mobile, low-cost spay/neuter clinic. We returned them to the property three days later.

Because the mother of the five kittens could not be identified, they were placed with the mother cat. Sarah is fostering the cat and 14 kittens in a kennel in a sturdy shed. Because we're worried about the mother's milk production, she is supplementing their diet with kitten formula through frequent bottle feedings. She has also been bathing them and treating their crusty eyes. The mother cat should be named "mother of the year" for her patience with the kittens and her sweet demeanor with people.

On May 4, I returned to my grandparent's to capture the cats we missed during the first round. We grabbed two tame adult females and five kittens. The plan was to have the cats spayed at the Vanderburgh Humane Society's low-cost clinic, but we discovered that one of the cats was one that we had captured and spayed earlier in the week (we forgot to check for the tatoo in her ear). The other cat is still nursing the kittens, so the clinic wants to wait until they are weaned. Jamie is fostering the cat and kittens.

Once all 19 kittens are weaned, they will be spayed and neutered and available for adoption into safe, indoor homes.

Saving the strays on my grandparents' farm

Not every cat can live in a safe, indoor home. I learned that at a very young age.

As a child, I loved and lost too many cats to count. I hate that I don't remember all of their names, but growing up in a rural county in middle America I was taught that when too many cats have too many kittens not all will survive.

Some die from natural causes--inclement weather or hungry coyotes. Some die from unnatural causes--from the wheels of a car or by the of hands of men that know no other way to get rid of the hungry mouths.

I learned these lessons on my grandparents farm. So it is fitting that I returned there this month to help prevent the tragedies from repeating themselves indefinitely.

My partners in this endeavor, Jamie and Sarah, deserve all the credit. Without them I could not have rounded up the nine cats and 19 kittens from my grandparents' property. Jamie supplied the cat traps, transportation to the spay/neuter clinic, and the money. Sarah volunteered without hesitation to foster most of the kittens, a decision that will disrupt her life for weeks to come. She always seems to do the right thing no matter the consequences. I'm privileged to call her my friend.

This blog will document our progress in this endeavor, and, if we're lucky, our future endeavors in saving the stray and feral cats that cross our paths.