6 kittens update - 11 months

This is about the six kittens that were born last August 7
after I agreed to take responsibility for them, to save
them and the mother from a late-term abortion.

To recap, because it has been so long since the last update:

The mother, a near-feral pregnant cat when I borrowed her,
was returned to her 'owners' two months after the kittens
were born. She had been spayed and given other medical
treatment, was litterbox trained, tamed (at least with me),
dewormed and treated for fleas. The kittens were weaned
before she was spayed, and she recuperated for a week after
spaying before being returned.

The kittens were spayed/neutered in early January at age 5
months.

A few days later a kitten was almost run over, and I had
to face the fact that they were more vulnerable to traffic
than single cats, because they traveled in groups. Also
it was becoming obvious that it was wrong for me to
inflict six more cats on the neighbors. Up until that
time I had been allowing the kittens long periods of
time outdoors.

The solution was to keep them in the house until I could
get a fence built around the back yard that would keep
cats confined to the yard. People said it couldn't be
done, but such a fence was planned, and after a three-month
struggle with the incompetent and lying people at our
local Lowe's, the fence was finally installed, and I added
a cat-proof topping.

April 12 was the great day when the kittens, then age
8 months, were given the downstairs and backyard for their
new home, and the once-stray cat that had been confined
downstairs had his home expanded accordingly.

Now we have two separate domains, with my original three
cats upstairs, indoors and outdoors, and the other seven
downstairs and in the backyard. It was the only solution
that I could think of that covered all of our problems, and
so far it has worked beautifully. Keeping the six growing
kittens in the house from January to April was a trying
experience, but now we have peace, at least until the next
unforseen crisis comes along. The backyard has trees and
bushes and pinestraw, and a lot of space for running and
chasing things.

This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html

Wonderful!!
Gail
"Calvin Rice" wrote in message
ups.com...
This is about the six kittens that were born last August 7
after I agreed to take responsibility for them, to save
them and the mother from a late-term abortion.

To recap, because it has been so long since the last update:

The mother, a near-feral pregnant cat when I borrowed her,
was returned to her 'owners' two months after the kittens
were born. She had been spayed and given other medical
treatment, was litterbox trained, tamed (at least with me),
dewormed and treated for fleas. The kittens were weaned
before she was spayed, and she recuperated for a week after
spaying before being returned.

The kittens were spayed/neutered in early January at age 5
months.

A few days later a kitten was almost run over, and I had
to face the fact that they were more vulnerable to traffic
than single cats, because they traveled in groups. Also
it was becoming obvious that it was wrong for me to
inflict six more cats on the neighbors. Up until that
time I had been allowing the kittens long periods of
time outdoors.

The solution was to keep them in the house until I could
get a fence built around the back yard that would keep
cats confined to the yard. People said it couldn't be
done, but such a fence was planned, and after a three-month
struggle with the incompetent and lying people at our
local Lowe's, the fence was finally installed, and I added
a cat-proof topping.

April 12 was the great day when the kittens, then age
8 months, were given the downstairs and backyard for their
new home, and the once-stray cat that had been confined
downstairs had his home expanded accordingly.

Now we have two separate domains, with my original three
cats upstairs, indoors and outdoors, and the other seven
downstairs and in the backyard. It was the only solution
that I could think of that covered all of our problems, and
so far it has worked beautifully. Keeping the six growing
kittens in the house from January to April was a trying
experience, but now we have peace, at least until the next
unforseen crisis comes along. The backyard has trees and
bushes and pinestraw, and a lot of space for running and
chasing things.

This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html

"Calvin Rice" wrote in message
ups.com...
This is about the six kittens that were born last August 7
after I agreed to take responsibility for them, to save
them and the mother from a late-term abortion.

To recap, because it has been so long since the last update:

The mother, a near-feral pregnant cat when I borrowed her,
was returned to her 'owners' two months after the kittens
were born. She had been spayed and given other medical
treatment, was litterbox trained, tamed (at least with me),
dewormed and treated for fleas. The kittens were weaned
before she was spayed, and she recuperated for a week after
spaying before being returned.

The kittens were spayed/neutered in early January at age 5
months.

A few days later a kitten was almost run over, and I had
to face the fact that they were more vulnerable to traffic
than single cats, because they traveled in groups. Also
it was becoming obvious that it was wrong for me to
inflict six more cats on the neighbors. Up until that
time I had been allowing the kittens long periods of
time outdoors.

The solution was to keep them in the house until I could
get a fence built around the back yard that would keep
cats confined to the yard. People said it couldn't be
done, but such a fence was planned, and after a three-month
struggle with the incompetent and lying people at our
local Lowe's, the fence was finally installed, and I added
a cat-proof topping.

April 12 was the great day when the kittens, then age
8 months, were given the downstairs and backyard for their
new home, and the once-stray cat that had been confined
downstairs had his home expanded accordingly.

Now we have two separate domains, with my original three
cats upstairs, indoors and outdoors, and the other seven
downstairs and in the backyard. It was the only solution
that I could think of that covered all of our problems, and
so far it has worked beautifully. Keeping the six growing
kittens in the house from January to April was a trying
experience, but now we have peace, at least until the next
unforseen crisis comes along. The backyard has trees and
bushes and pinestraw, and a lot of space for running and
chasing things.

This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html


*Excellent* fence arrangement for your cats. What did you use around the
top?

I love the group photo where one kitten has his/her paw reaching over the
back of another -- it looks just like a pose we would see where someone
stands with an arm partly around someone else, a nice sense of closeness.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e
Recent pics: http://tinyurl.com/clal7

"Calvin Rice" wrote:

This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html

Dude, you need to clean that sink :-)

-mhd

MaryL wrote:
*Excellent* fence arrangement for your cats. What did you use around the
top?

Two foot wide sheet aluminum, coated with something to keep it
from being metallic-shiny; attached by punching holes in it and
using pieces of soft metal ties like you see securing the chain-link
to the posts. I don't remember the thickness of the aluminum at
the moment, but I can find out if you want to know.. It comes in
50 ft rolls. The fence is six feet high, by the way, and the topping
can be raised higher, if ever necessary, but it don't think it will be.

On 8 Jul 2006 20:53:44 -0700, "Calvin Rice"
wrote:

This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html

You've done a great job, Calvin. If I had put in a fence, my dog
would still be alive today, and don't think I ain't kicking myself.

Charlie

"Calvin Rice" wrote in message
oups.com...
MaryL wrote:
*Excellent* fence arrangement for your cats. What did you use around the
top?

Two foot wide sheet aluminum, coated with something to keep it
from being metallic-shiny; attached by punching holes in it and
using pieces of soft metal ties like you see securing the chain-link
to the posts. I don't remember the thickness of the aluminum at
the moment, but I can find out if you want to know.. It comes in
50 ft rolls. The fence is six feet high, by the way, and the topping
can be raised higher, if ever necessary, but it don't think it will be.


Thanks. I think that's great. My cats are indoor-only, but I'm going to
add this to the list I made for people who ask about fencing for cats.

MaryL

"Calvin Rice" wrote in message
ups.com...
This is about the six kittens that were born last August 7
after I agreed to take responsibility for them, to save
them and the mother from a late-term abortion.
[snip]
This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html

You've done a wonderful thing for these kittens.
If there were more folks like you, we wouldn't have
stray dogs or cats.

Thanks for sharing.

Gail F.
Proud Housemaid to: Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa

Thanks for the update, Calvin. I think your kitties have it made there.

Rhonda

Calvin Rice wrote:
This is about the six kittens that were born last August 7
after I agreed to take responsibility for them, to save
them and the mother from a late-term abortion.

POLLY is GORGEOUS!! What type of cat is she, Calico colored. I notice
the kittens are black and white and tabby - feral? Those are the
markings of ALL the feral or wild or alley or stray cats here in this
area of North Miami, FL. Is that just a "norm" for such cats? Do they
mate with "wild cats"?

Calvin Rice wrote:
This is about the six kittens that were born last August 7
after I agreed to take responsibility for them, to save
them and the mother from a late-term abortion.

To recap, because it has been so long since the last update:

The mother, a near-feral pregnant cat when I borrowed her,
was returned to her 'owners' two months after the kittens
were born. She had been spayed and given other medical
treatment, was litterbox trained, tamed (at least with me),
dewormed and treated for fleas. The kittens were weaned
before she was spayed, and she recuperated for a week after
spaying before being returned.

The kittens were spayed/neutered in early January at age 5
months.

A few days later a kitten was almost run over, and I had
to face the fact that they were more vulnerable to traffic
than single cats, because they traveled in groups. Also
it was becoming obvious that it was wrong for me to
inflict six more cats on the neighbors. Up until that
time I had been allowing the kittens long periods of
time outdoors.

The solution was to keep them in the house until I could
get a fence built around the back yard that would keep
cats confined to the yard. People said it couldn't be
done, but such a fence was planned, and after a three-month
struggle with the incompetent and lying people at our
local Lowe's, the fence was finally installed, and I added
a cat-proof topping.

April 12 was the great day when the kittens, then age
8 months, were given the downstairs and backyard for their
new home, and the once-stray cat that had been confined
downstairs had his home expanded accordingly.

Now we have two separate domains, with my original three
cats upstairs, indoors and outdoors, and the other seven
downstairs and in the backyard. It was the only solution
that I could think of that covered all of our problems, and
so far it has worked beautifully. Keeping the six growing
kittens in the house from January to April was a trying
experience, but now we have peace, at least until the next
unforseen crisis comes along. The backyard has trees and
bushes and pinestraw, and a lot of space for running and
chasing things.

This link is to pictures of all of my cats, including the
six young ones individually, and a picture of the
cat-proof fence. All of the cats are in good health, by
the way, and the young ones recently had their first rabies
shots.

http://www.geocities.com/ricewww/crcats.html