Julie is our 11 years old black and white DSH. She came to us along with her other 4 siblings when a feral mama decided to leave her 5 kittens in our backyard in 2004. We already had 3 inside cats, but needless to say, we took these 5 in also. We bottle-fed them and when they were about 6 weeks old, my daughter took one and my son took one.
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| the original 5 feral kitens |
Her 2 brothers whom we kept and who were also black and white turned out to be very large cats (about 18 lbs). Julie was smaller and thinner. But she has since 'rounded' out over the years.
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| A portrait |
She is the mischievous one... always ready to play and act silly. You can't leave things around her that can be 'pushed' off as she is more than ready to see it 'fly'. She's also very vocal. And although she's usually not a lap cat, she does have her days.
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| checking out the comics on the kitchen counter |
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| sharing her spot with groceries |
And she's very curious... always watching me sew or quilt. Wants to be 'in on the action' or near by - as the case may be.
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| thinking about quilting |
And the next two pictures are old ones and were taken a few years ago when Ghost was still a kitten. Julie and Ghost 'rough-housed' a lot.
and now Ghost is all grown up, but they are still buddies...
Hope you enjoyed a brief look into Julie's life. Since 2004, we have 'fostered' many feral cats' offspring, but (except for Ghost) have always eventually taken them to the Adoption Room at our local no-kill shelter. There is a limit as to the number of cats inside a house. This number may vary according to an individual's ability to care and maintain - but our number was reached at 6 - later expanded to 7 when Ghost came into the picture, but that's another story (Ghost would not have been adoptable).
There is one other matter I would like to mention... this belief that feral cats aren't adoptable or don't make good pets. Feral cats are as individual as any other animal. Some take to domestication readily. Some don't. If an animal has been feral it's whole life, it may be more difficult... but kittens are very adaptable. All our cats have been good cats who take to having other cats introduced into the house-hold in their stride. But I have to say that the original 5 feral kittens that we took in in 2004 turned out to be the most lovable generous-natured of any cats we've ever shared our lives with.
what a sweet cat Julie is, reminds me of my Betty, always lounging around wherever we were and she loved the mouse with the feathers that dangled on a stick to play with.
ReplyDeleteJulie has a mouse on a stick also. And if you toss her a toy, she will bat it all over creation.
DeleteI would not mind having another cat for Toby, but I'm outvoted. The poor guy lost his "brother" who used to lick his ears and Toby misses that so much he licks arms and rubs his ears against them. I used to say his legs were too short to reach his ears, but Toby does manage it occasionally, when he braces himself to be steady.
ReplyDeleteTux (Julie's brother) lost Jack (Julie's other brother) last year. Jack took such good care of Tux... cleaning him and sleeping with him, etc. that we worried about how Tux would do with Jack gone. But the girls take pretty good care of him... and he has regrown his whiskers (which Jack always cleaned completely off) so he looks really handsome.
DeleteWhat a wonderful glimpse into Julie's life. She sounds like she's full of beans, as we used to say growing up. Rather like my own Nicki, who has to be in the middle of everything and who has something to say about everything too! :-)
ReplyDeleteBTW, Nicki was a feral kitten, found between 8 and 10 weeks of age and fostered by the Gananoque Humane Society. He obviously took to humans, no problem. :-)
"full of beans" is the perfect term for Julie!
DeleteCats do have their personalities. Some good, some not so good--kind of like people.
ReplyDeleteJust like people... or any other animal.
DeleteFeral cats are only cats that had to fend for themselves. I started feeding a feral cat once and we ended up having a wonderful relationship. She even allowed me to pet her now and then, but come inside? Never! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to know sometimes if a feral is truly feral or just an abandoned cat that was once a family pet. If they're on their own for a long time, there's no real difference (except in personality). Just like people they are a product of their environment as well as genes...
DeleteYou are wonderful for caring for the feral cats and kittens. All of my cats were adopted from unwanted litters. Sami (the middle child) was found at about 6 weeks in the bottom of a garbage bin with her siblings. She still eats like a little piggy I suspect because she didn't get enough to eat then.
ReplyDeleteJulie looks like a sweetie but she obviously knows what she wants and how to get it!
Eileen, so glad you found Sami. Hope her siblings found homes too.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Julie is a sweetie, but definitely has her own mind.