Greetings, from the Zoo

News from the animal kingdom around here.

 First of all, the goat ladies have dog collars on their necks.  I intend to be able to put a leash on them and take them out to the woods sometimes so they can eat leaves and weeds.  I can't let them loose anywhere besides the pen where they live because the grandson's two dogs would chase them and, if they caught them, they might kill them.  However, the dogs will listen to me if I have them with me on a leash; one loud "NO!" and they'd stop.  

The cats eat in that little house on the old cat tree, which I moved to the porch.  I can't keep their food anywhere else, because my dog Gabe eats it.  They usually sleep all night on the very top shelf, side by side.  Right now, though, Butch is in the living room in Gabe's bed, while Unique is in the back porch napping.

Oops!  Butch has moved to my lap with Gabe.  By the way, Butch is the vocal one, meowing at the top of his lungs.  He can also be heard across the room when he's purring.

I'm sure learning about cat litter-boxes:  Both Butch and Unique know what to do with it, but they toss a lot of the litter all over the back porch floor, too.  I suppose I'll have to get a cover for it.  Also, Unique likes to just lay in the box, even though she knows what it's real purpose is and uses it for that also.  Right now, though, she is sleeping atop the old, cat tree that we had for Blue, which I've put in the back porch.  They like it so well, they sleep in it all night long.  

I suppose things are going on OK, all things considered.

So, how's your day going?

SCORE

We're out here in the country, one and one-half miles from the town of Wellington.  There are farm cats everywhere, and some friendly unwanted strays in town, too.  I had a feeling if I went to the Wellington page on Facebook, I would find my cat... or cats.  There were several folks offering kittens, but some were a little older than I wanted.  My daughter in Wellington has some feral kittens she's feeding, but they aren't tame.  One person put a picture of two beautiful little calicos, but somebody else took them both before I could answer.

Finally, though, a lady about fifteen miles from our house said she had kittens, and they were tame, thanks to her children playing with them.  Two were beautiful calicos, but she wanted to keep them.  That left two orange boys and one not so striking calico... Cliff said she was ugly.  I decided I wouldn't judge her by her color and brought them home in a cat carrier.

I put the carrier with the kittens in it in our small back porch with a cat litter box full of fresh litter, a dish of food, and some water.  I wanted them to get used to this place on their own terms, so I opened the carrier, left the porch room, and watched through the window on the house-side of the porch.  It took them awhile, but one, and then the other, came out slowly and carefully.  It was obvious from the beginning that the boy is going to be leader of the pack.  They found the food, and he tried his best to crowd her out!  Brotherly love... ha!  I have to get some cat dishes for them.  

They both toured every inch of that room, then settled down.  That's when I opened the door to the rest of the house, and at first they were scared to see that there was more to this place.  But the boy, now known as Butch, leads the way in every scary situation; then his sister follows.  I didn't really bother them, I just watched.

Gabe hadn't met them yet because he was at the groomers', so it didn't take much time for cats to get friendly with us.  I hated the fact that I had moved Blue's cat tree to the garage for him to use, because it was so dirty.  But I brought it in and vacuumed it the best I could, and when they finally realized how high they could climb, it was a regular circus, and that's where they spent most of their time!

When we got home with Gabe, I took him on his leash to see the kittens so he wouldn't scare them, but that was a joke.  The cats stood their ground and let him know they could kill him if he came any closer.  He took the hint.  He likes cats, although he is jealous if he thinks they're getting too much attention. 

The cats are now well acquainted with us; we will see what this day brings.  Oh yes, when Cliff called the little girl cat Ugly, I said, "Oh no she isn't; she's Unique, like me!"  So that's her name, although I will likely just call her Neek, or Neekie.  Yes, it's a silly name, but I like it.

Unique may not be the brightest kitten.  She thought the litter box was a bed when she first came.

Wish us luck.  I will be making an appointment with the vet today to get them started right.