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LadyEllen -> sad day on the kitten farm (9/22/2008 9:36:56 AM)
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It’s a sad day here on the kitten farm.
The two moms’ second (and final) litters are leaving for their new lives, and we’re all depressed, kitties and people alike. Pepper and Tessy, the two moms, are moping about the house and their two nearly full grown kids Lepddy and Blackberry have joined them to cuddle up asleep. The three remaining kittens, for now, are wondering where all their playmates have gone and mewing piteously to try to find them for a tussle and a chase.
Pepper puss had five new kittens back in middle July; all boys, which means of the eight kittens she’s had, seven have been boys and only one little girl. More remarkable was that three of this last lot were almost identical to the three she had in her first litter, apart from the obvious difference that one wasn’t a girl; “Smoky Joe” is a match in grey and white dapples for his older sister Misty, and far too cute looking to be a boy - as everyone agrees. But a boy he is, boisterous, playful and sociable – and perfect for the young mom and her son who came to collect him to join their home this morning.
His brother is “Mr Tubs”, the spitting image of his older brother Stormy; grey with just his paws and feet splashed with white - and a genuine trouble maker, the leader of every play session that took place here over the last two months. The young couple whose home he’s set to rule from this evening will love every minute with him, we’re sure.
And then there’s the “Fudgkins Trio”, black and white like their mom. “Beasty Fudgkins” is all black like his older brother Blackberry who still lives with us except for his tip toes being dipped in white. Another ringleader of the mock battles across the furniture, he left this morning with his cousin “Addy” to cause trouble for a friend’s daughter and her husband.
Then there’s “Nutty Fudgkins” whose face was cut vertically with a black side and white side, and as much of a joker as his appearance suggested; he left last week to move two doors up the road and be a friend to an orphaned kitten about half his age that the lady there, who loves cats and looks after the feline waifs and strays of the neighbourhood, had taken in and couldn’t bear to part with. Poor little guy had no mom and the older cats the lady has wouldn’t play with him. Nutty will sort him out and be a wonderful big brother to him.
And then “Bertie Fudgkins”, the smallest of the litter and quite the cutest with his big eyes; he’s staying with us to be a friend to Blackberry with whom he shares his dislike of boisterousness and his love of hiding away until dark.
Tessy puss had her second litter near the end of July – two little girls and two little boys. They’ve had a hard time of it really, what with their cousins having two weeks on them and being much bigger and stronger when it came to wrestling. But of all of them “Addy” was the best – totally fearless and just like a younger sister wanting to play with her big brothers all the while. She got the name because of a little black mark under her nose on her otherwise white face that made her look like a certain historical figure of the 20th century. From day one that she ventured from the den we made for her mom, she spent her time with her bigger cousins, never afraid but quite frequently squealing when they held her down. “Addy” left this morning with her adversary “Beasty Fudgkins” and it wont be long before she’s much bigger and making him squeal we’re sure.
Tessy’s other daughter this time round is “Tiggsy”, striped and dappled like her older sister Lepddy but only on her back, with the rest of her white. Not so bold as her sister, “Tiggsy” spent a lot of her time with her two brothers, the “Men In Black”. She left last week to live with a friend of my sister, two doors from my mom’s house.
The “MIBs” or “Men In Black” are two fluffy little boys, indistinguishable from one another and spent their time here playing with one another and their sister “Tiggsy” and hiding from their larger, two weeks older cousins, though they had their moments over them even so. One went yesterday to be a friend to my cousin’s little boy who has epilepsy and is very withdrawn and depressed because he’s embarrassed about it; it was about a month ago that a cat wandered into their garden in one of the outlying villages and he came to life playing with it, so I’m sure it will be a long and lasting friendship for both. The other little boy is due to go in a week or so to live with my neighbour and her cats (one of whom is the dad of “Mr Tubs” and “Smoky Joe”) when she moves to the edge of town where the fields await.
So out of thirteen kitties that were here, only seven remain and two more will be going soon. No more muddles of kitties curled up on the hallway carpet, no more mass playtimes in the living rooms, no more cat filled bed in the morning and no more crowds of heads and tails at breakfast time.
It’s a sad day indeed.
E
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