The Cats' Begats

It's been awhile since I've talked about our cat children. They're all doing quite well, although the long-hairs are fighting hairballs and hair mats. We've tried to keep them brushed, but with the spring shedding in full swing, it's hard. Simon is scheduled for his yearly lion cut next week, and we've taken the scissors to Luna ourselves.

If you remember, Luna is the carefree one who is just here to hang out and have a good time. When he gets caught in the rain, he cleans himself dry and it's then that he looks his best. The rest of the time ... well ... rolling in the dirt is just more fun.

But this isn't about Simon or Luna or Baby or Sunny or Boo or Max or Jack or Jilly. It was four years ago when we rescued "The Babies" from the field down the road after someone dumped a whole barnful of cats. We didn't take all the cats we saw down there, just the five tiny kittens, who came to be known as Boo, Luna, Baby, Oreo and Augie.

We already had two cats - Simon and Jinx (bless his soul) - and that was enough. But we just couldn't bear to see those little furballs having to fend for themselves like that. We tried to find homes for them, but cats are more plentiful than those who want to own them, so the only one we were able to place was Augie, one of the two females in the litter. My co-worker Renee took Augie, which her kids promptly renamed "Cow." Kara and Adam later adopted Oreo.

As you might guess, Cow was a black and white kitten, like her siblings Luna, Baby and Oreo. Only Boo was different, being all black. Renee and her family wanted a female because they wanted a cat that would have its own litter of kittens.

Sometime the next year, Cow had her first litter and went on to have a couple more in the next two years. She had her final litter just five weeks ago, but only one kitten survived and she refused to nurse her. All of Cow's offspring found homes except for one, which Renee kept. "Cookie" looked very much like her mother, Cow, and just had her own litter about three weeks ago. The kitten that Cow refused to nurse? Cookie took her in as if she were her own.

Tonight after work, I went to Renee's house to visit Cow and Cookie and their kittens. I hadn't seen Cow since Renee adopted her, so I was pretty excited to see how our "baby" had turned out, now that she was all grown up.



As soon as I got out of the car, I saw her and recognized her straight away. She hadn't really changed all that much and she definitely looked like the cats at our house. She had that same aloof look on her face that Oreo is famous for, and her personality was similar. I picked her up and I felt like I was holding one of my own. She even had that same ultra-soft feel to her fur that Baby and Oreo have.

We walked into the garage to see Cookie, where she was laying down with six kittens vying for any free nipple. Her kittens were mostly calico and a couple were gray. We've not had any calicos at our house and I wanted one!

Cookie, nursing her own five kittens plus her own
half-sister that her mother, Cow, refused.

Regretfully, I left there without a kitten. They're only three weeks old, after all, and I think Renee said they're all spoken for anyway. It's just as well, but the whole idea of adopting one of the kittens and bringing it home to meet and live with its aunt and uncles is rather enticing!