Love your kitty pic Seabreeze, you have such an eye for great shots.
I am not a cat fan either, but they are pretty much a necessity living out here. I have 5 barn kittys, did have 6 but my favorite one, an orange tabby disappeared last summer. She was not the stay at home type, preferring to hang out in an old abandoned house next door. She came every morning when I called her, loudly meowing the whole way. This was probably her downfall, being too vocal. A coyote probably got her.
When we moved here I went to the animal shelter and bought 4 young cats to help keep the vermin down. Then were 3 females and one male (felt sorry for him). They were spayed, neutered and had shots for $25 each.
When we went to adopt, there was a young, pregnant female cat there. She immediately came to us and began climbing up my husband's leg. She made three attempts at this until we agreed she could come and live with us. They would not release her until she had her kittens though. They called us a week later and said she had miscarried and could come home now. She is very much a pest and would love to be a house cat. She is the gangstas favorite chew toy and follows them everywhere. She taught them how to hunt moles and is in love with Squiggy as he pays the most attention to her. Her name is Lovey and it fits.
Then my neighbor has a female cat that pops out kittens every month it seems. They generally end up in the engine of her truck or fall out from underneath on the highway. Her husband prevailed upon me to take two of the female kittens and they were going to keep a male. I did so with the stipulation that they get the female spayed or they were going to have kittens with 2 heads.
I took the kittens and had them spayed (they were old enough by now} They never did hold up to the end of their bargain to get the mama spayed and she keeps having kittens to this day. I don't know what they do with them, but they haven't asked me to take anymore. It cost me significantly much more to have them spayed than to go to the shelter and buy theirs.
We have recently spotted a grey cat stealthily roaming around the property and he knows where the cats are fed now. I have tried to live trap him to no avail, but I sure don't want him bringing any parasites or diseases to my cats. They do not get shots, only rabies and they are wormed on a schedule and that is the extent of medical treatment. They are all beautiful healthy cats, that have amazing coats and have never been sick a day.
While I don't do indoor cats, I appreciate my outdoor cats and the work they do. They all are hunters and take care of business. I have not seen a rat or mouse around here, and I think they keep the snakes at bay with their presence as (knock on wood) they don't seem to venture up in our living space.
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