Cat Collection 2003-2014

I met Tina at the beginning of 2003. I had my two cats, Eratosthenes (aka Erryl) and Athena, and she had her three stooges, Tucker, Kimburu, and Jyoti. We combined our kitty households, Brady Bunch style, in 2004, and after a little adjustment, we had a large kitty family that got along for the most part.

After we moved into our new house, we started seeing feral cats hanging out in our back yard. There might have been a colony on the hillside, because we would trap and neuter them, and after they’d disappear, more would start to appear.

The first to appear was a big tom whom we named Pumpkinhead, as he had the typical big head of an unneutered tomcat. We fixed him and he hung around for awhile before disappearing for good after about a year. Showing up sporadically was a small tuxedo who turned out to be female, because she had kittens hanging out with her. Unfortunately the kittens did not survive, and she went off until Pumpkinhead disappeared in the spring of 2005.

We trapped and spayed her, and nicknamed her Missy Momma Cat, although we shortened that to Missy or Missy Momma. We continued to feed her, and unlike the other feral males that showed up, got neutered, and then disappeared after awhile, she stuck around. She knew a good thing when she saw it.

After Erryl passed away in 2007, we were down to four indoor cats, and Missy Momma, happily enjoying life in our backyard. Things remained static until 2010, when a grey tuxedo male showed up. As was our usual plan, we trapped and neutered him, and out into the backyard he went. We named him Pink, because he had a cute pink nose. Unlike the other feral males, he was much friendlier and actually didn’t mind being handled. He also didn’t disappear after a while, and continued to hang out.

However, Missy Momma wasn’t happy with this, and soon, she would disappear for a bit, only reappearing when we put out dinner, although sometimes she would take a worryingly long amount of time to show up. We decided to try to bring her inside and let Pink have the outside. As usual with new cats showing up, this took some time before everyone was okay with this arrangement. Athena only tolerated Missy Momma, but the boys were pretty much okay with things.

By earlier 2013, Tucker and Kimburu were starting to show their age. Tucker was very brave but passed away in May 2013, with Athena on the same day. She had serious complications after an operation, and we did the humane thing when recovery seemed doubtful.

That left us with Kimburu, Jyoti, and Missy Momma as indoor kitties, and Pink as our resident outdoor “feral”, although he was a real marshmellow, being willing to get pets from his mom. This was soon to change.

At the end of 2013, a vet tech from Tina’s workplace asked if we would be willing to watch her cat Arun for a few months when she had to move into a new place that didn’t allow cats. He seemed like he might fit in for that time period, and he was quite an interesting fellow. He more or less settled in, although he and Jyoti didn’t get along, and Jyoti would occasionally bully him.

Six months went by and it turned out, Arun’s mom was getting married and her fiance didn’t want to have a cat. So, we were stuck with figuring out what to do with him. Meanwhile, Kimburu was getting more frail, and he passed away in May 2014.

Now, we were down to two cats, plus Arun, who we were trying to find a permanent home for. Of course, we decided we needed more cats, and we starting keeping an eye out for eligible kittens. That’s a story for the next part.