HHHHHOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tigress writes:

I'm hhhhhhooooooooommmmmmeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know it's not the best picture, but I wouldn't stay still!  I'm soooooooo happy to be home again!!!!!!!!!!  I dropped off the face of the earth last year and stayed away for months!!!  I haven't told anyone what happened to me yet, but I'm doing just fine.  I've put on a little weight, but that may be from it being so cold this winter.  I found lots of nice, juicy mousies whenever I wanted, although I had to hunt for them.  I love hunting, though, so that's never a problem for me.

Daddy and Mommy are trying to trap my buddy Niss this weekend to get him fixed, so there is that trap on the deck again.  I hate the trap, but it's one more reason I know I'm home, so I marked it with my scent by rubbing my cheek against it while I ate.  Daddy was watching the backyard, hoping to see Niss out there so they could call him over to get him used to the trap, and he saw me making my way through the back gate!  He couldn't tell from that distance who it was, so he told Mommy it was Niss, but she could tell when she looked out because I was in the middle of the yard by then.

I sat in the yard meowing for a while, then dove under the deck and came out with a fat, juicy mouse.  I ran off with it through the back gate, but then came back just a short while later.  I circled the yard, meowing, and both my purrents meowed back and talked with me through the windows.  I went under the deck to rest for a bit, and then slowly circled closer to the food that they'd put on the deck.  I was hungry, but I still wasn't completely sure if I was safe, or if I was dreaming and would wake up and not be here but somewhere that wasn't safe instead.  Also, it'll take me a while to get used to the other cats again because I automatically am distrustful of others until I can smell them and they can smell me, even if I can already tell they're my family.  That's how I was the last time I disappeared, too.

I ate while I talked with Mommy, and a couple of the others stuck their heads out the door to say hi.  One tried to climb up on the trap to say hi to me, but I ran off and Mommy put her back inside the house.  I came back within a few minutes, though.  Whenever Mommy would try to shut the door after talking with me, I would walk over to the middle of it and yell at her to open it again.  I didn't want her to go away!  She would open the door back up and talk with me again.  I didn't want her to reach out to pet me yet, though.

She eventually had to go take a nap, but she told me she would be back after a while.  When she came back to the door, I was ready!  I got more food, and reached out to ask her with my paw if she would pet me while I ate.  She did!  This is real!  I am home!  I got ear scritches, neck scritches, back scritches, and side scritches!  I haven't stopped making happy paws all over the deck and purring!  I even wanted her to rub my left ear like she used to when I was a kitten, and she remembered!  I gave her love bites every so often to make sure she was real and hadn't dissolved.  She and I even played a petting game like we used to, where she reaches for the top of my head, then I duck her hand and bump it with the side of my face, then play-bite (just a love-bite) and pull her hand closer to pet me.  She remembered that, too!

She has to go back all the way inside now and close the door for a while, so I'm going to stay right here and reacclimate myself, even if I do have to be by that trap.  I see Sherbet has learned how to play with Autumn, and things have moved around quite a bit in the house, but it's still mine and it's still home!  I'll probably investigate inside, but it'll probably take me a few more days to set foot in there and properly greet everyone and everything.

Bad Mommy forgot Tigress' Birthday!

Tigress writes:

I'm so embarrassed!  Mommy was bad and forgot my purrthday!  Mommy, I turned four years old on May 12th, and you're only letting everyone know now?  I've been 4 for two whole weeks now!

I've been trying to teach Little Nissy that it's ok to come inside the house.  He's still not sure about the door, but he's getting braver every day.  When we come up to eat together, I go first to make sure it's ok.  He follows, and then we both meow for food.  He's learning that the door will open but that no one will come out.  I'm very proud of him for that!  He even will eat when Autumn and Tabby stick their heads out the door, and when Mommy and Daddy have fingers to sniff.  He hasn't wanted to sniff the fingers, but he doesn't immediately back away now.  It's tough raising a kitten, even one who was half-grown by the time I adopted him!

My own mom-cat, Leopard, disappeared when I was a few months old, so I was raised by my dad-cat, Tuxie.  He and Leopard had been bringing me to our purrents' deck for a while by the time Leopard disappeared, so Tuxie asked the people for help in raising me and my siblings, Miss Marble and Hemming.  We all turned out just fine, even with all of that!  My other sibling disappeared when Leopard disappeared.  When Leopard came back, months later, my other sibling didn't come with her, so we don't know what happened there.

Hemming probably celebrated our purrthday with his adoptive mommy, and I celebrated here (because I knew it was our purrthday).  Mommy did give us special treats, so some part of her brain connected that it was a special day, even if she didn't remember what it was.  More about the treats on Friday, because I'll let one of the others tell about that.  I took my treats outside with Little Nissy when we got the treats.  It was his first time eating treats, but he loves them just as much as the rest of us!

I know my sister, Miss Marble, is smiling at us from the Rainbow Bridge.  She would love that I have someone else outside to social-eat with and to team-hunt with.

Mom-cat Leopard, Hemming, Miss Marble, and the other sibling in summer 2011.

Hemming, the other sibling, Leopard, Miss Marble, and Tigress in summer 2011.

Feral Friday: What's Up?

Sherbet writes:

I haz a sockie!  I saw one of Daddy's sockies fall over by the dresser, and this time I didn't hiss at it.  This time, I got an idea!  I scrambled out of my carrier box, grabbed the sockie, and high-tailed it back in the box before Mommy got back in from hanging up the towel she'd taken from the top of the dresser.  She came back in to retrieve the sockie, and it wasn't there!  I had it and was already furring it up!  It makes a comfy little pillow, and I like putting my fur pillows (piles of shedded fur) on it, too.  You might be able to see it under my front paws if you biggify my piccie.

Little Nissy writes:

Thanks so much for the nice welcome on my post last week!  It's great to meet all of you.  Here are some better pictures of me.  The mommy took them while she had the door cracked a little.  A few of the inside kitties were trying to sniff at me, and I didn't like that, but then Mama Tigress came back outside to reassure me.  I didn't want to have my picture taken after that, but I came back to eat again once the door was shut.

Mouses, Mommy, can't you just let me eat?  Wait, am I too young yet to say "Mouses"?  The kitty I'm named after said it, but he was older than I am.  I'm just over a year old.

Mama Tigress making sure I know it's ok to get my picture taken.  She tried to get back out the door while the mommy was taking pictures, but her head wouldn't fit through.  She had to wait for the mommy to open it wider, and then she came back out to me.  The mommy closed the door a little again so that aunties Autumn and Dare wouldn't sneak out.

Mama Tigress says we are probably truly related, because I may have extra toes like she does.  The humans can't tell for sure, but it looks like I do from the pictures that the mommy took yesterday.  I also, umm, need to have a surgery, they said?  Something that little boykits have?  Mama Tigress says it's not a big deal, and her brother had that surgery, so it must be ok.  The humans want me to get a little more used to the door before that happens, though.

Yes!

Tigress writes:

Yes, this really is me on the computer desk!  I'm now comfortable being up here, unless Mommy is going to use the computer.  I even get up here when she's sitting in the chair here, now!  And, I gave her a nose-kiss a couple weeks ago, the first ever!

Under!

Carbon under the blinds at our house in Portland

Squishy (one of Little Bit's kids) under the blinds, trying to imitate Uncle Carbon

Kai (one of Little Bit's kids) under a scarf at his new mommy's house just after adoption

Rori under ponies just after we moved to our current house

Starla under the big chair (with Spooky 2 up top and Skylar in the middle)

Carbon under chart paper just after we moved

Rori being a bed lump

Rori and her brother Knut as kittens at our old house, in the basket under the stroller

Rori under the table but on the chair

Miss Marble under the chair (and one of the twins on it)

Tabby:  Get off of me, Little Bit!

Heimdall checking out Tigress

Freya under the covers

Panther thinking he's hiding under the table

Tigress under a chair

Knut under a blanket at his new mommy's house

Missy under wrapping paper

Sherbet under Daddy's dresser

Therapy Cat Tales from Yesterday

Tabby writes:

Whoa, you mean I actually got the letter T on the right day?  Cool!  T is for Therapy, and for Tabby, and for Tale, and even for Thursday!  Paws up!

Yesterday, Mommy took me to visit my friends at H.  This means I got three outings in one week, two to the pet fair and one to H.!  When Mommy and Daddy said that I was going to visit my friends, I didn't really think they were telling the truth, but they were!  I'm way luckier than any of the other kitties in the household.

There was a little dog at the MAX light rail station.  She knew I was in the stroller, but couldn't see me because she was too little to look up that far.  She sniffed my carrier bag, which was on the ground, but I wasn't in that, either.  Her person asked if it was ok if she said hi to me, and Mommy told the person it would be ok.  The doggie grew up with a kitty and still looks for him every so often, but no other kitties want to play with her.  Other kitties run or swat.  I wouldn't do that to a friendly woofie!  She was very friendly, and even stepped around my tail instead of on it when she put her front paws in the stroller to sniff me.  We exchanged sniffs and I even let her snuffle in my shoulder fur!  Then her person said she had to get down again.  You're a nice woofie, Jessie doggie!

We had some extra time once we got to H., so Mommy sat with me on my favorite brown couch for a few minutes.  I was so happy to be there, I kept on giving Mommy leaning-hugs and asking for more pets!  She didn't take any pictures this time, because she wanted to be sure I knew what a good girl I was being.  Besides, she didn't think I would hold still for any pictures!

S. walked around with us for a little while this time, but then she had to go put up some flyers on a few of the other floors (and in the other building).  That was fine, because we can go visiting by ourselves.  S. did tell us about a toy poodle who goes visiting totally by itself in another facility!  That's pretty amazing!  I don't think I'd be brave enough to do that all by myself.  I'd much rather have someone on the other end of the leash!

We visited 6 or 7 friends, and some family members of those friends.  Two of them were new friends!  I always like seeing everyone, whether they are old friends, new friends, family members, or staff.  They're all friends to me!  We were coming out of one room when we got flagged down by the daughter of the neighbor.  Her mom loves all animals, so she wanted us to visit with her.  Yay!  At each of those rooms, I checked out the hurt knee (the opposite one for each of them) and purred for them.  All the humans said I was running my own CAT scan, because we kitties purr at the same frequency as a deep muscle tissue healing machine!  The ladies thanked me for purring for them.  I heard about Oscar the therapy cat, who's pretty amazing.  I'd heard about him before, and I still think he's amazing every time I hear about him sitting with people who are dying.  He's in another part of the country, but I follow his page on Facebook.

After those two ladies, I went to see some of my friends I've visited with before.  Some were there and some weren't.  Two friends were sleeping.  M. was sleeping also, but we woke her up because we knew that she wanted us to.  That's what she tells us to do, so we do it.  If they don't tell us it's ok, we let them sleep.  At A.M.'s room, there was a giraffe stuffed animal!  It was staring at me from beside her chair, so I stared back.  A.M. asked me if I wanted to say hi to it, so Mommy got it down and had it say hi to me.  I sniffed its face, then nosed it and gave it whisker kisses.  I looked down at its paws and saw that it had hooves instead!  I looked at Mommy and at A.M., and they said that giraffes don't have paws like kitties do.  I guess that makes sense, but I still think it should've had paws.  Even humans kind of have paws!

The little boy feral kitty was waiting for his dinner when we got back to the house.  He was lying on the deck with Tigress, but got up when Mommy opened the door to put food out.  I'm glad we got home in time to give him his dinner at the usual time!  I got to sniff at the door when it was open, put I sneezed in the little one's face.  I hope he doesn't hold that against me!

Daddy's Riding Lawnmower Monster

Tigress writes:

Yesterday, Daddy took that riding lawnmower monster out into the backyard and made it eat the grass all up!  At first, we were afraid that it would eat him, but then we realized that he was in control of it.  Now, it's just interesting to watch from a safe distance.

Yesterday, I wasn't right nearby when the riding lawnmower started up, because I was napping in the trees in the next yard over.  That's where I was born, and it's always nice and cool on a hot day.  It actually got up to 77 degrees, Mommy said!  Anyway, I heard the riding lawnmower monster, but I wasn't worried about it like I am if I'm in the same yard as it.  Daddy rode it around, telling it where to chomp the grass.  Then he went inside.  That's usually my cue to go hunting in the freshly stirred-up mouse nests, but I didn't appear this time.  I was fast asleep!  When I woke up, it was getting dark.  I stretched, then realized I was hungry.  I went to my backyard and got a few nice mice for dinner, then went inside to eat some cat food and socialize with everyone.

Thank you, Daddy, and the riding lawnmower monster, for my nice dinner!  I brought one for you, but I left it on the deck.

The Kitty with No Name

Tigress writes:

I have a new friend!  Well, we've known about him for about three months, but he's relatively new as a regular.  He's not telling us his name yet, though.  He's a young boykit, definitely a "teenager" or very young adult.  Daddy says the boykit's probably between 10 months and a year old.  He's not fixed, so we've all been trying to get him to come eat on a regular schedule so that he'll go have surgery like the other boys did.  He'll probably even get an eartip like Sherbet and I have!

So far, he's been coming every evening between 6:30 and 7 pm, and sometimes throughout the day when I run into him while I'm hunting and bring him by.  The first time I brought him by in the evening, I came up first then talked to Daddy when he opened the door.  I told him that he'd better put food out even though I was coming inside to eat, then I went in and out a few times.  Daddy listened and did what I asked, then the boykit came up to eat after Daddy closed the door.

He doesn't come when called yet, but he will stop what he's doing and come toward the door when our purrents call, "Kitty!"  At least he knows something to be called at this point!  I've been trying to show him that it's ok to come inside, but he's not ready for that yet.  He'll eat even when the door's cracked open a bit, and even when one of the inside kitties pokes their nose out to sniff.  He hasn't touched noses with anyone else from inside yet, and hisses at our purrents if they put their hands out.

He's making a lot of progress, though!  Here's a picture that Daddy took of him.

Geese!

Tigress writes:

There are big birds across the street!  When my brother, sister, and I were younger, we would ask our dad-cat if we could go hunt them.  He told us that they were too big for us to hunt, even if we all worked together and hunted as a pack.  I bet they would be tasty if I ever could get one, though!  Mommy and Daddy wouldn't approve, although I'm much more of a catch-and-release hunter than a hunter for real.

Right now, they are starting to have baby geese.  I see the little ones sometimes in the marsh next to our yard, because there's one family of geese that lives there.  They make a very strange sound, and sometimes I surprise them when I'm hunting mice next to the edge of the marsh.  HONK!  Baby honks!

Here's a picture of the gathering across the street.  Every day around noon, three or four flocks of them go to eat a few yards away.  A lady feeds them there!  Then the flocks settle down where this picture is, all of them together, and nap for a while!

And here's one closer in, of the same area, showing the geese!

Feral and Foster Friday: In and Saturday Spay Day

Tigress writes:

I'm in!  I'm choosing to be inside more often, and for almost all the day and the night now!  A couple weeks ago, I surprised Mommy while she was working on the computer.  She felt me ask her and thought I wanted foot pets.  Nope!  I hopped up onto the computer desk like I've seen Uncle Heimdall and Auntie Rori do, and I wanted hand pets!

C'mon, Mommy!  You take too many pictures.  I'll just take a nap while you photograph me, then maybe I'll get some hand pets.  (I eventually did get my pets.)

Autumn writes:

I'm learning a lot about "in" this week!  First, we had a fire in the fireplace, which was exciting!  And, no, I did not want to be "in" there with it.  I liked watching it, though.

Foster Mommy wore her rain boots one of the days, and I had to check them to make sure Foster Mommy's legs were still in the boots.  I pulled down the top of one, because it comes up to her knee, and there was her leg!

I stuck my head in the cupholder on Tabby's stroller, then bounced onto the bed and climbed in the pocket that hangs from the bed to hold books and a cell phone.  Foster Mommy pulled me out, but I was very cozy in there!  Next, I found some bags of treats that were hidden in a bag on a chair.  Everyone loved those, especially Uncle Carbon!  Yum!

I'm at the vet waiting for my spay today.  What's a "spay", and will I like it?  I rode in a car in a carrier today.  Auntie Cai came over and picked Foster Mommy and me up to take us there, then took Foster Mommy to work.  Foster Daddy had a doctor's appointment (not a vet one) today, so that's why just Foster Mommy went with me.  I was good in the car, but talked a lot and really wanted out so I could watch everything through the window.  I like riding in someone's arms better, but I couldn't do that this time.  Foster Mommy said I'll come back home this afternoon sometime.  The vet gave me a snuggly gingerbread stuffed toy, and I promptly lay down with it under my belly.  I'm not sure I like this "vet" place, but I was content to be carried back to the waiting area and get in my cage to wait for my turn to be spayed.  I'll get my vaccinations today, too.  I'm 7 months old now!  I'm adoptable to a good home in the Portland, OR,/Vancouver, WA, area.

We hope you like this post.  Remember, the word of the week is IN!

Feral Friday with Tigress

Tigress writes:

Hi everyone!  I know it's been a long time since I've done a Feral Friday post, but I've got some exciting news to share!  The Grandma person is an ok person!  She gives treats, foot pets, talks softly to me, doesn't chase me, and even will come let me out if I ask nicely enough!

At first, I was scared of her when she moved in a couple months ago.  The other cats love her and she'll even pet them occasionally.  I was scared of her, though.  I don't even know why, except that she was a new human.  She didn't do anything scary, but she was just there.  I didn't like being in the house with her, and would ask for out whenever I realized I was sharing the same house with her.  She tried and tried to show me she was nice, and my purrents told me I was safe and they wouldn't ever bring anyone around who would hurt me.  I believe them, but it still scared me.

I saw how nice Grandma was to the other kitties, though.  She would often pet them with her legs or with her feet, and thank them for giving her leg pets (winding around her legs) and wanting to sit with her (even though she can't have them on her lap due to being sick).  I would hear her coughing and would get wide-eyed, going to Mommy or Daddy for reassurance, but after a couple weeks I wasn't wanting out right away when I would see Grandma.  I would watch her from a chair under the dining-room table or from my comfy chair in the bedroom, then want out when she saw where I was.  I wouldn't hide from her, though, unless she was walking toward me.

One day, the twins had a birthday!  We all celebrated by having a big treat!  I didn't know what it was, but the others were very excited about it, and were milling around Grandma in the kitchen.  She got Mommy to help her open a can of something.  I hung out in the hallway and watched, wondering.  Mommy took out plates and showed Grandma how to spoon out the something onto each plate.  Then Mommy set the plates down on the floor in the dining room!

Feast time!  The others invited me to join them, but I said no because I didn't know what the treat was.  It smelled kind of good, but I wanted to watch them eat to make sure it was safe.  They told me it was something called "tuna" and it was a fish.  What fish comes out of a can?  I catch the little fish in the marsh sometimes, but they don't swim around in cans!

You can see in the picture how we social-eat.  Dare and Starla are sharing a plate, Missy's eating by herself, Panther's eating by himself, Carbon only eats by himself because he tends to be food-agressive, the twins are sharing a plate, Tabby's eating out of a can, and Little Bit's waiting her turn.  At this point, I was still in the hallway (the first picture).

Mommy brought a plate down the hallway to Rori so she could have some of the tuna treat, also.  She likes it, but she didn't want to brave the mob in the dining room any more than I did!  Grandma stayed in the kitchen and made herself something yummy with the tuna, too.  She put something else in it and mixed it up, then put it on bread for a sandwich.  Heimdall went in to see if she had some more for him, but she had mixed the remainder for her food, so he came back out and licked a can.

I finally got up the courage to go social-eat and found out the tuna was yummy!  Wow!  Do you see me over in the top left?  I'm trying to get to the plate with Freya and social-eat with her.  Dare decided to share the plate that Missy was eating from, and Little Bit got the can that Tabby had.  Tabby got another can that she and Heimdall shared.

After that tuna treat, I decided that Grandma must be an ok person.  I let her pet me once, and almost have come in the door when she's tried to let me inside.  About a week ago, I wanted out and she was the only human awake.  It was my hunting-time, around 5 or 6 in the morning.  That's when the mice and the birds are sleepy, so I can catch them more easily.  I went over to Grandma, who was in the kitchen, and wound around her legs, talking to her.  She thought I was Tabby at first, because she does the same thing when Grandma's in the kitchen.  Nope!  She looked at my paws and saw that it was I instead of Tabby!  She asked me if I wanted out, so I walked over to the door and pawed it.  She walked over and opened the door for me.  I looked at her and meowed once, then ran out like I normally do.  Thank you, Grandma person!

Since then, I've said hi to her most of the time and she's let me outside a few times more.  Today, I even went down the hall to her room to wait outside the door until she came out!  Hi, Grandma!

It's World Spay Day!

Do you have an unfixed cat?  At what age can you get your cat spayed or neutered?  What are the benefits to fixing your cat?  The purrfessionals here at the PDX pride will answer your questions!

Happy World Spay Day from all of us!

Rori here!  As the Big Kitty of the household, it is my solemn duty to inform you unspayed or unneutered cats of the blogosphere to get your acts together and schedule your fixing surgeries!  It's an important step in your independence as a cat-of-the-world to get this done!

1.  Spaying and neutering prevents unwanted and/or "surprise" litters.
2.  Spaying before the cat goes into heat for the first time greatly decreases a female cat's risk of breast cancer.  To learn more about breast cancer in cats, please visit our friend Sugar at her website:  Sugar Rub!
3.  Neutering greatly reduces a male cat's "nuisance" behavior, including spraying, yowling, and territorial marking, as well as makes the urine smell less strong.
4.  Spaying and neutering reduces the number of adult cats that are dumped, killed, and given to shelters.

I was spayed while I was in heat for the first time, which is more expensive than spaying while a cat is not in heat.  My yowling was intolerable, so that's why I was spayed while in heat.  However, this can create other health problems, such as weight gain.  I am now a very chunky girl!

Friends do not let friends go unspayed!  No, I am not having s*x with Smokey!  She went into heat for the first time, and I decided to discipline her by scruffing her.  I let her know that going unspayed is not tolerated in MY household!  She was much calmer after being spayed, and got adopted to Mama Erin soon after.

A happy, healthy, spayed Smokey!

Starla here to say how glad I am that I got spared the rigors of teen pregnancy!  My aunt had three kittens very young, and the boys were chasing me as well.  Somehow, I never got pregnant at that time, but most female kitties get pregnant their first time.  The next time I went into heat, my people had already scheduled my spay appointment through the Spay and Save program in Portland, Oregon, one of many low-cost spay and neuter programs around the country.

I was very lucky to get my spay when I did, because there were three male cats that were trying to get me pregnant.  If I hadn't had my spay, I'm sure I would have ended up a teen mama with a litter to find homes for, like my cousin Little Bit and my aunt Boo-Boo Kitty.

Hi, Little Bit here, and this is what happens when you don't get spayed!  I'm Smokey's sister, Rori's half-sister, and Starla's cousin.  My dad Spongebob (also Rori's dad) is an unfixed male who roams the neighborhood and has befriended all the ferals within a three-block radius.  His friends also included my mom, Boo-Boo Kitty, who had a litter of three.  My other sister, Baby Chiba, had a different dad and died as a kitten.  Yes, cats can get pregnant by more than one male in the same heat cycle, so the kittens in a litter can have different dads!

When I grew up, my original people didn't want my forever family to get me spayed, and so I remained intact.  My original people were not responsible pet owners!  They only decided to give me to my forever family after a tragic thing happened:

1.  My mama cat, Boo-Boo Kitty, got pregnant again and had a litter of four.
2.  I went into my first heat cycle just after my mama cat got pregnant and had a litter of four.  My kittens were born when I was five months old, just a kitten myself!  Two of my litter had the same dad as I, which is not unusual for cats.
3.  The dog my original family owned got pregnant by another of the same litter (the dog's brother, who was a neighbor) and had a litter of 10 puppies.
4.  My original people got an eviction notice because of the amount of animals in their house.
5.  They decided to take all of us kitties except two of Boo-Boo's kittens (who already had homes) to the humane society.  But after driving around to two humane societies, they were told that it was the middle of "kitten season" and the kittens would be put-to-sleep if they were surrendered.  The people didn't want that to happen.
6.  After hearing this from the second shelter they went to, they stopped by the side of the road and threw Boo-Boo Kitty out of the car, then drove away!  I still don't know what ever happened to her after that.
7.  They drove to a fast-food restaurant, rolled down the window halfway, and went inside to eat.  Mind you, this was with my two 8-week-old baby sisters, myself, and my litter of four three-week-old boys in the vehicle.  When they got back out to the vehicle, they didn't see me and drove off anyway.
8.  They went back home and brought my baby sisters over to my forever family, two houses down, and told them the story I've just told you.  My forever daddy human was so mad that he took my baby sisters inside and left my forever mommy human to talk to the lady.
9.  My mommy went to get the box with my kittens in it from the lady's vehicle and found me in there as well!  She brought all of us back home with her.
10.  My new family found homes for all of us, but only I stayed with them as part of their forever family.  Everyone else who came with me on that horrid trip found wonderful new homes!  One of my babies had a birth defect, but even he found a forever home for the few months he lived.

I went into heat again a few days after we got to our new family's home.  Yes, I was nursing my three-week-old boys at the time, and continued to nurse.  I could've gotten spayed while I was still nursing, but my people chose to wait until I'd weaned the kittens to spay me.

I'm Tigress, and I was a teen mom as well.  However, my family chose to have my kittens spay-aborted because I was a feral kitten at the time of my pregnancy.  I was spayed through a trap-neuter-return program run by the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, which provides low-cost or free spays and neuters, first vaccinations, and humane trap rentals.  If I hadn't had my spay, there would have been at least two and possibly as many as five more feral cats that would have needed socializing, feeding, trapping, spaying or neutering, and adoption.  I got pregnant at the age of 4 months.

Please don't wait to get spayed or neutered!  Tell your humans to schedule your surgery today!  If your humans need financial assistance, it is available in most areas of the U.S. and Canada, and in some other countries as well.  If you are a feral cat, please tell your human to visit the Alley Cat Allies website for more information.

For World Spay Day events in your area, check out the official website.

Cat-A-Lympics "Snow Day" Event!

Panther reporting from the Cat-A-Lympic stadium!  The cathletes have all gathered for the first events, and are ready to go!  The spectators are gathering on their blankies and strollers along the edges of the snowfield for the "Snow Day" event, hosted by us here at the PDX pride.  Our judge, Grandma, is taking her place at the judges' stand.

Watch your paws, kitties and doggies!  This snowfield is extra-thick, over 5 inches plus a sheet of ice.  We don't want anyfurry to get hurt on the course!

Our first competitor is Tigress.  She gracefully dances around the snowfield, skimming the top, then ends her performance by pawing together a snowball.  Wow!

If you would like to pawticipate in the "Snow Day" event, here's what you do:

1.  Grab the Cat-A-Lympics event badge at the bottom of this page.
2.  Post it on your blog somewhere with a link back to this blog post.
3.  Create a blog post with your "Snow Day" entry and link back to this blog post.  Your entry must have a pawticipant of some non-human species, snow, and be a real photo or video.  Editing for photo quality is ok, but no extreme photoshopping, please.  That would be unsportsmanlike!
4.  Leave a comment on this post letting us know you're entering the event!

We'll post the list of pawticipants here through Caturday, Feb. 22nd.  We'll post the gold, silver, and bronze winners on Sunday, Feb. 23rd.

Good luck to all pawticipants, and stay safe during the Cat-A-Lympics!

"Snow Day" event pawticipants, in order of entry:

Tigress of the PDX pride (see above)