One Year Later | Part 3: Felines on the Farm

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Since childhood, cats were my favorite animal to pet and love on.  I always wanted one - but little did I realize how many would end up under my care: a grand total of 15! Credit goes to my first cat, Koshka, who appeared near the garage on a winter's night in my hometown.  She was cold, thin, and hungry, and meowing a lot for food.  At first, we had her set up in the garage with food and a warm place to sleep.  But, as fate would have it, she became a house cat.  Unfortunately, her life was tragically cut short several years later - Koshka had an autoimmune disease we knew nothing about until she was dying in front of us.  Her death shattered me.  

I knew nothing about cats and what kind of illnesses they can get.  Those sweet faces hide everything until they can't anymore.  

This past year's experience with the felines on the farm has been one of both joy and sadness.  I'll start with the happy parts first.


Butterscotch's First Family

 


April 12, 2025 - the arrival of a beautiful family of kittens! 

Butterscotch was already here with her clan of cats when we moved in.  Our plan was to trap her and get her spayed, but we were too late.  But maybe we can call that a happy little accident, as we have had a fun time with these kittens! 

Allow me to introduce them:

Luna


Next to Koshka, Luna is one of the best girl cats I've owned.  She's sweet, generally accepts affection, and loves to cuddle.  Luna can be fussy, but she's more elegance and grace than anything! Her little favorite pastime is jumping on my bed to make rapid fire biscuits.  And she enjoys when I sing her name as a tune along with other terms of endearment.  


Claire


Okay, Claire is a handful but so loveable! She's the very definition of "I'm perfect and I know it!" Being she's the resident fusspot, it's tough to know when she wants loving or is devising a plot to make your hands bleed.  Never a dull moment with her!


Boots


Funny story about Boots - we thought he was a girl.  Upon closer inspection, we realized very quickly he is in fact a boy! Every day is an adventure with Boots.  He is the perfect combination of affectionate and troublesome.  And it doesn't matter how many mischievous acts he engages in - at the end of the day, he's still a sweet boy who has nothing but love to give! He enjoyed accompanying me on my coffee and breakfast routine, but now his shtick is trying to get into the back room where we have the fridge.


Taffy


Orange Tabby - need I say more? Taffy is another bundle of love and probably the most beautiful male cat I've ever seen.  His little ugly eyes developed into a mouse-like appearance, thus earning him the nickname of Mousey or Taffy the Mouse.  He loves to steal food from Cheddar Jack but will turn around and be super friendly to said older cat.  Taffy is both weird and wonderful, making for an interesting day-to-day experience.  


Now here comes the heartbreak: Butterscotch, once we let her out, had gone missing several months ago.  She had been in and out of the house due to us keeping her babies in.  Mama would kind of reject them when we would let the whole family out, instead of teaching them to survive.  And we couldn't leave young kittens outside with no survival skills, so the 4 ended up staying in.  We haven't found Mama Butterscotch, unfortunately - it's very likely she was taken by a coyote.  

Add to that, the kittens were supposed to have a 5th sibling, but she was a stillborn I tried to revive.  She would have been a beautiful cat, but life was not granted to her.  When my efforts at life-saving measures proved useless, I realized the best thing to do was make her cozy and bury her.  Her name is April, and she was given a lovely spot to rest beneath the lilac bush out back.  


Phantom


Give a big round of applause for Phantom - he pulled through after suffering an attack from another animal.  I'm still not sure what tried to kill him, but his wounds were so infected, I rushed him to the emergency vet in Pittsburgh.  He was well cared for, held steady through the whole procedure, and I was able to take him home the same night.  Phantom had to be incarcerated in my house - though I'm sure he didn't mind - made it through follow-up vet visits, getting neutered, and he's been thriving outside ever since.  

He's been my outside buddy ever since and always comes when I call.  To the other cats and kittens, Phantom is a wonderful caretaker, never letting them out of his sight for too long.  Can't imagine a better or more established gentleman than Phantom.    

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To avoid making this post too long, I'll do another post about the additional brood of kittens that arrived on the farm.  I'm planning to do regular posting again after these are done, as more updates have been made on the house.  Just need to get some solid, aesthetically pleasing pictures.  

Hope you all enjoyed meeting some of the kitties! See you in the next post!

~Gigi

Comments

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