TASTES LIKE ... CHICKEN?

THIS SAVY CAT KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOWL AND FINGER! Didi (short for Didier, although he is not REALLY French) was handed to us by another neighbor whose own cat was being routinely pushed out of his dish by this interloper. Well, we known how to handle customers like this! Had to take him for the same ol' reasons: not wanted and cute as heck. Didi has an outrageously beautiful designer tail, which we will feature at another time, and is too smart and affectionate. A real prize---like all the others.

BABE IN BIRTH SAC

Well, focus isn't everything. The whole birth process is sort of an out-of-focus event. You don't want to intrude with a flash, and the details of paws and faces are a bit undefined in these tiniest ones. There is constant motion, which is no help in a low light situation, either! Here, Mathya is starting the clean-up process with the baby still in the placenta. The only intervention we did was a little snip of a cord getting wound up around a kitten.

LAST COMMER

The last kid on the block can be seen in this photo right at the tip of mother's nose. And it's her look-alike, Biscuit, who came 45 minutes after Daboo. The rest were 15 minutes apart.

HERE'S DABOO, NUMBER 3. This cute boy is still very wet as mother maneuvers him into place for more grooming while having his first milk. Each birth was a silent and simple affair. One minute there was no kitty, the next minute a new arrival. We soon put up a cardboard strip barrier around the base of the cage so no one could leave the "premises." However, at this stage, in their sightless world, there was only milk spigot, milk, fur, and momma's tongue in their world, plus some wiggly entity on either side to keep them warm.

MATHYA'S LAST LITTER ARRIVES!

On the right is her first baby, Miscalla, a boy. Then came Cookie, a girl, and her placenta is still attached in this photo. Mommy was resting up before cleaning up. What excitement wondering how many babies there will be and how long the births can take! (Potentially 48 hours.) Mathya means "change" in Sanskrit and that's what we were determined to give her ... a change from having babies and losing them every few months, and no worries about where her food was coming from or their safety as they grew up.

A FURRY DINER

What a delightful restaurant! Food is never served cold, you're always welcome, congenial companions, the house specialty is always available, and you can go to sleep afterwards curled up on a soft purring pillow. There are four kittens here but Biscuit is represented only by the tip of a white ear and a bit of her white back.

Miracle on Palliparambu Road

ONLY GOD CAN MAKE A CAT. And as It's agent, Mommy Cat is authorized to set up another franchise to produce one of the cutest baby families in the world. Anyone who hasn't enjoyed little kittens playing hasn't lived!

THE KITTEN CARNIVAL

A HELPFUL NEIGHBOR IS ONE THAT GIVES YOU A PREGNANT CAT ABOUT TO DELIVER, RIGHT? Well, she has the reputation of leaving her many kittens over the years all over the neighborhood as she nervously moves them daily in search of a "safe place." Who in their right mind could resist, however, the chance not only to spay her but to enjoy the birth of her kittens and make this mama's life easier? We took the bait, and three days later, there were four babies beside her, one looking just like her, another tortoise-shell, one calico, and a lovely bi-color.

Cat's Idea of Privacy

AH, THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF A BOX! You get in your box where none can see you because you can't see them, and you feel really shrewd. They'll never know where I've gone! (Except that cat coming in on the left, barely visible.) This is Mauvi's notion, that bi-color boy with the huge complaint audio.

Safe at Last

WHO COULD GUESS I'M IN HERE?! Sorry to burst your bubble, buddy, but within 5 minutes every cat in the house, is who! After they all get their turn in the latest box, it's time to shred it to pieces, even more fun. Buying everything by the case is obviously a necessity here.

... SIT TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMONY

Ebony (Wootsie) and Ivory (Nergi) are deep in discussion about what's going on with the cows outside and how to just go out there into the cowport and get that milk straight from the source. Waiting for the milk to be served is such an unnecessary waste of time, you'd think that would be obvious to people. No, we did not arrange their tails like that. Cats just do that instinctively. These two cats are friends to everyone in the cat household. Nergi's vocation is opening closet doors for the others to enter and nicely mess up.

TRIBUTE of the DAY: Poodi

POODI was an intense cat ... pumped intensely, looked intensely, loved intensely ... and sometimes "lost it" intensely, signs of which one had to watch out for! What a sweetie. A fast-moving stomach virus was her ticket out of here a couple of years ago, but she's right in our hearts, as always.

UPPALI at PANAMPILLY Avenue

Here's a nice pix of a more than nice cat, the great UPPALI, whose eyes are the background of our blog masthead. He's the King of (the Cat) Carnival, respected by all, a door-handle opener with terrific presence, mentor to clueless kittens, curator of the cat collection in general. Santa Ysabel Mission Reservation east of San Diego was his birthplace; Cochin, India, is his home. Just likes "Indians."

MAUVI, HORIZONTAL

BOX TOO SMALL OR KITTEN TOO BIG? Mauvi was the first kitten to join our Animal Ashram after the plague of July, going first into quarantine in our office for a month. After showing signs of nothing but naughtiness, he was slated to go to the Big House, but was already a fixture as Office Cat, the first. Photo by Byron Aihara.

HERE COMES MAUVI!

IF HE LOOKS LIKE TROUBLE that's only half right. The rest is he's too smart; for example, Mauvi came by himself to the front gate. He was named by Greshma, the name not having any particular meaning but it fit. Mauvi is our first office cat, and is able rate all employees by their intelligence in eating fish or not for lunch. He's good on computers. His mentor, Byron, is shown here (finger) training him in the classic command "Stay!" This he is doing only because he wants to look at the camera. Makes funny growling noises, and moves like lightening to any door leading to trees. Photo by Byron Aihara.

THE BEST INDOOR HOME

HOW MUCH can a cat caretaker compensate their kitties for having to live indoors? Of course, the first compensation is a longer life full of love and cat food, free of crippling cat fights and car accidents. But, in addition, you can provide windowsill-high tables with pillows around the house so the outside world can be viewed in comfort. Monthly, put a cardboard box in a room. Occasionally, leave a closet open. Put an old boot on its side under the bed. Bring a piece of KFC home every once in awhile and take off the fried crust. And here's something fancy: Train it to walk on a leash! Yes, many do, after the initial antics of winding themselves up in it. Practice around the house first, then on the front walk. Don't give up with the first scared reaction. It's a pleasure, once learned, that lasts a lifetime. Figuring out lifestyle enhancers for your cats is very rewarding, and of course, the greatest enhancer is another pal cat. The behavior of little kittens is least threatening to an older cat as they don't take rebuffs personally at a young age, and in time the big one can accept the newcomer/s better. Another good companion for a grown single cat can be a wonderful older homeless doggie from a shelter who is cat friendly.

WHY INDOOR CATS?

Here are some facts that explain why keeping a cat indoors may not be natural, but how too many outdoor cats are hurting our bird population. (Being outdoors also shortens cats' lifespans to an average of four years due to cars, dogs, injuries, etc.)

DOMESTIC CATS who stay outside or are let out at night are an often overlooked negative influence on fauna in urban, suburban, and exurban landscapes, but they have a significant impact on native rodents and birds (Hawkins et al. 2004). Rodents are missed by few people, but do we want to lose more birds?

In one study in southeastern Michigan, 25% of landowners owned outdoor cats, which killed ≤1.4 birds/cat/week. Over 23 species were killed including species of conservation concern (Lepczyk et al. 2004). There were ≤3,100 cats across the landscape that killed ≤47,000 birds during the breeding season (~1 bird killed/km/day). Even taken conservatively, these data (Lepczyk et al. 2004) suggest that cat predation plays an important role in fluctuations of bird populations.

Devices have been developed that can reduce the efficiency of domestic cats as predators (i.e., collar-mounted pounce protectors like the Cat-Bib™). However, they need to be worn consistently by cats, and most cat owners are reluctant to impose this cat apparel on them (Calver et al. 2007).

Overabundant cats in urbanized landscapes are clearly an increasing problem. More effective spay/neuter programs have to be developed for their welfare. (DeStefano and DeGraaf 2003).

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF US ...

WELL, THAT'S CUTE

THIS IS WHY ...PEOPLE PICK UP KITTENS ON THE ROAD. IS THERE ANY OTHER CHOICE?! BEING SUPER CUTE IS THEIR ONLY CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL IN A WORLD WITH LOTS OF OTHER PRIORITIES ... ALTHOUGH WHAT ELSE COULD THOSE BE, PRAY TELL?! (Note missing eye liner around the left eye of Soan (right), and to a lesser extent, her brother Papadi, too. They were so much in a hurry to get a home they forgot their makeup. But in a few months it magically appeared, anyway!)

CANE CHAIR CAT

Sometimes cats overdo it with the casual grace thing. Silver tabby UPPALI has once again found a perfect frame for his cuteness.