Need to blog (and ramble about cats)
So… I think I’ve mentioned that we have a LOT of little kittens. Finally old enough to give away, I’ve been putting a Free Kittens sign out on weekends.
The first weekend we had a lady show up wanting a boy grey tabby. Don’t have any grey tabbies, so she said well, color isn’t important but being male is.
So we started looking at kittens. I was positive that ALL gold (orange) cats are male, even if they have white on them…. just like calico and tortise shell cats are always female. I don’t remember where I heard this lore, but it’s WRONG. Orange cats can be girls. Lionel is a female, and so is the little Milo kitten. Sheesh! I don’t really notice unless they start getting dangly bits or all of a sudden have kittens… just not that attentive to the barn cats.
But the black and white kitten that I was sure was female… was actually a boy, so he went to a new home. Hey, he looks just like his momma, well that tuxedo cat look anyhow.
Then last weekend, I have the sign out again. I’m in the house doing something, I actually heard the knock on the door before the little dog did. I go out the door and a couple are standing there… with the gal hands full of kittens. She wanted TWO and had already picked them out She had both the calicos, which were both very cute kittens, not same Momma, so I mentioned that. Just in case one of em turns out to be a boy… but those people didn’t care what sex the cats were, because of the cuteness. I was cracking up, this gal was just GUSHING over how cute these kittens were and her hubby was rolling his eyes. They drove away with her still holding them up and looking into cute kitten faces and talking baby talk.
Now I’m down to Satin’s minions and a gold kitten with white paws. We still have four black kittens. I’m not sure if anyone will take the black ones, although I’ve always liked black cats. I don’t really care what color a cat is… the personality is what makes a cat. So I’m sitting out there tonight and one black kitten gives me this look that just reminds me of my sister Cherie so much… OMG, this cat has got the family evil eye look! So I pick it up… dang it, I’ll name it Cherie if it’s a girl… but of course it’s not. His name is Frank. And yes, even with 4 black kittens I can tell who Frank is. :) (Frank is my Dad’s name, and he’s the one we all learned the LOOK from)
I am getting a tiny kick out of calling all my black kittens Satin’s Minions. I’m sure it would tick off a former co-worker, good thing she doesn’t work there any more. I put all the black kittens into a bucket and took a photo… and said, see, I have a bucket of Ebil. Tonight I had a Satin tree, instead of a Silk tree. All the kittens were climbing the walnut tree… and yes, I spelled Satin like I wanted to. :) Not Satan… they are too cute to be evil or even ebil.
More kitten stuff… after the two calicos left last weekend, Patches decided to bring her kittens out. Patch is the one who kitten napped the little gold kitten a while back…. I was just sick, that one kitten disappeared. He wasn’t gone, he was just being held hostage. Er, SHE. Milo finally escaped, and Patch tried to take him back under the house, but I rescued him, poor kit. He was starving… had been eating food but all he’d had was milk for a few days. Patch said well, if I can’t have that one, I’ll take another. She grabbed up another kitten and took it with her, but that one escaped within about 30 min. So, she brought her kittens out a week later. They are all on the porch now, all five of them… so I’m back to TEN kittens even after giving away 5. Sheesh.
However, if anyone wants a grey kitten now… well, I’ll have one ready in a few weeks. Heh.
I’m sort of still in shock about the gold cats. I was positive that was a genetic trait that was tied to sex. Like calicos or tortiseshells. Orange meant MALE. Now I’m wondering if the thing about calicos and tortiseshells is true…. I guess I should google some info.
Oh well. It won’t matter for my naming cats anyhow. I usually decide on names without looking to see if they are girls or boys. Personality is what earns the names. Or my quirks. I have decided that all the black kittens are now named CAT names… even Frank. He gets to be Ducati Frank because my dad rode a motorcycle. The others are Catepillar, Catapult and Catatonic. Nicknames: Pillar, Pult, and Tonic. Ducati can just remain Frank, lol…. but if he purrs really loud we’ll stick with Ducati.
I think my mind has just wandered right off the planet… it’s been a long day as usual. I’m for bed…. HOPE to get some dye work done this weekend. Mowed for a few hours after work today, usually I don’t have the energy to do anything… but I want a head start on mowing because I have plans for us this weekend. We need more fun, and less work, on weekends.
hugs,
Vyx
Ha! I totally agree about cat names. One of my favorite cats ever was a girl named Clarence. She is featured on the cover of my second novel, and as a character, in fact.
When I have my own house, I’m pretty sure I will turn in to one of those crazy cat ladies.
I like having barn cats, although they are really front porch cats now since the only barn is a ways from the house. I do NOT want inside cats, I can’t deal with litter box duty. Perfect cat would use the toilet and flush, too. This many cats? Not gonna happen.
Don’t mind cleaning up after dogs… it’s my fault if they can’t get outside as often as they need to. The cleaning up is a lot more pleasant than the litter box duty is.
Ron is amazed that I can pick Ducati Frank out from the 4 black kittens. Pillar is easy, too, as she has lots of random white hairs. To Ron, all 4 black kittens look exactly alike, hah! I am having a bit of trouble with the other two, though…. Maybe they will be interchangeable names. Whichever one is in my lap is Tonic… and the other is Pult.
:)
OK first of all, MOST of those things about sex and cats are pure bullshit. Ask any vet.
EXCEPT true calico. Not what MOST people call calico, but a pure, solid white cat with orange and black patches. Most people will call any old cat with mixed colors a calico. Not true. But a true calico is genetically programmed to be female but males do show up.
Tortoiseshell is misused too. The kittens I saw in your pictures are torties.
This lady is very informative: http://www.squidoo.com/tortoiseshellcats
Don’t know what to tell you about black kittens. I love ‘em. Have two. I would emphasize cuteness not ebil if you want them to go to good homes. Maybe claim that the mother is a good mouser. Good luck. Ten kittens. GAWD!