Spanners

Last Sunday, I wrote about the rescue-group’s attempts to capture the injured mother of three kittens we had managed to trap. I am pleased to write that, between then and now, the little mother-cat has been caught. This is her pictured below; she has been named Emori.

She is pregnant again. She has seen the veterinary who assessed her missing foot (there will be surgery on that) and discovered that Emori is carrying six more kittens, to be brought into the world as early as next week. A small girlcat, not more than a year old, Emori weighs less than 3.5 kilograms (7.716 pounds), and a substantial portion of that is unborn kitten. To feel her body, one can easily determine that Emori is under-weight, and had not been finding enough food to keep going. Without the kind couple feeding her and her offspring (the same couple who contacted the rescue and helped trap the family), Emori likely would have starved. She was, even before they were trapped, showing some hostility to her first litter, which suggested a second was on its way.

(As an aside, Emori soon will have had nine kittens within four months. A feral’s life outside averages six years; if an abandoned insider such as Emori is lucky enough to survive that long, nine kittens, every third of a year for six years, produces 162 kittens. Few of them would have lived long, which is another kind of tragedy.)

However,  Emori is safe inside now, and ready for her second big event. Her first three (we hope they were her first) are also safe in a foster-home: presenting Julien (the orange boy), and his sisters, Klarra (black) and Evelyn (tortoiseshell).

But their advent - and the future arrival of more kittens - has necessitated a re-arrangement among the few foster-homes the rescue-group has, including mine. Consequently, I have received another new cat. Meet Aurora.

She is a four month old torbie; an orphan, she was taken in by the family who were fostering Astrid (readers may recall her and her four). Astrid and one of her kittens have been adopted, while another who, like Aurora, was accepted by Astrid as her own foster-kitten (even as she herself was being fostered) has also been adopted. This leaves three of Astrid’s still waiting for their permanent homes, plus Aurora. They are joined in foster hood by Julien, Klarra and Evelyn. So far…

Is that all clear?

But wait, there’s more! Aurora is the sweetest little creature you could want to meet. She was quite unfazed by her changed world, and didn’t even need to be isolated, since she came from another foster-home, and was ready to come and meet everyone.

Everyone was not ready to meet her. Before Aurora arrived at the Cosy Apartment, I assumed she would need isolation in the safe-room (the library). Though Brazil does not need the library anymore, it is still where he takes his meals. He objected to being fed elsewhere - in preparation for Aurora, I uncouthly suggested the bathroom for Brazil’s dining room. He objected. That and the appearance of the new kitten put Brazil under the bed for the rest of the day.

This is ironic, since he knew Aurora in their previous foster-home and they had played together. I am still hoping they will become friends and take pressure off of Imogen.

On the subject of Miss Silky, she has taken immediate offence to the newest-comer and has retreated to the highest kitchen cabinets.

So we have some work to do with regard to feline relations. I have no doubt that all will turn out well; it is just a matter of time. I do wonder, though, if Aurora might have been re-named Spanner upon coming to live with us. She seems, after all, to be one of them in the works…