by farmerkeen
Tag: cats
The face of long suffering
Kitten antics
This little girl continues to be shy around me today. I was thinking of naming her Bashful, but she’s not a dwarf. Sissy suggested Shilo, after the Neil Diamond song. Except, because she is shy, her name is Shylo! Pretty good, huh?
Squeaky discovered that dry sheep turds rolling across the barn floor make pretty darned good cat toys.
Trouble attacked my feet, tried to climb my legs. and got pecked by a chicken for getting all up in her face.
They kittens all played so hard they had to pause for a late morning nap. Except for Trouble. Everyone else (including Tiggy) was snuggled up to sleep, except for Trouble. She was too busy being under-foot in the feed room. When I finished with chores the other four were rested and running around for more fun. But no sign of Trouble. After a 20 minute search I found her curled up behind the grain barrel, covered with cobwebs and sound asleep.
Heading back to the house, Casey stopped me in the driveway to remind me that she is just as cute as the kittens, even if she IS an old lady!
Getting to know the new babies
I brought these three little girls home yesterday evening. Today I got to know them a bit and tackled the task of naming them.
I love all black cats. I inherited my first black cat, Blackie, when my Aunt died. I was a kid. Then I had a long haired black cat named Spooky. I was toying with the idea of naming this little girl for her color. However, after spending time with her today, her color is not her most distinct characteristic. She has a very high-pitched meow, reminds me of a seagull. And she talks A LOT! I have named her Squeaky.
This little girl is nothing but trouble! 20 minutes after letting the kittens out of their kennel I had to fish her out of the water tub. Got her dried off and she went right back to look at the water again. She buried herself in a hay manger, climbed up to and across the chickens’ roost, got into EVERYTHING. Her name is Trouble!
This one has got me stumped for the time being. She is very shy around me, so far. She quickly made friends with Cookie and was exploring all around the barn. I will just have to wait until I know her a little better.
Cookie was in seventh heaven, having new friends to play with!
Albert was more stand-offish, keeping out of reach of the new additions for now. But, it took him a couple days to get friendly with Cookie and now they are best buddies. I’m sure he will come around soon.
Tiggy gave them each a sniff, ate some food, and went back to bed. He’s still not thrilled about Cookie and Albert. He doesn’t show aggression towards them, but if they get too close he runs away. My grumpy old man.
I would say I am well on my way to being a crazy old cat lady!
Cookie
Cookie and Albert love playing under the pear tree by the barn. Mostly, I think, because it’s shady, but close to where I am. And they love shuffling around in the leaves. As an added bonus, when pears drop they make great cat toys. Cookie was having a blast stalking and chasing the fallen pears.
Whew!
I hadn’t seen Tiggy for 4 days. I don’t always see him every day. He comes and goes as he pleases. But most days he usually at least makes an appearance while I’m doing chores, just to make sure I put food in his dish. Occasionally he is too busy and I won’t see him for a day or two. But he’s never stayed away 4 days before. I was getting very worried. So many horrible possibilities were running through my mind. Was he so jealous of the kittens he ran away? Did he go in the road and get hit? Did a coyote get him? He was waiting for me when I did chores today, like nothing happened. He has lost weight. Now I’m wondering if he got shut up in somebody’s garage or something. Or, maybe he was off sulking somewhere. Either way, I spent a lot of time fussing over him to welcome him home. Both one on one time and time with Casey and the kittens, while focusing on him. He went to his bowl to eat several times, but seemed to be craving attention more than food. I was sooo relieved and happy to see him! Mt precious boy!
I told you he was a tough Cookie!
June would never hurt a kitty, but Cookie doesn’t know that. Look at him telling her to back off!
Grumpy old man?
So, Tiggy is becoming more comfortable around the kittens. He will come to me when I call him if he sees me playing with the kittens. He even let Cookie play with his tail for a couple minutes.
Farmer Keen 