Going back, looking at cats

I tweaked my back recently moving a too-large load of soaking wet leaves, so I have no desire to go walking around the garden with the camera. Also last night I had a very strange dream about my cats shrinking, so I thought that I'd go "back" in time and collect my garden cat posts for you.



I loved it when I had stray cats hanging around in the garden watching me work, and the kittens were, well, kittens


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The first garden cat that hung out with me was "Growly", in late 2009:



That's him with "Whitey", who was not a fan of people and would always run if I got too close. I wonder if Growly (now called "Digby" after we adopted him) and Whitey were brothers?



In the winter of 2009 I think Growly lived in a burrow he made in my leaf pile (or was it 2008?)

Fall 2009 is when I started seeing a white cat who was so wary that she would disappear if she saw me, even if it was from 100 feet (30m) away. I'd see a flash of white then she'd be gone.

Then in late winter 2010 (February or so) she really stayed around for most of the time and would even come up to me and rub on my legs.


We called her "Super Whitey" because we give descriptive names to strays, and the name "Whitey" was already taken. He was a half-white male who stayed away from me and any other humans. This was back in March 2010 as seen here and here.

Then we realized that Super-Whitey was pregnant, and we let her into the garage to have her kittens:


There were just two luckily:


They were my first prolonged exposure to kittens, and I took lots of photos of them as they grew, especially when I'd let them out of the garage and they could explore the driveway and patio:



At 5 weeks they were at their cutest I think:



All of the kitten posts can be found here if you're eager to see more.

Meanwhile the two males were still hanging around the garden:


Whitey (on the left) disappeared soon after this (in fall 2010), but Toe White stayed around for a couple more years:



That's the last photo I had of him, from December 2012.

He was the last regular outdoor cat in my garden, not counting the occasional visit as I mentioned the other day.


I miss having a cat out there in the garden!


Note that our adopted cats are indoor only now, although they get to go onto the deck once in a while. We have a dangerous neighborhood for cats -- we always saw the strays injured and limping -- and we don't want them catching birds. Kumo (Super-Whitey) is the only one that longs to be outdoors -- the others are very content to be inside.

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Bergamot Villa  – (November 6, 2015 at 10:43 AM)  

It has been a joy to read about your love for all the creatures! Great and small. So you adopted the mama kitty. Did you also adopt her two kittens?

Salty Pumpkin Studio  – (November 6, 2015 at 10:58 AM)  

Wonderful post and pictures
Cats seem to have a way of being around for years, and then gone for years. Strays don't last outdoors around here very long because I think there are too many people that take them in. At 5 AM a cat was climbing on my screen door expecting me to let it in. If it does by some miracle show up again, then I'll box it up for the animal shelter. I'm allergic to cats, sadly.

Gerhard Bock (Succulents and More)  – (November 6, 2015 at 11:24 AM)  

I hope your back is better! No fun when that happens, as I know too well.

I'm not a cat person but I do like it when cats visit. Which happens very rarely because we have a dog.

Hoover Boo  – (November 6, 2015 at 4:30 PM)  

Interesting story about your feline visitors and residents. The kittens sure were cute!

It's more fun to garden with a canine or feline "supervising" or "helping" (or interfering...).

Jeanette  – (November 7, 2015 at 5:28 AM)  

Such wonderful photos of your cats and kittens. I'm a cat lover, so your post today was a nice surprise.

Denise  – (November 9, 2015 at 2:07 PM)  

I miss my cats too, numbering five at the height of our population. It's as mesmerizing as watching a campfire to see cats interact with a garden. Take it easy on your back!

Begonvilli Ev  – (November 10, 2015 at 9:58 AM)  

Very cute cats and kitten. Wonderful garden.

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