Just a simple family portrait.
From bottom to top:
Sachiko, in a contemplative mood.
MM, her mother, hungry.
And Tuxie, her presumptive father, snoozing.
Tag Archives: Meezer Mommy
Holiday Photos
Thanksgiving is, or should be, among other things, a time to share with those less fortunate. This year, we elected to give something a little special to the Backyard Bunch. Several things, actually.
First, while preparing our turkey, we donated the bird’s liver to the gang. Surprisingly, the cats don’t seem to care much for liver. The raccoons and possums, however, appear quite fond of it. Enjoy!
We also saw that MM was after a bird of her own, though she is sensible enough not to try for a turkey. She had a couple of unsuccessful stalks, but did manage to bring down one unwary avian.
Apparently it was more feather than meat, as she gave up on the idea of eating it after partially plucking it.
So instead of the usual bowls of cheap kitty krunchies*, they got cans of gooshy fud. Turkey, of course.
* Costco’s house brand, actually. Unlike many of the low-priced foods, it actually has meat as the major ingredient. Obligate carnivores, remember. Their fuzzy little tummies don’t do well on a diet of rice or corn.
As usual, they queued up in an orderly fashion to enter the yard when we approached.
For local values of “orderly”.
MM was a bit skittish. She, even more than most cats, takes comfort in a set routine, and not only did we both go out with the food instead of just one of us, but we also went out somewhat earlier than usual.
But once the food was in the bowls and we left the yard, everyone settled in for their Thanksgiving turkey.
I’m particularly taken by the sight of MM and GT sitting butt-to-butt, tails almost entwined as they nommed away, so here’s a closer look.
And, in the interest of equal broadcast time, a closer look at Tuxie with his face buried in his bowl.
I hope your Thanksgiving was as peaceful and pleasant as ours.
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First Contact
We’ve met these critters before. MM has appeared frequently, but the possum has only appeared on the blog once. Assuming it’s the same one; we’re still not sure.
In any case, he doesn’t come by the bowl often, and usually late at night, after the cats have gone wherever they go to sleep.
So this is the first time we’ve seen him interacting with any of the other visitors.
(My apologies for the lousy picture quality. Cellphone camera, late night, shooting through a window–it’s a wonder you can see anything.)
It was a peaceful encounter. They appeared to chat for a couple of minutes–perhaps discussing the difficulties of having light-colored fur in the wild–before the possum nibbled a few bites of food and ambled off. MM watched him carefully, then trotted away in the opposite direction.
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Meet the Neighbors 14
I’m sure it’s no surprise that the feline politics continue apace in our backyard.
More often than not, all three of the regulars show up early and wait for us to bring the Kitty Krunchies out.
Tuxie and Grey Tabby have become quite friendly with us. They’re quite willing to delay the food for a few minutes while we scratch behind their ears. GT has even been known to roll over and ask us to rub his tummy.
Meezer Mommy, however, is exceedingly unhappy whenever there’s a delay in the krunchie delivery. Any halt, even a brief pause to avoid tripping over one of the boys, provokes her to a storm of verbal abuse. Yes, she’s become quite the little chatterbox, demanding that we fill the bowls and get the hell out of her yard. She’s even hissed at me a couple of times when I haven’t moved fast enough.
Needless to say, her attitude–and her apparent belief that all three bowls are for her–doesn’t sit well with the boys. There isn’t much they can do, though. She hisses, growls, and swats at them. Not ladylike pats, either. Full force, claws extended swats. GT is terrorized to the point that he sometimes won’t come into the yard until she leaves.
Interestingly, despite his earlier timidity, Tuxie stands up to MM much better than his colleague. He gets his share of swats, but his normal response is to stroll across the yard to a different bowl.
We hope Meezer Mommy will eventually figure out that there’s always more food than she can eat herself and lighten up a bit. I know, I know. But if we don’t have our dreams, what do we have?
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Highs and Lows
A few quickies to wrap up October. The last few days have been a strange mix of good news/bad news and excitement/terror.
It rained on Halloween. The rain started around 9:00 and stopped about 2:00. Naturally, Sunday’s newspaper was full of bad puns about the “reign” on the Giants’ parade.
Other than puns, the only significant effect of the rain was to discourage trick-or-treaters. We had about ten, considerably below last year’s high water mark (sorry) of three dozen or more.
No pumpkin spice costumes* and no broken bolts. Superheros predominated, but there was at least one ballerina/fairy princess. That’s a tough distinction to make when you can’t see if she has wings, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by asking.
* Now that Halloween is over, can all of the pumpkin spice foods please just go away? No, really. No need to wait until after Thanksgiving. Honest!
The Kitten Chow was popular. We had a mixed assortment of Reese’s Pieces, Almond Joys, Reese’s Miniatures, and Hershey Bars. Most of the kids were young enough that being told to take a handful of candy was so mind-blowing they didn’t even care what kind it was. So, no statistics on popularity, just some very happy faces.
Did I say there were around ten young bandits? Actually, there were two who didn’t show up in costume. Meezer Mommy showed up shortly before sundown with Little Black and Tiny Tux in tow. They all shared a bowl of kitty krunchies and a few cat treats we tossed from the window.
More happy faces.
The sad news arrived Saturday when MM showed up with only Tiny Tux. As promised, we had put out an offering for the little grey critter (gooshy food, which was quite enthusiastically devoured by Faux Tux and Grey Tabby) both Friday and Saturday. But when Little Black didn’t show up, our tenuous grip on our willpower failed.
Tiny Tux, aka Little Bit, aka TBD is now living in our spare bedroom. Yes, we went out and snagged her* Saturday afternoon. She had her first vet visit yesterday, and will remain in isolation until we’re sure she’s healthy. She’s getting antibiotics for an eye infection and she’s sufficiently undernourished and dehydrated that we don’t want to give her vaccinations or flea medications quite yet. Nor, at her age (estimated at 6-8 weeks), are the tests for FeLV and FIV accurate. So, isolation for her, multitudinous hand-washings for us.
* She’s still at an age where sex is a matter of opinion. We think “she” is the genetically correct pronoun, and will work on that basis unless proven incorrect. And if she has a different gender identity when she grows up, we’ll support her completely.
Taking on another kitty, especially one who’s going to need special care and attention to civilize, is a bit of a scary prospect, but, well… Let me put it this way: Sunday night we gave her a bowl of food, tucked her in (figuratively speaking), and went to bed ourselves. Five minutes later, a coyote started howling just beyond our back fence. I can’t think that bringing Little Bit inside was the wrong decision, though I suppose the coyote would beg to differ with me.
Meanwhile, Meezer Mommy is now temporarily residing in our garage. Or rather, around the time this post goes live, she’s at Fix Our Ferals to ensure that she doesn’t gift the neighborhood–or risk her own health–with another litter of kittens.
We suspect she’s a stray, rather than a lifelong feral, and she’s such a beautiful lady that we wish we could (re?)socialize her and find her a new home. Unfortunately, that’s just not going to be possible at this point. Perhaps she’ll forgive us for the indignity of her current incarceration and non-consensual surgery, and continue to hang around the backyard bowl. If so, well, who knows about the future?
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Trick or Treat! Lick My Feet! Give Me Something Good To Eat!
Happy Halloween!
Can you imagine our surprise and delight when this crew of junior trick-or-treaters showed up last Sunday?
Now we know why Meezer Girl has been gobbling so much of the kitty krunchies. Added bonus: we can set aside any question of whether “Girl” is appropriate in her name–although for obvious reasons, we’ve renamed her Meezer Mommy.
We don’t know if Faux Tux is the (or even a) daddy, although I’d swear he’s concealing a blush under his fur in that photo. Certainly the evidence of the kids’ markings suggests that he was involved in some capacity.
I think Meezer Mommy was a bit embarrassed about getting the date wrong. She showed up very late for Monday’s feeding–without the kids–and, which she showed up on time Tuesday, she left the kids home again.
She didn’t let embarrassment spoil their Sunday, however. They hung around most of the afternoon, including taking nap time in the sunlight. I think we startled Little Black when we walked through the yard. Not enough to bother getting up from his nest in the abandoned fountain, but enough to get us a bleary-eyed once-over.
And Meezer Mommy did bring the kids along Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, the little gray guy hasn’t been seen since Sunday. We fear foul play–or, given the number of raptors in this area, perhaps fowl play. We’ll put out a Día de Muertos offering for him/her tomorrow.
Black cats have an unfortunate reputation, and it’s never more awkward than this time of year. If Meezer Mommy brings Little Black and Tiny Tux out again today, we hope she’ll make them wear costumes that hide most of their fur.
Of course, if they’re in costume, we might not recognize them. Since chocolate is bad for cats, we’ve decided to play it safe. We will not give out candy to trick-or-treaters this year. Instead, all costumed extortionists, regardless of size and apparent lack of fur, will get Fun Size packages of Kitten Chow. Hopefully Zillow will appreciate the lengths we’re willing to go to in protecting our neighbors’ health.
PS: Yes, we’re aware of various TNR organizations in our area. We’re already discussing our options and responsibilities. I’d prefer not to have that discussion in the comments. Thanks!
Koi Scribblings 