Introduction

I am an American living in Italy.  I arrived just over two years ago.  My beloved dog arrived the very  next day.  

He was the subject of two children's books I wrote.  He had a blog and a Facebook page.  The blog has been suspended because Harry Spotter has terminal disease.  I have not yet decided what to do about his FB page.

Harry is a "cat friendly" dog.  The truth is, he is just an all around, sweet, friendly soul.  I have never heard him growl in his entire life. 

Soon after arriving, it was noticed that there are many...too many...street cats.  In this smallish hill town, there is no program for spaying and neutering, or for adoption.  An idea sprang up in my mind to try and establish a program, but in the meantime, I was determined to help as many cats as possible.

Luckily, our neighbors across the street are animal lovers.  They even have a house cat of their own, a pretty calico.  My friend offered to help by driving us to and from the veterinarian, since it is a bit of a walk.

By my first Spring here, one cat had had three little kittens.  My heart ached.  Other than puppies, what is possibly cuter than tiny kittens? Two were gray tabbies, like Mamma, and one was all black.  

Since I had begun feeding the ferals outside, we began to assign them names, of sorts, just to be able to differentiate who the heck we were talking about.  So, there was, obviously, Mamma.  One kitten had had a terrible injury to one eye.  I could not tell if it was life threatening, and they would not let me near....so, that kitten became "Pirate," the black one became "Incubo" ("Nightmare" in Italian) because she was so fierce in claiming her food, and the third, because of his extra fluffy fur and chowder face, became "Scruff."

With time, food and a bit of a routine, they came to trust me and let me pet them.  One day, I was able to scoop Pirate up and we (my husband and I) walked to the vet.  The prognosis was not good.  This little kitten was not going to make it.  In fact, she was already not interested in eating so much.  She spent the evening on the mat in our enclosed courtyard, looking out at the piazzetta as the sun slowly set.  After that, I never saw her again.

Ink and Scruff and Mamma came each day.  I obtained antibiotic drops for Scruffy's goopy eyes.  Scooped him up and wrapped a towel around him and treated his eyes.  After that, he let me do it even while he was busy eating!!

Throughout that first summer cats came every late afternoon.  The little family was consistent, but others showed up and then sometimes didn't.  At times, I had 8 cats to feed.  There was "Sib"...who I think was from Mamma's previous litter, and another full grown black cat, and a little gray one with a strange face ("Funky") and a grown male, all gray.  "Mr. Gray"...yes, sorry, not very original, just expedient.  And there was an unwelcome interloper, the "Orange Creep"...who would show up and start fights and terrorize all the others.  

In July, the full grown black cat had a litter of three.  So, she was now "Mamma Nera"...and the kittens were a tortoise shell, a gray kitten and one black and white.  Mamma N, when they were ready, brought her kittens to the restaurant each evening, too. This was becoming overwhelming. 

Somewhere during this time we bought a trap and a cage and tried to plan on how to arrange the trapping, transport and recuperation of these cats.  In the meantime, gaining trust was the goal. 

We lost track of the tortoise kitten, the gray one had four white paws, so "Calzini" ("Socks") was christened, and the black and white one wailed, literally echoing through the courtyard, when I showed up with a tray of food.  He also tried to climb up my legs and was very aggressive.  I called him "Demon."  

Fall turned into winter, 2019 came to a close and in January, 2020, we went on a neutering frenzy.  By this time, my husband, who had been staunchly against bringing a cat inside, decided we had room for THREE!  Scruffy, who came when I called him, schmoozed my ankles, purred and let me pet him, had already won my heart.  I could not wait to bring him inside!

But, there was an unexpected surprise.  A beautiful tortoise shell, not full grown, showed up out of nowhere.  She walked right into the courtyard, and ingratiated herself with the other cats.  And, she loved Harry. She was not afraid of us, or the dog...and she was affectionate.  This was very strange.  Was this the  kitten we had lost track of?  Perhaps someone had taken her in and then changed their minds? She was NOT acting like your typical feral cat.  We called her "T.S." for obvious reasons.  That got shortened to "Tee."  I wanted to save Scruff, but this cat was not accustomed to being in the street and she wanted in badly.  

And then came a pandemic.

So, this is where I will end the introduction and begin to introduce "the clowns" one by one.  It all started with Tee.