Three kittens. Three tiny kittens and a Mamma cat. We, sort of, took them under our wings. We tried. We had a box in the cortile with a soft towel that they would sleep in, all three of them. The first words I ever exchanged with my neighbor (now friend) across the street were over these kittens. The whole odyssey began with three little kittens.
One died. She had a deadly injury to one eye, most likely from the predatory male cat that roamed around at that time. She was barely three months old.
The Mamma kitty and the two others came every day for food and would sometimes just hang around, to the point where I was able to pet them all. Scruffy, the gray tabby "look alike" of his mamma, had goopy eyes that I was able to fix with antibiotic eye drops. At first I wrapped him up in a towel so I would not be ripped to ribbons, but thereafter, he allowed me to put the drops in his eyes. He knew they were helping him.
Our mission was to neuter as many as possible since we had over a dozen street cats in our tiny piazzetta. If I could have managed to start a town program, I would have, but no one here is ready for that......yet.
Baby Ink and Scruff having a meal.
The two remaining kittens from "that" litter were Incubo and Scruff...Inky being an all black female and Scruff a gray tabby, just like his mother.
The long story short is, we neutered nine cats in all. Seven are in our home. The two remaining outside are Inky and Mamma...Scruff's family. They wanted NO part in being indoor cats, although we tried. They let you know what they want, in no uncertain terms.
I only recently found out that having neutered feral or street cats does actually deter other cats from coming into the "territory." Seems that the neutered ones then tend to stick close to what they consider home and this, in turn, discourages other outside cats from invading. It is a phenomenon we have noticed. We are now down to about six "regulars"....there is another spayed female thanks to a lady down the block, and our two. Then there is Funky, an unspayed female, and Mr. Gray...an unneutered but harmless male, and Chowder Cheeks, a creamsicle orange male....not neutered but accepted by the others and he doesn't seem to cause any trouble. We have reached a point, at least for now, of relative stability and peace.
Mamma and Ink come every day. Every. Day. This is their home, not home. It breaks my heart. I worry about them constantly, but we provide fresh water and dry food always. When we know they are there, we also give them wet food inside the cortile.
Mamma is still, is ALWAYS, very wary and skittish. After all this time...nearly 2 years, and she still barely trusts us. But Inky is more approachable. She will come to our door and cry. She will even jump in the front window and cry or just hang out with the clown inside, rub noses with her brother.
If she is outside and we come around, she will "talk" to us and schmooze our legs and ankles and let us pet her. If she is REALLY comfortable, she will sit beside me on the bench in the cortile.
For me, it is very difficult to have animals I care about "out there"...vulnerable to disease, rotten people, stray dogs, wild animals. Worries me no end. Each day we keep tabs on them. Mamma? Did you see her? Has Inky shown up yet?
Both of them could have been safe and sound in here. Scruffy is about twice the size of both his mother and sister now...thanks to good food, clean water, medicine and safety. It breaks my heart, but I could not make them stay indoors. This is the life they chose.
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