Jungle Cats

And Mom's still keeping watch.

The Secret Passage

What was that I said about maybe they would never, ever leave the back yard? Sigh.

Dress Code!

Maybe they will never, ever leave the back yard, but in case they do, there's now a mandatory dress code.

Things Mama Taught Me

Aw, this isn't so scary after all!

Sensory overload is in the past, and the many delights of playing outside are being discovered.






















Pretty Girl keeps a close eye on the fun.

Play, fight, sleep; play, fight, sleep.

The toys are good, but the kittens' favorite pastime is fighting with each other.







All that playing and fighting makes for two very sleepy little kitties.

Toy Story

Smart, healthy kittens need lots of things to occupy their minds and bodies.








(Or is it that their human caretaker is really having fun with this?)

The Great Outdoors

The kittens are big enough now to enjoy some accompanied play time outside. Their outdoor headquarters, and their mother's headquarters, should she choose to accept it, will be the greenhouse.
















































Sensory overload.

Joys of and Freedom from Motherhood

One more trip to the vet, for spaying, and one more name: Pretty Girl. That's what I've been saying over and over to mama cat, and that will be her name. And now she doesn't have to have the mama cat responsibility over and over again. She can just be herself and enjoy life. Mama and the kittens are reunited here after her return from the vet, to spend a couple of days together in this protected environment.

Next stop: back yard adventures.

Kittens are in the house.

Tiger Puff and Little Bear are still much too small to go out into the back yard, because there are hawks there. Their (and our) routine is evolving, and right now they're in the house some of the time and in the garage with their mother some of the time.

Questions and Answers

Healthy? Male? Female?

Time for the first trip to the vet, in a laundry basket.

Answers: Healthy, one male (black kitten), one female (orange kitten), to henceforth be known (and officially entered into the vet's computer system) as Little Bear and Tiger Puff.

The Human Touch

Socialization work with these somewhat wild kittens intensifies. Tonight's lesson: the intriguing world of human hands ...
















... and feet.

The Wonderful World of Food

See, there are still two kittens, after all! And the as-yet-unnamed kittens, still nursing, as they will for a long, long, long time, nevertheless begin exploring the world of food.

Garage Apartment

Maybe a studio apartment, all nice and cozy. Mother doesn't have to go far to eat, which is just fine by her and the kittens.




Speaking of kittens, plural, only one can be seen most of the time. Here is her first official portrait.

A Pretty Girl

Next steps: One quick trip to get a cat bed and cat cube, then put them next to a gardening cart with plenty of room for a wanting-the-best-for-her-kittens but oh-so-not-completely-sure-about-all-this mother cat to hide underneath.

Rocky!

Going with a combination of things happen for a reason/go with the flow/we can do this mentality, I say, "Let's at least move them into the garage. We can leave the garage door open a few inches for their mother to go in and out, and it'll only be for a few weeks. Then we can maybe move them into the greenhouse in the back yard."

But wait. There's something you don't know yet. Why is it a problem at all? Why the garage? Why the back yard and not the house?

Introducing Rocky, in his 18th year of living free except at night.

"They're tugging at my heartstrings."

A text message from my husband while my daughter and I are at Disney World: "There are two kittens under the plants out front. What should I do?" My response: "Wait until I get home." Text message the next day: "Hurry home. They're tugging at my heartstrings."

The next day we arrive home.