Oliver's Halloween

I can't believe it's November already! Seems like the year was just getting underway and here we are nearly at it's end. Crazy.

As I posted earlier, Halloween is one of those 'holidays' that causes me significant worry over the safety of Oliver and his family. Early on Halloween night, he and I had a long talk. I told him it was Halloween, a night when people are crazy stupid, and being a black cat out and about the neighborhood was not safe. I pleaded with him to be a good host and keep his family safe by having them hang out with him all night on his cozy back porch. I told him I would provide lots and lots of stinky wet food for him and his family to enjoy throughout the night. He just looked at me like I was crazy and rolled over in his heated bed to have his toasty warm belly rubbed.

This morning when I went out to replenish the wet food, I was greeted by Oliver and his two sons! I was thrilled to see them healthy and well! They were waiting for their daily special wet food breakfast and quickly scattered to outside the screened door as I filled the bowl. As soon as I turned my back to come back inside, they were eating!

Later in the evening, when I looked back through the pictures of the network camera on the back porch, I see that Oliver did exactly what I asked of him! He and his family hung out on the back porch all night! It's hard to tell who's who in these pictures, so I don't know if Oliver's little girl showed up too or not, I sure hope she did.

12:24 am

Pesky raccoons crashing the party, stealing all the snacks.                2:53 am

3:33 am

3:39 am

3:42 am

4:39 am

5:58 am

6:03 am

6:25 am

This makes me so very very happy! I just love seeing them all together, I wish all four had been there at once, but three is a delight too. I am very fond of Oliver and I just love how he looks after his family. I'm very thankful he choose my yard to hang out in, I feel it is an honor to get to care for him and to watch his beautiful family.

spooky night

May all the outdoor kitties, especially the black ones, be safe tonight.

Halloween night is one of the nights of the year when I really worry about Oliver and his family. It's not a good night to be a free roaming black cat. I've given Oliver special instruction to watch over his family this night and to do all he can to keep them safe.

Hershey

Thank you to Caren from Cat Chat for the perfect name suggestion for our foster tabby, who is hereby known as Hershey!

He's the color of chocolate.

He has chocolate fur around his mouth.

And he's as sweet as chocolate!

He's our smallest boy by far, less than 10 pounds. He's fairly timid yet curious. His teeth are pearly white and still sharp, so, I'm guessing he's about a year old. He briefly met Nahum, our ambassador, and they smelled noses. A good start.

warm fuzzies

Rose and Nahum were inseparable last winter. Rose frequently snuggled right into Nahum's warm furs. Over the summer, they didn't spend much time together, so recently we wondered if Rose would snuggle with Nahum again when it got cold.

Ok, maybe it was a dumb question.

dreamy heated world

In my dream world, every homeless cat would have a warm, dry bed to sleep in. The temperature keeps getting colder and the rain keeps falling - Oliver and his family want to stay warm and dry.

Oliver now has two heated beds on the back porch, and both are in use! Each of his outdoor houses are also now heated, but I wish I had four heated spots on the back porch, Oliver and his family like to be all together.

Yesterday morning, I was about to leave for the morning when I noticed MK and Oliver snuggled up together in the loft bed. I couldn't go out the back door and scare MK away, I just couldn't do it. So, I went out the front door and walked around the block to the alley and then to the car. It was the long way in the rain, but it was worth it to allow MK and Oliver to enjoy the warm, dry snuggle!

I still worry about Brown Kitty, if he's still alive, I hope he has a warm, dry and safe spot to sleep the cold rain away. Still no sign of him. I know when he's been to the feeder, because he is the only cat who drinks the water! When he was visiting I had to refill the water daily, now that he's gone it rarely needs refilling.

If I won the lottery I would build them a big house with plush, heated rooms just for the feral cats. That would be lovely.

the girls

photo courtesy of Laura

first foster

Remember how I said this new brown tabby is just a guest, that he's not staying? I can honestly say that I'm not going to get attached.

Nope, I'm not gonna do it...

I can resist...

I might be able to resist...

resistance is futile!

Giving up this love bug will be difficult, but it's time for me to learn how to choose to give up a cat and grieve the loss. This seems like a critical thing to be able to do in cat rescue work. I had about made the decision to relocate Brown Kitty right before he disappeared. Part of me wonders if this new guy is related to Brown Kitty.

I'll work hard to see to it that he finds a good home. I'm still working on finding his owner, I put out ads today on craigslist and signs around the block. If his owner doesn't come forward soon, then he'll be adopted into a nice home where he will get all the cheek scratchies he ever wanted. He melts into a purring puddle when his cheeks and head are rubbed.

His purr is soft. He's very gentle. And the brown mustache around his mouth makes it looks like he got into some chocolate! He's way to sweet to be living on the street.