A Tail of Four Kitties 

In early August 2024, I wrote about the feral mama cat and three kittens that showed up in our backyard on July 3rd. We tried to find their owner, to no avail. Consequently, the feline family adopted us.  At that time, I wrote about how I longed to keep these cats safe, but I knew I was powerless to shelter them from all potential harms.

Today, the kittens are full grown. Spunky, a small but beautiful boy, the friendliest of the three babies, was neutered a few months ago. At that time, he tested positive for the feline leukemia virus (FeLV), for which there is no effective medical treatment. False positive tests are common, so the vet advised us to have him retested in a month, and he tested positive again. We are trying to find a solo home for him, free of other pets, because a cat may live for years before the virus significantly weakens its immune system. 

Mother cat, Skeezix, was spayed last fall. She recently tested negative for the virus and received all her shots, including FeLV vaccines. She was once the most skittish of the four cats, but she has slowly begun to trust my husband and me. She sleeps on a garden chair outside our sunroom and tolerates being petted when we feed her twice a day. Her fur is longer and mottled gray, brown, and black. She is a scrappy, tough little critter, weighing less than eight pounds, who took loving care of her kittens. She no longer mothers them, but she still enjoys their company. 

Smudge, a spayed “dilute” Calico, wears gray with soft splotches of orange, white, and beige. She, too, tested negative, and received her FeLV vaccinations and other required shots. Like Skeezix, she enjoys life in our backyard, allowing us to pet her while she eats. 

Stripe, a black and white tabby with a bullseye pattern on his sides, remains feral. As a result, we have been unable to get him neutered or tested for FeLV. A friend patiently attempted to approach him to give him tranquilizing medicine before his veterinary appointment, but he panicked, scratching her and literally flying around our enclosed sunroom. Adrenaline propelled him around the room, making him slam face first into a window and jump eight feet to the ceiling.

This week we scheduled an appointment for a veterinarian to make a house call, in hopes of getting Stripe examined and tested for FeLV. On the morning of the appointment, we tried to coax him into the sunroom (where the cats often eat), to have his breakfast, wet food mixed with chicken flavored calming medication. Alas, Stripe intuited that something was amiss, and we were unsuccessful. We won’t try to catch him again. He is content to lead his own wild life in our backyard, sunning himself, climbing our fences, and showing up for meals. On a good day, he will generously allow us to stroke his fur while he dines. 

I am slowly becoming reconciled to the facts: We have done our best to provide a good home for these cats. In return, they have given us joy and delight on a daily basis. While I am saddened to know that one or two of them may succumb to illness in the future, I take some small comfort in knowing that we are gifted with moments of connection in their presence. For now, our pride of little lions carries on. I am in awe of these exquisite creatures, domesticated, but never tamed. 

~ Ruth Rezos