This is Ashes...

[lspencer534]

To refresh your memory, my daughter and I went to lunch in late August of last year. She spotted two tiny bundles of fur beside a burned-out building adjacent to the restaurant. We walked over and found that they were gnawing on an old meatless chicken bone; the eyes of one of the kittens were completely shut and the other one's eyes were almost shut. I knew they wouldn't survive, all tiny, hungry and blind as they were.

We finally caught them and took them to a vet. The vet estimated that they were one month old; the girl, Ashes, weighed 0.7 of a pound, and the male, Sooty, weighed 0.9 of a pound, very skinny and very dirty. They had worms and eye infections. The vet fed them and said she'd never seen kittens eat like they did.

Several days later their eyes were disease free and completely open, and they had been bathed. Both changed color from light gray to dark gray/dark gray and white, hence the names Sooty and Ashes. Ashes is the remaining sister of Sooty who choked to death on Christmas Day.

Ashes is healthy, frisky, and very affectionate. She has changed from being shy and stand-offish to "Please pick me up and pet me!". After Sooty died, I knew that Ashes needed company, but I don't want another kitty right now, so I introduced her to Kitty Perry aka Sweetie. It's a match made in Heaven: Sweetie is so smart and well-behaved that she baby-sits Ashes perfectly: She plays with her, swats her if she tries to climb the Christmas tree or gets destructive, even tries to teach her to eat more daintily!

Sweetie and Ashes are former ferals and always will be. I caught them both early in their lives, so they'll be affectionate and loving. But they'll always retain what they learned in the wild: Lengthy bathing sessions, careful covering-up of their waste (both to avoid odors that attract predators), etc. but they will fight back. They're interesting to watch and easy to love.

[Jeff '79]

Nice job with them. Affectionate cats are few and far between.
We're wondering if we should get Ginger another buddy.
We have kept her inside the past few nights, as Pepper is now gone.
Do we make her an inside cat, or leaave her alone out there in the barn, as she's been a barn cat all her life?
We dunno what to do....

[DAB]

10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. - Proverbs 12:10

that's right, a righteous man takes care of his animals, including pets.

[Chuck A]

very cool, indeed

[lspencer534]

Originally Posted by Jeff '79

Nice job with them. Affectionate cats are few and far between.
We're wondering if we should get Ginger another buddy.
We have kept her inside the past few nights, as Pepper is now gone.
Do we make her an inside cat, or leaave her alone out there in the barn, as she's been a barn cat all her life?
We dunno what to do....

That's a tough one. If you do get her a new buddy, you'll need to keep them both inside for several weeks; if the new buddy is put in the barn, he'll likely just run away. How old is Ginger?

BTW, did you show Ginger Pepper's dead body? Cats need closure, too.

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by lspencer534

That's a tough one. If you do get her a new buddy, you'll need to keep them both inside for several weeks; if the new buddy is put in the barn, he'll likely just run away. How old is Ginger?

BTW, did you show Ginger Pepper's dead body? Cats need closure, too.

Ginger is 10.
In your other thread, Ginger is sitting on Pepper's expired body in his coffin.
She knows.
We left Peppy in the living room and Ginger went and sat on Pepper's body a few times. He retreated to one of the recliners where she seemed devastated.
I buried Pepper today and Ginger saw......
Ginger lost a best friend.
It's gonna be tough for a while.
She's outside hunting right now. We want to keep things somewhat the same.

[Barn Babe]

I love to see your softer side, Ashes and the others are very lucky.

[SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84]

Ashes looks like a Bombay. Ours is 11 years old now. Bombays are very affectionate and will seek out a human to "own". I lucked out and got owned by ours as I spoil her with affection at every chance.
You'll be an easy target of one.

Like you said, kitties are easy to love...

[lspencer534]

Originally Posted by SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84

Ashes looks like a Bombay. Ours is 11 years old now. Bombays are very affectionate and will seek out a human to "own". I lucked out and got owned by ours as I spoil her with affection at every chance.
You'll be an easy target of one.

Like you said, kitties are easy to love...

Annie is a Bombay: Royal, prissy, but devoted and loving. Bombays are very special.

[Black94lt1]

Very cute kitty and great story of how you saved them both! Sooty is in heaven now and Ashes will adapt, she is young

[mrvette]

And my buddy the Bo cat shows up every AM to give me a tummy rub.....actually several times a day...... his little sister lets me rub her ears off......