Wild Kingdom

She looks sweet, doesn’t she.  Not!  This is Carmela, the devil queen.  She is the reason I have studio cats - she started the trend.  Carm was called “Mama Cat”, the mother of seven baby devil kittens :).  She and her kids were so bad that their foster mom took them to the vet for their spay/neuter appointment and never came back to get them!  Abandoned at the vet, Mama Cat and her kids were marooned for two weeks.  A volunteer brought the kittens to our Saturday adoption day and they were cage crazy — losing their tiny kitten minds.  It broke my heart.  I agreed to foster them and a few days later, picked up “Mama Cat” too.  

THAT was when the fun began.  Mama was renamed Carmela and began stalking every animal in our household.  She was born to be an assassin.  Of course, she had a screw loose from a bad childhood experience….whatever!  Carmela then tried her luck outdoors but she fought everything that moved outside too and was soon a mass of wounds and abscesses.  Time for Plan Three.

So, Carmela moved to the studio and has been happy ever since.  She’s safe, content, and recently oversaw the addition of a screened porch for afternoon tanning!  I signed her adoption papers and she’s now a permanent resident.  You may wonder how she gets along with the other cats.  Well, it was a slow rehab process and I’m very proud of our success.  I fostered a small kitten, placing her in a crate on a table, safe from Carm’s terrorism.  That kitten never came near Carm’s teeth or claws before moving on to a home.  The second foster kitten met Carm only with my close supervision.  Over months, I desensitized Carmela to other cats and eventually she was able to share her home with teenage kittens and even some carefully selected adults.  

Carmela is still a VERY moody lady — the result of fear, uncertainty, and lack of socialization as a kitten.  She’ll never change, I’m afraid, but she’s happy in her Yellow House on Oakwood.  And if Carm’s happy, everybody is happy!

Wild Kingdom

George Gray was born in a shed and was one wild baby kitten!  His Mama is Vespa, a well known Five Points lady :) and his Dad was “Big George”. I took his litter in and fostered them.  George would have gone to an adopter like his brothers and sisters but he met with an unfortunate accident while staying at my house!  While he was sitting on the floor minding his own business, another cat tipped a piece of ornamental ironwork over on him.  Poor George suffered a severe head injury — I rushed him to the vet with blood coming out of both eyes and his nose and he was slipping out of consciousness.  I thought little George was gone.  The vet didn’t offer much hope but she gave him a steroid shot to control the swelling and I took him home to see what would happen.  

George recovered!  He’s never been exactly normal but what’s normal for a cat anyway?  One of his issues as a result of his accident is he doesn’t understand “cat etiquette”.  Good manners?  What’s that?  Wait your turn?  Why?  George has to live with a handpicked group of cats or he gets in big trouble.  He STAYS in trouble with Carmela but that’s unavoidable.  Actually, his total lack of fear comes in handy with Carmela.  The other boys at the studio are totally submissive - perfect companions for George.  Of course, he has stayed with me.  He doesn’t make new human friends easily and no one understands him like I do.  He did forgive me for not having a kitten safe zone, thank goodness.  I think George and I will be pals forever.