Caspurr, Purrl & Smudge and a "shout-out" to Carrie at Snippets!

About three weeks ago now, we were successful in catching three feral kittens and their Mama who had decided to bring them into this world via our garage. We have been working to catch and neuter a number of feral cats around our home. People drop off cats out where we are and we have a neighbor down the road who is irresponsible and keeps strays who continue to have litters. We've decided to try and stop this situation. The Friends of Feral Felines near us have assisted us in finding veterinarians who will neuter at a reduced cost and so we have been able to neuter two adults! We're going to keep the kittens out on our cat porch along with the seven we have already taken in and made part of our family.

Here are the girls first pictures! They have calmed down enough now so I thought I could get some good photos without hissy-fits!

Caspurr

Miss Caspurr was the last of these girls to be caught. She's quire wily and a bit wilder than her sisters. It took two weeks longer to nab her in the humane trap, but we finally were successful. She's a bobtail. She's calming down a good bit now but still prefers the high ground of the windowsill in the little bathroom we have them in until they are old enough to go out to the cat porch.

Purrl

Now, little Miss Purrl is somewhat anxious. One evening while I was spending some bonding time with these sweeties, Richard let our dogs come down to the level where the bathroom/kitten nursery is located and Sweet Pea barked, scaring Purrl who in turn bit my thumb! I flushed it out good with soap/water, bled it a good bit, poured on the H2O2, applied antibiotic ointment and headed to the "MinuteClinic" at the nearest CVS. Unfortunately, the NP on duty that evening overreacted and sent me on to the ER. All I had wanted was some Augmentin to ward off infection. They offered to start me on rabies shots which I declined. I just new Miss Purrl did not have rabies (and she doesn't). I was glad I got the antibiotic because that thumb puffed up and was SORE for about four days. Purrl has not exposed a tooth since and I think is quite sorry she caused so much trouble!

Smudge

Lastly, Miss Smudge; so named due to the fact that she has a tiny, thumb-sized gray shadow next to her left ear on the back of her head. She is a real lover and the only girl I've been successful in having purr. She truly melts my heart and snuggles down with me without hesitation.

These little ones have kept both me and Richard quite busy over the past month. I hope to get a photo of their mother, Licorice. The ones I took today didn't do her justice...maybe later.

Thanks to wonderful Carrie of Snippets fame for all of her supportive emails throughout this process. If you haven't dropped by her blog, you must. Her dedication to helping feral cats and her love of all animals is an inspiration. She also has a fabulous ETSY shop that you should also visit. Her sculptures are fantastic! You can tell she puts a great deal of love in to each one.