I once lived on a plot. We had a lot of dogs, cats and birds. My mother and father loved all animals. No animal was every turned away when it needed a home. The plot was big enough for all.
First my father passed away and then my mother. The plot was sold. I had to move and the cats came with me. Later on I bought a place of my own. People told me that it would be better for me to live in a complex, it would be safer.
They were not young cats and one by one they passed on. I hated living in a complex and with the complex came a whole number of different problems. The one was that the municipality account had not been paid and so there were times there was no electricity.
The body corporation did not do very much and then the other owners decided to form their own body corporation. The problem with this, still none of the owners really wanted to do much and most of the things fall on my shoulders. The one day something made me go out and an estate agent was showing this young woman a flat. I approached the estate agent and when she asked me if I was interested in selling the place I said yes. The young woman, that just seen the other flat, took one look at fall in love with my flat. Three months later I moved into a house, with the most beautiful garden.
During my stay at the complex, feral cats would come to the complex and I would feed them. When I noticed that the one black female was pregnant, I put out a bed for her. One night I heard something strange and on investigating found that the black female was giving birth. It was cold that time of the year and I was worried about the kittens and what chance of survival they would have. I managed to get her as she tried to escape with the kitten in her mouth. I did not know at the time, I would be doing a lot more than just taking a mom cat and her kittens in. The mom gave birth to 2 more kittens. My daughter found homes for all three kittens.
I never regretted moving. It was the best decision that I made in a long time. Not to long afterwards I heard a cat meowing outside my front door. I opened the door to find a very wet calico cat. She must have been around 4 months of age. Calico cats are beautiful cats and very loving. They are cats a person can own to fill in the gap of being alone. They also bring luck. She filled that empty space in my heart.
I was watering the garden the one day and I heard a kitten cry. On investigating I found a very young kitten, by that time soaked to the skin. I brought the kitten and dried him. I hand reared him. He was so beautiful and he found a home quickly.
The one day I was out in the garden when a black man passing asked me where the SPCA was. He was carrying a bucket that had three kittens in it. My heart went out to them. I took them in. Two of them have semi long hair and the other is short haired. All black. People don’t like black cats because they black cats are supposed to bring bad luck.
My cat family was growing …………………
Again I was out in the garden, when I noticed this flower pot I know I never had. I took a look in to found a cat there. She was not alone she had kittens. I put something over the opening of the pot and took it inside. The cat came out and then I removed the kittens. There were two. They were a creamer colour. This cat never minded me touching her kittens but she certainly minded me removing her bowls for cleaning. She would attack me. Later on she adjusted and did not mind anymore, but she suddenly bite me for no reason or attack my feet. I was becoming a bit afraid of her until I decided enough was enough. When she did this, I would smack her on her back side. She soon quieten down and did not do this anymore.
I forgot all about the birds and bees. I forgot her kittens could impregnate her. What a fool I am. She gave birth to two grey kittens.
Hysterical cat meowing, am I hearing things?. I go out and don’t see anything. Even though its daylight. That night I hear it again. This time the crying is even more desperate. I found the kitten and brought it in. This kitten could eat and drink by itself. The kitten had long hair. It was white and grey. People love fluffy kittens and my daughter got him a home straight away.
About 7 months ago, I was watering the garden and heard kittens crying. I find five kittens. These were the youngest kittens that I ever found. The dilemma – should I leave them or take them in. I decided to take them in and hand rare them. Hand rearing takes a lot of time and the kitten milk is expensive. One was a tabby, and another black and white and the rest were black. 
Young kittens are licked by their mother to stimulate the bowl movement. My calico cat was amazing and accepted them and would help with the bowel movement and clean them. My calico cat has never had kittens but her maternal instinct kicked in, she even tried to feed them and that was not possible. She let them suckle at her teats and it must have hurt her.
My story does not end here. This time I heard a kitten frantic crying on the other side of the house. This time I only found one. I tried to bottle feed him and he would not suckle. I had a problem. I went onto the internet and watched a video of a man, that had the same problem with a kitten not suckling. He showed one how to do it but the kitten ended up being afraid on him. I could not have this kitten being afraid. I worked out a method whereby I put the teat in his mouth and squirted the milk. It worked. He is also a black haired kitten and so different from any of the other kittens. He is a little monster and plays rough. He grabs at my hand and kicks with his back legs. It can be very sore at times. I was worried that he could not suckle and after a very expensive visit to the vet, I nearly lost my monster. The kitten seemed to go into a diabetic comma. My friend helped me over skype and told me to wet the kittens gums and tongue with a sugar mixture. Thank God. Thank my friend that this little kitten survived.
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