An introduction

 I have never really thought of myself as a 'cat person'. It's more like they have always been around and a part of my home. Not a special creature to be elevated above the others. We are simply nice to each other and I have shared living space with them my whole life. 

Well, nice may not always apply. Sam-I-am used to poop in my shoes. Only my shoes. Certainly it was his way of saying something. I was just never sure of what words would best translate his action. We were mostly friendly. He lived with us for many years in many places, but was never My cat. A world traveler that chose to stay with my wife and I and our dogs ..and for much of his time there was a parrot too. This blog is not about Sam. More so, it is about cats that I know and care about. I'm sure I'll have more to say about Sam later. 

Cats that I know and care about. For about two years I have tended a colony of feral cats that live near my home. I feed them twice a day, near dawn and dusk. I trap them and bring them to the vet for vaccination and spay/neuter. I have shelter boxes for them in the cold winter. I monitor their health and do what I can to keep them well. I take the kittens and find homes for them. I name them and talk to them. I bury them when they die. Most of them born in the wild. Most of them never having felt the touch of a human. Most of them fear me. All of them living in the space around humans, doing what they must to survive.

I plan to use this blog to help me keep track of them: 

• Who has been trapped and what care they had. 
• Who attends feedings.
• Who is pregnant and when kittens are born.
• Names and descriptions - so many of them looked alike at first. 
• Tracking population - a census of locals and transients.

A few pics to see how this blog format works. 

 Feeding at the spring:

 

Thomas and Tanya:

Feeding at the pole: