04/12/2025
8 years ago I clapped eyes on the extremely wily and feral mama cat of the colony.
I fed them every day, but 5 years on I was no closer to catching her, even though I had caught 23 of her children (all of which have been neutered and rehomed).
I had set many traps but she had never gone in and she still would not let me get anywhere near her.
Finally after 6 years, and a week of no food, she got in the trap. She was bloody furious and very, very pregnant. A few days later she went into labour and produced 4 kittens- 1 stillborn and 3 living. Two of them developed very pronounced head tilts from a toxin Mama had ingested during pregnancy and after treatment they made a full recovery.
Through all of this Mama (due to maternal hormones) became very receptive to me fussing and stroking her including letting me be present at the birth and helping remove the kittens from their sacs.
Although she had the run of the house she never once ventured downstairs. What she did do was sit on the floor at the end of my bed if I was late with the treats.
After 12 weeks all of the kittens were in their new homes and it was time for Mama to be neutered.
Mama held a grudge.
After bringing her home, she refused to come anywhere near me………for FOURTEEN months!
Eventually with the aid of wafer thin chicken (resulting in many scratches) I broke her.
So now Mama lives downstairs and has moved from sleeping on pallets in a timber yard to sleeping like this underneath our electric fire. It was worth every scratch, hiss and swipe.