Mother Cat Goes Walkabout…

A few months ago, my eldest son, his wife and my two grandchildren decided it was time they had another dog. Thor, their beautiful German Shepherd Dog had died of old age a year ago and they all missed him dreadfully. They had him as a small puppy and we had a litter sister that we had lost a couple of years earlier.

My suggestion was that they look for a rescue dog this time as they could provide a very good home and there are so many dogs needing new homes. So they began looking around at the different centres. They ended up having an in-depth interview at their home by one of the Home Check people.

Off they went to look for a dog. They were at Battersea Dog Home and began walking around. As usually happens when all four people have to agree on the same dog, they couldn’t. A heated discussion ensued as they wandered into the cat section.

They went home with three cats. I couldn’t believe it! A mother cat with two kittens. It had already been discussed that another cat might not be the best idea as their last one was run over on the road in front of their house. Now they had three! They got them home and realised that all three were completely wild.

A lot of time was spent in trying to get the cats to accept a stroke, but it was hard going. Gradually, they stopped running off to a corner to hide when anyone came in the kitchen. Slowly, they came out to get their food with someone sitting or standing near them.

Then it was time to get them all neutered. The Home collected them and took them off to be done and returned them afterwards. Life continued and slowly but surely, the cats became a little more friendly. None would allow anyone to pick them up, but they could stroke them if they were eating. But they weren’t interested in playing with anyone… only with each other. Mother cat was also showing signs of getting fed up with her kittens. They had grown considerably by now.

Helen went out of the back door and mother cat rushed past her. She’d never done this before and Helen had always been very careful when opening the back door. These were meant to be house cats. They didn’t want to lose one to the traffic again.

This happened a couple of weeks ago. My suggestion was to keep putting food out for mother cat by the back door. The food was disappearing but Helen wasn’t sure if it was mother cat or another local cat.

A few days ago, Helen went out to the garden and mother cat was there, sitting on the fence. She called her quietly hoping… No luck. Mother cat wasn’t going to come to her. So she went in doors and left the kitchen door open till it got too cold. Let’s face it, the weather has been really cold for the last week. This was also a worry to Helen. Surely the cat would prefer the warmth of the kitchen?

Helen felt that the kittens were missing their mother too. (I doubt it, but I’m not there to see them all). But I agreed that mother cat might just come back in as the kittens were there. Helen then left the kitchen window open so mother cat could come in.

Helen sees mother cat every day in the garden and now knows she is eating the food… but no way will she come back into the house. I think these cats were feral. It isn’t easy to bring a wild cat round to completely accept people. It’s not as if the family are there all the time. My son is far too busy and works long hours. He’s a dog person anyway. My youngest grandson is in school and the eldest is at Uni. Helen works during the day but her hours have been cut because of the recession.


Why oh why did they bring a cat home from the rescue centre… and not one, but three? They wanted another dog. They still want another dog… My son could have taken a dog into work with him… but not a cat!