How many pounds of cat food does it take?

One, two, three, four, ten, twelve cats... it's bad when one shows up at the back porch, purring and slinking between my legs and I say to myself, "Oh yeah, Nora, I forgot about you." Granted she comes and goes, and stays gone for weeks at a time... but I still feel guilty having forgotten about her.
I got a comment on my last post from a good friend whom I haven't seen in ages - but never will forget - as her photos do adorn my abode (rift valley, blue-footed boobie (I know I didn't spell that right - that bird with the blue feet - ha ha.)) Any way - she addressed their current battle with cats and their reproductive abilities.
Ahhh, cats and kittens. I can't keep track as to how many of those guys we have - or I should say, 'how many of those girls we have." Finally we are getting everyone spayed ... finally.
But first ~ CATS: A Brief History:
Lets see - We have, the Great Beendeenie, aka, Beenie, aka, Sabastian - the blind indoor cat. Then there is Moe, aka, Mighty Morphin MoJoe the Jammin Juju Jelly Bean (a name that came from not being able to think of a name) - he goes by "Moe", or for the more affectionate, "Moe Moe." Chloe remains our beautiful calico - the purrfect cat. Then there is Uni, Star and Diamond. They are 3 sisters whom we found while walking the dogs. They were abandoned by a pond and were dehydrated, even with water 20 feet away, they didn't know to drink it. So we took them home, and unable to give them away, we kept them. Then grew into fairly healthy (except for ear and eye yuck) attractive female cats. Each of which then gave birth to 3 kittens of their own. Some we were able to give away, the others are Wilson, Smiles, Beenette (she looks just like Beenie), and Furball. But wait - that's not all, there is also Gotee - the new resident TomCat, who has claimed us for his own. Little does he know, he's on the "list." One day he's gonna wake up in a strange steril room and not have his testicles anymore! Adopting us as a family has it's drawbacks.
So that makes 11. I think. We lost one over the summer - KitKat. She just dissapeared.
There are several other transient cats - and some of the kittens have strange resemblances to them!!
It is a financial battle to spay and neuter everyone - but it's what we do, when we can. Luckily, there is a wonderful place in Franklin County called Planned Pethood, and they do reduced cost spay and neutering with basic services - like rabies, distemper and front line, micro-chipping, etc. Without them, FC would be lost - it already ranks pretty bad on the animal rights scale with the pound and enforcement - but it takes the power of the people to evoke that kind of change and they are fighting for it!
I guess I will have to address each cat on its own - as some stories are too good to loose in the midst of this giant paragraph. Lets just say that they have the ability (or had) to seriously embarrass me at work, make me almost puke and wish I had a machine gun...
All for now~!

Despair

Without a doubt, we have to have the all-time record for worst neighbors. The 1st neighbor drug me to court twice for dog barking. The second neighbor attacked Chris on our front porch. The other neighbor ignored his dog so much we adopted it. Another neighbor was so sorry that we had to remind him to feed and water his dogs. Another neighbor would park in front of our house at 2 or 4 am and just sit there. And now our current neighbors lock their great dane mix in a crate - outside - in the rain - it can't even stand up or move around in the crate and it cries - litterally weeps. I don't know what to do. They are horrible. I hate them.

Yesterday Maynard decided he did not want to be in his crate, nor did he feel like staying in the house. So, he broke the door open on his crate and took a flying leap through the basement window screen.
I have lost count how many windows this dog has lept through. Mind you - for those that do not know Maynard, he is very sick. He has heart worm and we discovered during an attempt to treat him for the heart worm (have them removed) - he also has a heart condition, that does not allow him to go through heart worm therapy. At times he is very weak and out to lunch, other times - he does what he wants, regardless of who or what is in the way...obviously.
Maynard was adopted when we lived in the ghetto. He belonged to our neighbor and was neglected - not mistreated persay, just ignored. He was frightening, such a big dog. He's a Pitbull Rott mix - a beast, a gentle giant (most of the time). He came to live with us and did enjoy the inside life - once we got him used to the idea that we do not pee on wall corners...
While in the ghetto, we were forced to tie him to the front porch column. Maynard hates motorcycles and he would bark furiously at them and lunge at them as they drove by. One day he pulled the porch column out from the porch! He broke several windows snarling at those darn bikes.
When we moved out to the county, he often jumped out of those windows - busting screens all the time. One day, in a fit - Maynard ran into a tree; he did that occasionally. He would get all worked up barking and leaping around, and then - SMACK, he'd bump right into trees, whatever was in the way. This particular day, the tree he rammed lodged a piece of bark in his eye. It did not puncture it, it simply lay sideways on the eye, so that it covered the eye like a contact. From our point of view, it looked like the eye had exploded and were afraid it had, as our cat Sabastian's eye had done (you'll hear about the Great Beandeenie, aka, Sabastian, later). The vet (whom is our very favorite vet in the whole wide world) removed the bark easily and there was his eye - intact, but scratched. On went the Elizabethan Collar - ha ha ha - Maynard the Satellite dish. Did that dish stop him from jumping out the window? No, he jumped out the downstairs window - collar and all.
Another day he jumped out the upstairs window, which luckily had a roof just below it that served as the roof over the porch. I came home to find Maynard and Mia hanging out on the roof, surrounded by pieces of screen.
You gotta love 'em ... right!?

Welcome Friends

Welcome Friends to DirtDogsCatSplat, the home of the animal fanatics.
We have quite a story to tell. Many dogs and cats have come into our lives, some gone - each one unique and special.
Look for stories and photos of each and every special four legged friend.
Comming soon - Maynard, the marvel, the myth, the legend - the Pitbull Rottwieler.