Mama Kitty got her name from being an "as wild as they come feral cat" who brought us two litters of kittens before we were able to spay her.  The first litter was 4 kittens we discovered under the deck in chilly and wet spring weather.   Sadly, they all had relatively short lives due to the nature of being wild cats.  They were fed and had good shelter, but one by one they simply never came home :-(.    Mama Kitty is a very smart girl.  She survived but still would not consider getting close enough to be petted.   She soon was pregnant again.  Since she is smart, she did allow us to make her a wonderful birthing area in the garage.   Late one afternoon, kittens started arriving.  By the time we went to bed, we had SIX.  By morning, there was SEVEN total.   Talk about ADORABLE.  Mama had them in a cloth cat nest, but it was soaked.  Katherine put on vinyl gloves so she would not pass on her scent to the kittens and picked each tiny creature up to transfer.  Their new home was a clean, roomy and well-padded cardboard box.  It was a bit scary as Mama was hissing and growling the entire time.  However, after the transfers were made she jumped in the new box and things started to get easier.   We petted all the kittens all the time whether Mama liked it or not.   After a while, we could touch her too and the taming of Mama Kitty was underway.  Those seven kittens were a joy to raise.   When it was time,  Rodney and Desiree - friends who love cats, took 4 of them home.   We kept three - all orange.  Harry, Franklin and Savannah Seven - the little one born last.

Harry was fluffy.   He was an amazing cat born for adventure and another short life.   He could and did regularly climb our two-story log house. We would find him perched on the top of the second-story bedroom window.  Hanging on and waiting for his people to come, take the screen off and help him jump inside.  He was at least 30 feet up.  We don't know what claimed his life - he was just gone.  Losing a cat is always a tragedy and we have had our share of heartbreak when something happens.  The JOY of life is where we have to focus to get us through the hard times.    Franklin was a cat among cats.  He was the patriarch of the colony for many happy years.  He was a big, smooth-coated orange cat.  His life ended by contracting some killer virus that multiple vets and everything we could do finally came to no avail.  We so loved that cat.   Happily, Savannah and Mama are with us.  They both sleep on my bed and purr me to sleep.   Savannah is a smaller version of Franklin - smooth-coated and orange.   Her tail is at least a foot long and she carries it with pride.    She and Mama are extremely close.  Mama grooms her just like she did when she was a tiny baby and Savannah grooms her back purring the whole time.     We loved raising the kittens, but spaying and neutering is always the goal.    Once spayed or neutered a cat is happier and safer.  Mama Kitty was an excellent mother, but she has not had to worry about kittens for many years.   As you can see by her picture, she is enjoying life as a cat in Yellow Jacket.