I'm slowly trying to introduce my farm friends. These three are my *porch cats,* although only one lives on the porch, in a kitty condo. (Sorry you can't see their faces - they were kind of busy when I took the photo). The other two live in our barn. All of them were abandoned. The middle one, Reb, was seen wandering around the house we rented when we first moved to Virginia. He was skinny and beat up so I took pity on him and gave him something to eat; the rest is history. The cat to his right is his *wife,* Zelda. She also was a shadowy figure, slinking around our rental house, stealing cat and dog food off the porch. She was a bit wild but finally let me pet her. Our daughter discovered that she had 3 kittens. I took one look at them and immediately knew who the dad was - Reb. All of them had his raccoon-like tail. Both of them were taken to the vet and *fixed.* The cat on the left, Mia, was found by the dumpster on the edge of our farm. She had on a pretty pink collar and had 3 kittens with her. As we have few neighbors, it was easy to call and learn that she was indeed a dumped cat. We found homes for all the kittens but by the time I found a home for Mia, our daughter was too attached to her so she became ours.
It breaks my heart that people can be so cruel and dump animals. The SPCA or Humane Society will take in any unwanted pet. Granted, they might be euthanized; however, this is a better alternative to starving to death, being attacked by another animal, or getting hit by a car. Unfortunately, I've reached my limit on pets and cannot shelter any more. But I get joy out of each and every one of the animals who call our farm home and am glad they have come into my life.
Before I forget, the cats have their food bowls on our porch swing for 2 reasons: our bagel Jack likes to eat the cat food but can't get to it in the swing; our chicken Lucy also finds the cat food tasty. Unfortunately, she has no problem getting in the swing to eat. It's always something around here....
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