Conference misery::feline_v1

    Well, Randy and Bernice Ward (Mother of Trouble) came to pick up
    2 of the kitties Friday.  I was so sad to see them go and miss them
    quite a bit, but I'm sure they will give them more attention than
    I could have, having so many.  There is now only one grey double
    pawed tiger left that I'm giving away.  Believe me.  I'm never going
    through this again.  It is too hard to be giving kittens away after
    bringing them up.:^(  Well, I hope some kitty lover out there is
    interested!  He's a real playful little guy and likes to sleep right
    next to me when I'm on the couch.
    
    I live in Marlboro and work in Shrewsbury.  My dtn is 237-3419
    
    Ginger

    Yes, Trouble has some new playmates.  At least if she ever stops
    hissing and growling long enough to realize they are her "new toys".
    It was very difficult to come into work today and leave the babies.
    Who knows what I might miss...even though they are in the bathroom
    for now until we make *SURE* there is nothing they can hurt themselves
    on.  It is a largish bath with plenty of toys and a *bathtub* they
    can play in and chase each other in and lots of things to climb
    (but not get into..we made sure of that).  We named them after figuring
    out which was she and which was he (thanks to my handy-dandy vet
    book with pictures).  The brown tiger is Becky and the grey one
    is Velcro.  I'll put a more complete intro in later when I get a
    chance.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble_and_playmates
    

    For anyone interested in adopting the one grey that Ginger has left,
    I will tell you all the wonderful things the vet said about them
    yesterday.  First of all they are Felv negative.  Everybody in the
    vet office said they were "adorable", "cute", "look at those paws",
    etc (picture a beaming mother here :-)  ).  Then Dr Kaas's associate
    (sorry I don't remember her name) told me that they were extremely
    well behaved and very healthy.  A nice change from what they see
    so often.  I did find out that contrary to what I was seeing at
    home, Velcro is the quiet one.  Becky has quite a mouth on her when
    she is unhappy, and she was unhappy with the blood test for Felv.
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble & Becky & Velcro

    That should have read "I will tell you all the wonderful things
    the vet said about MY TWO yesterday."  Sorry, guess I'm not awake
    yet.
    
    Bernice

    That's so nice to hear!  I miss velcro.  He was one of my favorites!
    I just loved his paws!
    
    Ginger
    

    Well, the last little kitty goes to a new home tomorrow.  He'll
    have 3 children playmates too.  Time to take mom and her little
    baby to the vets.  I don't want to have to find homes for anymore
    kittens.  It's sad having to give all the kittens away.
           
    Ginger

    Good for you Ginger!  Now there's a success story.
      Nancy DC
    

Well, my first time in this conference, and I've been elected to introduce 
the two newest members of the family, so here goes:

Two and a half weeks ago, we picked up two small bundles of fur from Ginger
in Marlboro.  Said bundles traveled very poorly (they thought), trying a 
jailbreak numerous times in the first half hour of the return trip.  Thank 
heaven they didn't have any dynamite!  By the time we grabbed a quick 
burger at McDonalds, they were both sound asleep.

Introducing these two to a "mature" (though we're not sure) cat 
(Trouble) was like introducing Princess Leaia (sp?) to Darth Vader...except 
that neither party came equipped with light sabers...not that you could 
tell the difference after the fur balls had trashed the living room 
the first time. (picture papers all over the floor)

Having two littens lends a whole new meaning to the term 
"cat-proofing", and showed how conservative our approach had been.  
They promptly found all the things they weren't supposed to find (like 
the cords to the blinds, shoe strings, camera straps, though not too 
interested electrical cords...).  They have a special fondness for the rocker.

The time came for naming.  Somehow, "gray" and "brown" just didn't 
adequately describe them.  The brown one, being a female, was dubbed 
"Becky", a name that I've always liked (not that there's anything 
wrong with "Bernice", but having a wife and a cat with the same name 
could get interesting).  The gray one had a knack for "sticking" to 
the sides of furniture, people legs, etc., thus "Velcro" became 
appropriate.

In the following days, I learned a lot about cats and airborn objects. 
If you've always wondered what it would look like to see two objects 
crash into each other at right angles, and land on their feet, then 
be assured that two kittens can demonstrate...repeatedly.  I've seen 
more hopping, climbing, crashing, sliding, hissing, and missed jumps, etc. 
in these two weeks...

They do provide an almost endless source of entertainment.  Forget the 
TV, radio, etc.  Just open the floodgates and watch two balls of fluff 
invade a house, terrifying the poor aged Trouble (who watches in 
horror from her high perch).

Trouble has mixed feelings about them.  Confidentially, she thinks 
they're "cute", but she still prefers them when they're asleep.

Now I need to grow used to hearing purring in stereo while I sleep.

Randy

In case y'all have been wondering...Velcro and Becky are still alive and kicking.
Actually, Velcro is alive and standing (spends much time balancing on his back 
legs while attempting to assemble small bombs and all those other things that
cute little terrorist kitties do).

Becky has become "my cat".  She follows me around a lot, and stares into my
eyes with her cute little green ones, looking as innocent as any accomplice can
while not actively wrecking or cleaning out the trash can or waltzing across the
table or kitchen counter (both of which are "NO CAT" zones).  Her favorite hobby 
is stealing trash from the smaller wastebaskets and redepositing it elsewhere.

My mother is here visiting us this week from her catless home in southern Indiana.
You can tell it's been a while since she had a cat.  She's tolerable, yet 
mentions the twins' habits, such as pouncing on her (Mom's) chest the first thing
in the morning.  She responds in typical grandmotherly fashion with expressions
like "Oh kitty, you shouldn't be doing that", etc.

Then there's the weapon.  The C.A.T., picked up at the local grocery store last
weekend, has come in handy for at least a few minutes of fun.  As Velcro 
approached my camera bag, from which he had been removed about 4 times, suddenly
he discovered that his face was wet.  "Where did THAT come from?" he seemed to
say.  But neither rain, nor snow, nor C.A.T. will slow this brave animal from
stalking his victim.  Repeated firings of the C.A.T. gave rise to concern more
for running out of "ammo" than anything else.  Each squirt caused him to back off
for a few seconds...then he went right back to the subject at hand.  It took a
half a squirt gun (in small powerful squirts) to divert him to something else.  
I know he doesn't inherit this stubborness from me!

So anywho, Trouble is adjusting.  She even lets them get within a foot or so
before planting her paw repeatedly on one of their heads (WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!).

Isn't parenting fun?

Randy  8*)

    Well, I'm glad to hear that Velcro and Becky are doing fine.  They seem
    like quite active little kitties.  The kitty I kept is doing just dandy
    as well.  Her name is Prophet.  She too enjoys those little wasbaskets.
    Her favorite toy appears to be q-tips.  Yes, she steals them out of the
    wasbaskets every morning.  Prophet is the most cuddly little kitty I've
    had so far.  She also has a very loud motor that turns on at about
    5:30am every morning as she sits on my chest.
    
    On the sadder side.  The mother, Brown Sugar, died last weekend.  I had
    had her fixed the previous Tues. in Southborough and the only thing I
    can figure is that there must have been some kind of infection or
    something.  She seemed fine when I left and while I was gone Sat.
    something must have overcome her.  I miss her soooo much.  I can just
    be thankful that I kept Prophet.  She's been a great help.  I don't
    think I'll ever find a cat with such beautiful yellow-green eyes and
    long black fur that loves the car and likes to swim and play as much
    as Brown Sugar did.
    
    Sorry for the sad note, but take care of the kitties. I loved having
    them around for the 9 weeks!
    
    Ginger
          

    I'm so sorry to hear about Brown Sugar.  We only met her once, but
    she was a beautiful cat.  Like you said, at least you do have one
    of her daughters to help ease the pain.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble_Becky_&_Velcro

Ginger:

 I, also, am sorry to hear of your loss of Brown Sugar.  She was a
very pretty cat.

But, we can take comfort in knowing that her kids have good homes.

Randy
(father of Trouble/Becky/Velcro)

    I am sorry to hear about your loss of Brown Sugar....
    
    On a somewhat strange tangent, what are double pawed cats?  I have
    an image of a six footed cat, but suspect it has more to do with
    coloring...
    
    kim

    Kim,
    
    I think double pawed means with extra toes in this case.  The official
    name for this is polydactyl.  If the cat had 5 extra toes on one
    foot, that would definitely be double-pawed.
    
    Jo

    Should i draw the conclusion that double-pawed cats are rare on
    the West Coast?  
      N

    I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but I'll try to give you 
    an idea of what Becky and Velcro's paws look like.  Becky is a brown 
    tabby and she has one extra toe above her dew claw.  Because her paws 
    are a brown color, it almost looks like she is wearing mittens.  
    Velcro is a silver/grey tabby and he has two extra toes above his
    dew claw (I hope this is the right term).  One toe is shorter than
    the other and he looks like he is wearing boxing gloves.  When they
    were smaller, I didn't think they would ever grow into those feet
    (or ears or tail for that matter), but they have.  One other sidelight
    that I've noticed is that Velcro's tail is the longest tail I've
    seen on a cat.  
    
    re: NDC - Until we moved to New England (from mid-west), I thought
    double-pawed cats were rare.  Now I know different.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble_Becky_&_Velcro

    Bernice, the dew claw is that extra claw partway up the leg.
    Are the extra claws really above that or did you think the dew
    claw was a different claw?
    
    I'm trying to remember my trivia, but polydactilism is supposedly
    attributed to cross breeding with a wild cat in this area, I believe
    which is why its much more prevalent in this area.
      Nancy 

    Nancy, 
    
    You have to separate the extra toes from the rest of the toes to
    clip a little tiny claw in the middle.  The vet showed me where
    it was, but didn't tell me if that was the dew claw. I made the
    assumption based on my cat books.  On Velcro the extra toes almost
    seem to have no bone.  It's kinda funny to "flop" the toes around,
    but he doesn't seem to mind.  Of course Velcro doesn't seem to mind
    a whole lot anyway, he's my laid-back kitty.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble+2
    

    That sounds more like it.  I LOVE double pawed kitties - One of
    these days I'm gonna get one, Or one is gonna get me...    :-)
    
         Nancy DC

Of double-pawed cats and such:

My grandmother told me this and it may not be true, but she was a firm
believer in it so...

The reason double-pawed cats are prevalent in the New England (and most
of the east coast states, actually) is because the sailors from Portugal
felt a double-pawed cat was good luck and they always tried to have one
on their ships...of course, way back 100 years ago or more, cats 
rode on ships to keep the vermin down to a controllable number.  Anyway,
the cats sailed to this country and settled in the towns to which the
ships sailed..and bred prolifically.  They are not so prevalent on the
west coast because the ships did not land there.  Mind, my grandmother
had a one-woman campaign on to rectify that problem when I was growing
up.  She bred polydactyl cats on her farm IN San Jose...you see, the farm
used to be out in the country but by the time I was born, the farm was
in San Jose - I used to love to visit during the summer, both for the
fruit AND for the cats. They were HUGE, loving cats (anywhere up to 20 
pounds or more) and all double-pawed.  She had managed to breed them
"true" (all double-pawed kittens in each litter).  When she passed
away, we found homes for the remaining cats and her property was sold.
Anyway, that is the reason the cats are so prevalent in the eastern
U.S. according to Nana. 

P.S.  I DO NOT think Nana was right to breed so many cats - but she
      was too stubborn to listen to anyone....

    In the August 1989 issue of CATS FANCY (which just arrived yesterday)
    I noticed an organization called "The International Mitten Cat
    Association " (or something like that ) with an address in Canada.
    It is an organization open to all owners and admiers of "mitten
    cats" (i.e., polydactyls). I am planning on sending for some
    information about the organization. Does any one know anything about
    it?
                                                                         
    Deb
    

One of our books or magazines mentions that polydactyls are common around
Boston and (Nova Scotia?).  They spread out from those two points on the
North American continent, so they are fairly common in New England and the 
Atlantic provinces of Canada, but less so in other parts of the country.

Randy
(Father of Trouble+2)