Bat Cat's Last Kitten

A couple of weeks ago I posted about having to bring back the last kitten from the market because no one wanted her.  Although we loved her (she's so cute!) we didn't feel it was fair to keep her because we simply don't know how long we'll be able to stay here - a kitten is a long-term option - and we're away such a lot.  No problem for a wild cat who lives outside and simply needs food left out for her, but a tame house cat is another thing altogether.

Newly named Bisca

So, we were very happy when our friends at Peralta offered to take the kitten and introduce her into the Peralta zoo which already includes two cats and three dogs.  It also means that Neil and I can see her on a regular basis.  She will have to earn her keep as a huntress, but she has her mother's genes and is a lively, feisty little cat.  She's now named Bisca - a biscarina is an affectionate term meaning something like 'silly little girl' - and is a good description of a kitten who will chase anything and play with anything all day long.   She's got the dogs under her paw already.

Friends!

Bat Cat, within days of losing her last offspring, was in an interesting condition when we came back from Slovakia and we were kept awake for two nights by the yowling and wowling of her boyfriends on the terrace.  But I had already booked her into the wild cat trust's sterilisation programme.  Catching her proved to be a bit of a game, particularly as she had her mind more on sex than on food.  But cats in season get much more friendly and I managed to get near enough to grasp her by the scruff of the neck.  Neil wrapped her quickly in a towel and we popped her unceremoniously into the laundry room for the night.  Next morning I  (being a farmer's daughter!) got the job of catching her in a confined space while Neil held the box.  It was, as they say in Italy 'un casino'!!  Cat on the shelves, Cat up the wall, Cat under the tool box.  But finally she tried to go through the laundry rack, was trapped and caught.  Phew.....   One very unhappy cat.  My heart bled for her, but I had to keep telling myself it was for her own good in the long term.

In the cat carrier

 It felt like delivering her into the hands of the feline equivalent of a backstreet abortionist!  The instructions were to drive to a certain roundabout, and wait at the traffic lights for a woman in a red car.  The cat was duly handed over and I was told to come back at 2 o'clock.  Same roundabout, same traffic lights, same red car.  Dozy post-operative cat handed back.  Mission accomplished.   I can't thank the Nati Liberi charity enough and was more than happy to pay for the operation.  We kept her in the laundry room for 24 hours and she is now out, walking rather stiffly, but well and eating again.  No more kittens.  Feels a little sad, but it's the right thing to do.   Wild cats can have two or three litters every year - every one of which can start breeding at 6 months and do the same.   That's ten kittens a year for every cat..........

Thanks to Kate at Peralta for the lovely pics of Bisca on the chair and with Paco the dog.  And to Dinah for giving her a home!