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Finally got a good pic of Carys' mom, Scooter (Original Post) Siwsan Feb 2023 OP
Does that kitty have a real home? jpak Feb 2023 #1
She has a real 'den' shelter with other ferals, beneath the neighbor's den. Siwsan Feb 2023 #4
She's a beauty. thatcrowwoman Feb 2023 #2
She is a sweet heart Siwsan Feb 2023 #5
Beautiful kitty! SheltieLover Feb 2023 #3
She is a total fluff ball of sweetness Siwsan Feb 2023 #6
And the way she is looking at you with your camera... SheltieLover Feb 2023 #7
I know! Siwsan Feb 2023 #8
"Can't a diva eat in peace?" SheltieLover Feb 2023 #12
Such a beautiful little girl. niyad Feb 2023 #9
She is very pretty. I'm sorry that she was left or born outside judesedit Feb 2023 #10
The ferals seem to have a good sheltering place at the neighbors Siwsan Feb 2023 #11
Such brave animals. 1WorldHope Feb 2023 #13
I wish they did Siwsan Feb 2023 #15
It is all consuming when you do it. It almost takes a team of people. 1WorldHope Feb 2023 #17
Your kitties... frogmarch Feb 2023 #14
They are all so special to me. Siwsan Feb 2023 #16
Scooter is Carys' mother? wnylib Feb 2023 #18
Yes - Moon Dust and Space Boy are her Siamese looking siblings Siwsan Feb 2023 #19
According to my "big book" on cats, wnylib Feb 2023 #20
I'm almost positive Bruiser is their father Siwsan Feb 2023 #21
I only remember seeing Bruiser's picture once. wnylib Feb 2023 #22
I don't have any really good pics of him, but here's one Siwsan Feb 2023 #23
Oh, yeah. Bruiser has colorpoint markings. wnylib Feb 2023 #26
Piebald is the word I've been searching for to describe Madoc's coat Siwsan Feb 2023 #27
Those striped kitties are quite good looking. wnylib Feb 2023 #28
What a beautiful cat, looks so much like my Felix... Rhiannon12866 Feb 2023 #24
What a beautiful cat, looks so much like my Felix... Rhiannon12866 Feb 2023 #25

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
4. She has a real 'den' shelter with other ferals, beneath the neighbor's den.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 08:45 AM
Feb 2023

I've been feeding her for about 4 years, now. Her mom is Skittish. Skittish was the first feral that constantly showed up. Eventually she brought her kittens, Mittens the Kitten, Scooter, Spooky Jr and Tuxie. Only Scooter remains.

My niece made a fully insulated shelter that she is going to bring by. Hopefully I can lure more of the ferals to shelter on my property because the neighbor isn't a fan of animals.

thatcrowwoman

(1,230 posts)
2. She's a beauty.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 08:23 AM
Feb 2023

That thick luxurious coat and those beautiful green eyes. Carys was bound to be the little beauty she already is. They are as lucky to have you as you are to have them. Siwsan and the KitCats. What a great story unfolds here. Many thanks for caring and sharing!🥰
🕊thatcrowwoman

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
5. She is a sweet heart
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 08:49 AM
Feb 2023

Most mornings she lets me give her some scritches and pets.

I loved watching her with her kittens. She was such a good mom who brought her kittens over every single day, and never reactive negatively when I'd pick one up or bring out a cat teaser and play with them. Who knows - maybe she brought them to me knowing that I'd take care of them.

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
6. She is a total fluff ball of sweetness
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 08:51 AM
Feb 2023

She, Lush and Spooky are the only fluffy ferals. Cinder and Smoke, Madoc's siblings, are fluffy as are two of Arthur's siblings.

SheltieLover

(59,507 posts)
12. "Can't a diva eat in peace?"
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 10:46 AM
Feb 2023


Good luck getting a better pix of her. She just doesn't like the camera.

Maybe you could put up a security camera. With software, you should be able to get still pix.

judesedit

(4,509 posts)
10. She is very pretty. I'm sorry that she was left or born outside
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 10:21 AM
Feb 2023

It's soooo cold. Thank goodness for that winter coat and thank goodness for you, Siwsan. I hope one day you can pet her.

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
11. The ferals seem to have a good sheltering place at the neighbors
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 10:43 AM
Feb 2023

And I do get to give her an occasional pet. I think she trusts me about as much as a totally feral cat can trust a human.

1WorldHope

(889 posts)
13. Such brave animals.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 11:10 AM
Feb 2023

Here in Lincoln they have a program that will help you do trap neuter release. Do you have a program like that there so they don't keep making more babies. Here they clip one ear so animal control knows to leave them alone. It keeps the colony together and they live happily ever after.

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
15. I wish they did
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 11:32 AM
Feb 2023

There is an animal rescue place, not too far from me, that will spay/neuter. They charge $40 for cats but if I take the TNR class the price goes down to $25 per cat. So, yes, I plan on taking the class! And ear tipping is mandatory for feral TNR, which is fine.

The problem is, they only do feral intakes on Wednesday and Friday.

1WorldHope

(889 posts)
17. It is all consuming when you do it. It almost takes a team of people.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 12:11 PM
Feb 2023

Trapping, transporting in the early morning. Need a team of college kids to agree to do the hard work. Then you do the rest. Feeding petting and keeping warm, which you already do. I love your pictures of you babies. I always look at them when you post.

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
16. They are all so special to me.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 11:36 AM
Feb 2023

During warmer weather I love to sit outside with a book and a glass of wine, and watch the ferals.

My inside fur babies rarely let me sit down without one or more of them on or next to me.

wnylib

(24,255 posts)
18. Scooter is Carys' mother?
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 12:40 PM
Feb 2023

Didn't Carys' two siblings have cream coats with dark points on the ears and paws, like a Siamese or Himalayan?

It's almost as if Carys and her siblings had different fathers. Two ended up with color points and Carys ended up with tabby stripes. Scooter doesn't have points and if she has stripes, I can't see them in her pic.



Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
19. Yes - Moon Dust and Space Boy are her Siamese looking siblings
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 12:53 PM
Feb 2023

It seems there's always one VERY different kitten in every litter. Madoc's siblings are solid color and very fluffy. Arthur is the only striped tabby in his litter. Two of his siblings are very fluffy and Freya is mostly black.

wnylib

(24,255 posts)
20. According to my "big book" on cats,
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 03:30 PM
Feb 2023

all cats carry the tabby gene, even solid colored ones, so a solid cat can pass on tabby stripes to its offspring, depending on the genes of the cat that it breeds with. That's even true of Siamese, whose light coat and some alleles suppress the expression of the tabby gene. Cat coloring and coat patterns are complex, depending on a variety of genes that either enhance colors and patterns or suppress them, and also on mutations.

It's possible for a genetic line of cats to pass on a recessive gene for many generations without it being visible until the right mating with a cat who also has the recessive gene and the right combination of other genes for the trait to be "expressed" or visible.

But the colorpoint markings of Siamese are due to a mutation that is not commonly shared by most cats like the tabby gene is. So if kittens have colorpoint markings like Carys' siblings, it's likely that there is a Siamese in their recent ancestry, or some breed that derives from Siamese, like a Himalayan (which is fluffy).

If there is - or was - a Siamese, Himalayan, Burmese, etc. among the ferals, its genes and traits could be mixed into the feral colony in more than one cat in the colony. So some of those traits could appear where least expected, like Arthur's big ears, which look Siamese to me. Several of those ferals that you feed, plus others in the colony who don't come to your place, could be related over the generations, swapping ancestral genes back and forth.

The colorpoint markings were so noticeable in the siblings of Carys that they could have had a Siamese father and (Scooter?) might carry some unexpressed Siamese genes that matched up with the father to produce Carys' colorpoint siblings. Carys might have a different father than her litter mates.






wnylib

(24,255 posts)
22. I only remember seeing Bruiser's picture once.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 03:48 PM
Feb 2023

Did he have some markings similar to Siamese or to cats whose breed derives from a Siamese mix?

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
23. I don't have any really good pics of him, but here's one
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 03:55 PM
Feb 2023

It's funny - Madoc has no typical tabby stripes or "M" on his forehead but in the right light I can see stripes on Gryff.

wnylib

(24,255 posts)
26. Oh, yeah. Bruiser has colorpoint markings.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 04:15 PM
Feb 2023

Could have some Siamese, Tonkinese, or Balinese ancestry. The white paws would be considered a "fault" by breeders.

Madocs stripes are suppressed by a piebald gene that gives him his black and white coloring.

Gryff has "ghost stripes" which sometimes show through in solid color cats, especially ones that are black or red. The M on the forehead often does not show up in solid color cats with ghost stripes.

Siwsan

(27,261 posts)
27. Piebald is the word I've been searching for to describe Madoc's coat
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 04:29 PM
Feb 2023


I love Arthur and Carys' stripes.

wnylib

(24,255 posts)
28. Those striped kitties are quite good looking.
Sun Feb 19, 2023, 04:47 PM
Feb 2023

Ember has a reddish M on her forehead, a single reddish stripe out of each eye, a black striped "double necklace," black stripes on her front legs and tail. She has the swirl pattern on her sides, like "classic tabby" stripes except that they look like a Salvatore Dali or Jackson Pollock abstraction because the swirl is composed of a mishmash of red, black, and gray, with some white ticking on the black. She has random streaks of red on her back, sides, and tail. Her face has a light reddish flush. There is a very small patch of white under her chin. And her eyes are outlined with white. Her coat markings are tortoiseshell tabby (aka torbie). Her mother had a strikingly beautiful calico coat. Ember has her mother's colors, but rearranged into a unique pattern of her own.

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