A Little Change - Welcome Casper and Corey

I thought I'd give you all a little update on Maggie's Cat House.  As most of you are aware, I've lost 2 of my kitties over the last few months which was very sad.  I miss them very much.  During that time, we've had an addition to our house.  I've had a feral black female cat visiting my back yard for a few years now and comes daily to breakfast and dinner.  About 3 summers ago, she had only one kitten and I was able to capture it and give to a girlfriend of mine who is a cat rescuer.  Then she kind of disappeared and I didn't see her but every once in awhile.  It was about November last year when I came home from work one day and found 2 little white kittens in my back yard.  I had no idea where they came from or who they belonged to.  I thought they may have come from the house behind me.  They were not friendly and escaped my yard though a breach in the fence which I patched up and fixed after they left.  Then in December, I came home from work one day and there they were - momma and her two little kittens in the back yard.  Here is Wanda - the momma.

And here are her little twin boys when they came with her to my back yard in December.

Aren't they just the cutest little things.  I was able to trap mom and the babies and luckily they were just big enough that they could be neutered and old enough and weaned so that mom could also be spayed.  After that mom came back home and the babies went to live with a girlfriend who was trying to domesticize them.  When they first came I wasn't sure if they were boys or girls, so I named one Casper and the other was going to be Coreline, but ended up being Corey.  I tried to find a home for the little guys.  Since I already had 4 cats inside, I really wasn't in the market for more.  Well, I guess things work out the way they should.  First, we lost Reggie in January and the boys were ready for a forever home, but Corey wasn't sure he wanted to be an inside kitty and really would rather that I just leave him alone.  Casper on the other hand was a little sweetheart - he just loved to snuggle.  I also thought that maybe Casper would be a good playmate for Maggie Mae.  She's just a little girl and always loves to play.  So it was decided to bring them both home and see how they did.  They stayed in a cage for about a month (which wasn't the funnest thing to do), but I also had Paisley to consider since she also had the run of the house.

When I was able to determine that Corey just wasn't going to be a house cat (he used to try to crawl up the side of the cage whenever I would open it to clean out the litter box or give them food and water), it was time for him to go outside.  This was a tough decision because I didn't know if the other kitties who lived outside would accept him out there and whether he would accept my back yard as his home and not run off somewhere else.  But it all went fine after a little shaky start.  He and his momma have reconnected.  They are friends as well as the other kitties that live out there.  I've watched him grow and blossom into his own special self.  He loves to run and play, chase the birds, squirrels, and bugs. He even has cat toys out there to play with.  I love to sit out there and watch him play.  I do hope that one day he will let me touch him and scratch his ears.  I'm working on it little by little.

Isn't he beautiful!  This is Corey sitting on top of the squirrel feeder.  One can hope!

Casper and Maggie Mae have also gotten to be friends.  They do love to chase each other around but usually it's Casper who pounces on her to get her to play, but when they rest, many times this is where they end up.

I just love this picture.  You can't see it too well in these pictures, but Casper and Corey both still have a little tuft of black hairs on top of their heads.

As you may notice, the blog header has changed since I lost Chancey last month.  We remember them, but I thought it time to update the family photos.  I think this is where we're supposed to be and I'm not planning on adding any more to the family.  Paisley is still not quite sure she likes having Casper in the family, but I do hope over time she'll come around too.