Around Week 40: Since May, our family has been joined by a small family of stray cats. The mother cat is a Siamese mix and is very friendly and loves nothing more than to come into the house and hang out. When she first appeared at our front door, she was pregnant and apparently trying to find a place to have her kittens. We thought if we ignored her, she would go away, but she stayed. The kids decided to call her "Sagwa" after the Chinese Siamese cat from the PBS series by Amy Tan.
We soon decided that if we were going to have cat, we might as well give her some food. She was already helping herself to the garbage, so leaving some chicken scraps in bowl might prevent us from having to clean up after her scavenging. She disappeared for a couple days at the end of May, and the next time I saw her that first week of June, she was skinny.
Week 47: For about four weeks, we saw no evidence of the kittens. Then one day near the end of June at the back door, we encountered a weak, barely moving, black kitten and her mother. Thinking we should prepare a comfortable litter for them, we set out a basket with towel an set the kitten inside. Then maybe we could nurse this little one back to health. Sagwa nursed the baby, but that was the last time that we saw this kitten.
Week 48: About a week later, another little cat showed up at the back door. Rebecca thinks that Sagwa was attempting to acclimatize her kittens to people. I think they just wanted to get inside to spend the night in a warmer place. By the way, they have managed to get in and hide under beds long enough to be unnoticed for several hours. It's a big house with lots of rooms.
This little guy was definitely more spirited than his sister, stronger, and absolutely wants nothing to do with people. After a short chase through across the garage and driveway, I managed to corner him against wall and a bush. A couple days later, he appeared again, and after a chase, we caught him under one of the pool rafts. Throughout the chases, Sagwa mostly remained calm. She likes to be close to people and to have her fur stroked.
When the little cat finds an opportunity to dart away, he always dives through a hole under the fence. On the other side, we discovered an abandoned dog house where they have been living.
Our family has been debating on what name to call this cat. In honor of his spirit, I like to call him "Skeeter" or "Scrappy." My oldest daughter wants to call him "Sterling," a name that no one else really likes because it's too refined. The older boys tease her by calling the cat "Harry" after the beloved Harry Potter.
We aren't sure how many kittens Sagwa had, but only this one remains. Our gardener says that he saw three.
Week 50: Strange howling noises, much like those of a human child moaning and crying out, awoke me in the middle of the night. Remembering what I learned during biology class and from watching the Nature and National Geographic specials, I figured that Sagwa was getting started on the next batch of kittens. Though I had been thinking about taking her in to a veterinarian for a while, I had not actually been brave enough to test my Portuguese over the phone or the time to actually visit with one. The urgency of not wanting to have even more cats to care got me to finally go.
I spoke with a veterinarian a few days later, the one that has a clinic closest to us. Here in Brasilia, nearly every pet shop also has a veterinary clinic, and there is a pet shop or veterinary clinic in most of the shopping centers near our home. They deliver and pick up the animals, and sell most pet medicines over-the-counter. Rebecca and I just walked in on a Saturday morning and managed to get some time with the veterinarian between appointments, and she spoke some English. She gave us a quote of about R$600 per cat for spaying and neutering, and suggested that we bring the cats in to do some blood tests. This was a lot of money to spend to treat a couple of strays.
We also learned that there are several endemic diseases here that will kill cats, and the other babies may have been sick from birth. I bought a topical de-worming medicine, and then got some instructions on how to try and "tame" the little wildcat using canned tuna.
Week 51: A couple of weeks later, the little cat came into our home, and I managed to corner it in a bathroom and apply the medicine. When I let it go, he ran away and disappeared. I couldn't find him under the beds of any of the rooms, so I thought he had gone out the back door which I had left open. The next morning, the kids heard some mewing from the closet. The little guy had jumped up to a higher shelf to hide and ended up being trapped in there overnight.
Week 54: Rebecca started working as a mailroom clerk at the Embassy this summer, and through her job, she gets to meet nearly everyone that works there. One day, she was talking to one of the health clinic nurses, and found out that this nurse does volunteer work for a stray animal rescue and placement group. They spoke about our cats, and the next day, Isabel was at our home with her gear ready to catch the cats and take them to the clinic for the necessary surgeries. Since they are a non-profit group, the cost would be about one-third of the price quoted to me at the private clinic. I ended up giving an extra R$70 as a donation for their efforts.
Sagwa willingly went into her carrier, but the feisty kitten remained elusive. Isabel set the trap, and we waited. He actually sat and watched for several minutes, then went and inspected the cage. He went in, but never put enough pressure on the trigger plate to release the door. I don't think he was hungry enough. We even tried to put his mother out next to the other cage, and that lured him out, but by now he had no interest in the food. After about an hour of trying, we decided that we'll have to try this another day.
Isabel brought Sagwa back home the next day, tired and groggy. A large bare patch of fur exposed an incision painted white with antibiotic and glue prepared especially for stray cats. She stayed overnight in the utility room. I was to give some pain reliever and antibiotics once a day with her food. I don't know if she actually ate all of it herself, but the food was always gone, and she seems to be doing fine now.
The next night, the first that we let her back outside, Rebecca and I heard that strange, eery and human-like crooning of a cat. I was thinking that we had had Sagwa's uterus removed just in time. Looking out the window, it was hard to tell if the female cat was Sagwa, so I went outside with a cup of water. I didn't want Sagwa to get hurt if it was her. Turns out that two different cats were using our driveway as a trysting point, and the consequent spray of water spoiled their romantic activities.
A couple of nights ago, I sat near the food dish and pet Sagwa. The kitten eventually approached the food and then ran off, even though I was very close to the food. I was surprised he came so close, considering that the night before when I cornered him in my room, he was frightened enough to defecate. Every day, those two cats attempt to get in the house, and often manage to get inside. Sagwa can pull the screen door open at the back door, and with six kids, and five doors to the outside, they have plenty of opportunities to do so.
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