Welcome to Kitty Village News

The Story of Smokey and Bandit

         

Meet Mom aka Smokey and her mate Bandit.

Smokey and Bandit’s story began in September 2015 when Smokey was spotted jumping over a chain link fence into our yard. Following her on the ground and walking through the chain links were three of the most adorable kittens you could ever see. In time, they would be named Pete, Teddy, and Samantha by our next door neighbor who helped with this family.

You could tell right away that Smokey and Bandit were feral cats that lived in our neighborhood, which consists of over three hundred one-acre, single-family homes located in south Florida. I’m sure that if we could look back at their family tree, at some point, their parents, grandparents, or great grandparents were once domestic Siamese cats. This was not the case for poor Smokey and Bandit.

On the side of our house is a little wooden enclosure that houses our water system. Inside this cozy and quiet spot we think Smokey built her nest because we found leaves, grass, and wood chips that created a soft, comforting bed to give birth.

Once the babies were old enough to follow her, she started to give her three little kittens life lessons which included hunting, seeking shelter and avoiding human contact. This last lesson was not learned very well and although Smokey did well to avoid us herself, her kittens, especially Teddy, were much bolder.  As mamma Smokey watched suspiciously from a distance, her hungry kittens would lap up some well-appreciated milk and food left for them.

 

Smokey was always present, at a distance, staring at our interactions with her children. Ever protective, she let them eat food we offered and drink fresh water, but she never partook herself in the beginning.

 

At this time, we also noticed a very beautiful cat in our yard. If Smokey was 25 feet away watching her kittens, this other cat was 50 feet away watching intensely behind her.

We continued to put food and water out for the kittens and as time went by even Smokey would enjoy a meal, but only when we were not in the vicinity. The other cat (who we named Bandit for obvious reasons) started to share her bowl.

Watching from our kitchen window, we noticed that Smokey and Bandit knew each other and were very affectionate toward each other and to the kittens as well. We surmised that Bandit was the father of the kittens and possibly a litter mate of Smokey’s. Although Bandit took flight when we came out the door, especially if we were walking in his direction, he started showing up at meal time where there was always a bowl of food left for him as well.

 

 

Little by little, the kittens let us pet them….nervously at first, and then without fear. This did not happen quickly, but over the course of many months. Because they had human interaction from a very young age, it was easier for them to trust us despite their innate wariness of people. If someone else entered our yard they all would run away to hide. Mamma Smokey and Father Bandit, however, took over two years to trust us enough to get close to them. However, they watched intently as we were eventually able to pick up the kittens, even if only for a short time before they would start to get restless and had to be put down.

 

 

 

 

 

We knew, right from the start, that we would have to have these cats spade and neutered so as to prevent any more feral and homeless cats from wandering in our neighborhood. Little did we know what an adventure it would be. After many tries we finally caught Smokey first. Then we tried Sam next since she was the only other female in the group, but that did not work. We watched in the distance as Sam was slowly entering the trap and then in a flash Bandit chased her away to get the food. Surprise!  Bandit was the second to be trapped.

Next was Sam and then Teddy over the next few weeks. Teddy, being the most comfortable with us, did not have to be trapped. I simple picked him up and placed him in the trap. Now Pete, who was the last of the kittens to let us pet him, was the hardest to catch. On the first try, I got him onto my screened porch and thought that would keep him till morning at which time we would  put him into the trap, but I was wrong.

When morning came, Pete was not on the porch and I found a very small hole chewed through the screen that a desperate Pete squeezed through to escape. Finally, after several more failed attempts, we slowly lured him by placing his food bowl further and further into the cage for over a week and then we successfully trapped him.

There are two organizations near our home that offer a program to local citizens for the neutering of community cats (feral cats) at no charge. Most of you will have access to a similar program in your area. Basically, you use a cat trap which you can purchase or are loaned by the organization and you then catch and deliver the cat to be treated. Usually, the same day you can pick up the cat and return the cat to the place they were trapped. During this process, the left ear of the cat is clipped so they are identifiable at a distance as a feral cat that has been neutered, micro-chipped, and given its rabies shot. They refer to this service as TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release). We purchased our own trap knowing we would have to care for the family properly and would need to trap them again at some point.

When we were finally done trapping and neutering our family of 5, we celebrated our accomplishment. The only problem was that word must have gotten out to the cat community that our home was a cushy place to live with food, water, medical care and a safe place to sleep, because not long after this a 6th cat showed up at our doorstep. This orange cat was skinny, dirty and starving. She refused to be ignored and Bandit, the defender of his clowder and of our property, did not chase her away as he had done with many other intruder cats. He must have known she needed a home.

Orangey was extremely friendly and would let us pick her up and pet her, but to our surprise she had her left ear tip clipped already as a feral cat. Being curious about where she came from, we had her micro chip read. It showed that Orangey was trapped several miles away from our home. Since this was a greater distance than cats usually would  travel, we researched what could have happened.

Outdoor cats are grouped into three categories:

Feral Cats  who have never  been in contact with people.

Stray Cats  who are domesticated cats that either wandered away from home or were abandoned by their owners.

Domesticated Outdoor Cats  who live outdoors most of the time but  is cared for by someone. We discovered that certain unethical person(s) know how the program works and will purposely trap a cat and take it to one of these centers. Their cruel intentions are to then pick up the cat and drop it off in another neighborhood, displacing the cat away from its cat family and/or owner, so it would not disrupt their personal space. My neighbor- hood is between where Orangey was first trapped by this person and the animal control facility for our county. After she was dropped off, she must have wandered around in our area for some time before finding us. Well, what’s one more kitty ? We welcomed Orange Marmalade, who we call Orangey, to the group. All of them, except for Sam, accepted her right from the beginning. These step sisters would take turns attacking each other and we would hear the occasional cat fight which consisted of more screaming than injury. Once in a while, I would see a scratched nose but nothing more serious. In time, they learned to ignore each other.

A funny note about the names we gave the family. Bandit is obvious with his face mask and Smokey has one eye with a smokey haze to it. Teddy, because he is the only one who will fully relax in your arms when you pick him up just like a teddy bear. Sam, we thought was a boy at first and then renamed her Samantha. Pete, we thought was a girl at first and called her Petunia until something popped out, hence Pete.

Orangey  could be handled right away, and after one Year we are able to handle Pete, Teddy, and Sam. After two years, Bandit would come up to us. My wife once picked him up for literally one second before he bolted away. Bandit will walk up to me now and sometimes let me pet him if Teddy is next to me. This is how long it took for them to gain our trust. Smokey, on the other hand, just started getting close to us, but does not like being touched. If you reach for her she will bolt away.

We have grown to love all these characters so much in the past three years that we put a cat door on our screened porch so they can come in out of the rain, the cold or the brutal sun. We have automatic feeders for them when we are not home for a feeding time and we even bought a heater to keep them warm when the temperature drops below 50 degrees.

Stay tuned for more about Kitty Village.

S&B