CC, short for Christmas Cat, belongs to my wonderful next door neighbors. He is a beautiful kitty they adopted just before Christmas one year.How could that adorable cat be trouble in my Georgia Garden? Ha, where do I start? First my birds are not too happy with him. More then once I have found some of my feathered friends that were not on their guard as they should have been. Over the fence into the birdy graveyard they go. CC also likes to walk and nap on top of our automobiles! Then there is the wonderful moments in my life when I find he has used my gardens as his own personal liter box!
*Note to cat owners. If you ever run out of litter, grab a handful of pine straw from your garden. Cats love pine straw!
So what do we see in this picture hiding to the lower right of the blue tarp which is covering up the horse's hay bales? Hum, can't see it too well in this picture so lets move in a bit shall we....
Now just look at that little orange Fur Ball. Where did you come from? Well, I will tell you where it came from. An irresponsible cat owner which did not spay or neuter their pets! Argggg. This little innocent kitten is called a STRAY! Poor thing came crawling out of the woods and has decided to make CC its mentor! 
Our neighbors decided to adopt this fluff ball. The little thing is still a bit shy of humans at this point. They will tame it then off to the Vet and have it fixed so no more homeless babies are produced.I snapped these pictures while I was pet sitting for them a few weeks ago. I made great progress with getting OJ to come out from under the hay to pose for this photo op.
I am sure CC will teach OJ all the wonderful tricks of the trade like pooping in my garden. What is an animal lover like myself to do other then welcome OJ into my life as I have CC. If CC and little Orange Juice would concentrate on Moles and Voles, then they would really be a welcome sight in my garden...
I reckon, I will continue to deal with not only CC but now DOUBLE TROUBLE, In the Garden...
Good morning Skeeter and all, the double ts are quite cute and thanks for that tip about the pine straw. I guess one way to think of it is how many MORE moles, voles, mice, etc. you would have without them. Hope your all holidays were great. After today things will be back to normal here, still have company at the mo, but they all sleep much later than me so I can get a tiny bit of blogging in. HA
ReplyDeleteFrances
Once in a while we have cats in our yard. They are no more a pest than any other of the multitude of wild things that pass through. They help equalize things. They mostly travel down the fence line hunting like everything else. The worst was raccoons that made a latrine in our garden. That had to be stopped. We trapped and relocated them. They didn't like it and didn't come back.
ReplyDeleteDonna
Hi, Skeeter--Cute kitties, it's nice of you to pet sit. Weirdly enough, I've never seen a stray cat on our property, and I could use some help with the voles (my cat's an indoor cat only). Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI love cats in the garden...even with the downsides there is something about seeing a cat lounging in a sunny spot that makes you want to stop and pet them. We don't have any kitties in our garden~~Our street is too busy and no way can we let our rescue kitty outside anymore...he would love it!
ReplyDeletegail
Heh, heh, I love cats in the garden, but they do pose a threat to my beloved birds. Cats don't visit my yard because of the dogs!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Lorilee
Skeeter, They are so cute--you can't stay mad at them for long! We have a couple of our own cats that spend most of the day outdoors, so I've learned some tricks for dealing with their adventures in the garden. I've noticed now the more crowded the plantings are, the less likely they are to choose that space as a litter box. And my built-in planter, as well as plants I really want to protect, are surrounded by plastic forks to discourage unwanted digging.
ReplyDeleteIt's all a trade-off anyway--they take care of any voles around, and I haven't seen a mouse in years!
Yep, we didn't have too many strays until ANOTHER! irresponsible pet owner dropped theirs off at the campground, campground!?#^! Perfect place for them to breed, steal food, and have shelter under the elevated cabins and what not. They all had to be have-a-hearted and dispersed to the local shelters, it got so bad.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter would keep every one and I must admit, the orange ones are something else, altho black ones are cute too. Argh!!!
Good morning all!
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, it was really fun seeing you, Anonymous and family, and Nina yesterday. Never enough time but fun nonetheless. Thank you so much for the gifts! Glue gun-ha! I'll see ya in a few weeks.
Those kitties are awful sweet. It is good you are quite tolerant of them and I hope they don't mess up the garden too much. I love the names of them. CC and OJ? Pretty good names! ttyl
Good morning everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying thier holiday weekend!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy the kitties in the yard but the pooping in the garden is not my favorite thing to deal with nor the foot prints going up the windshield of my car just after washing it by hand. arggg/ but I am an animal lover so they will just continue to pester me with their little antics.... My life would be so empty without animals around me to keep me company during the day so they do give me a trade off to balance out the Good and the Bad........
I have another full day of events so busy busy busy day...
I have good Clyde, who is ten years old now. And yes, he's sent a few birds to birdie heaven. I've just purchased several new bird feeders so I can watch the birds from my "almost" French doors. And I don't want to feel like I'm luring them in for prey. So Mr. Robert the fix-everything man is going to rig up some baffles for all critters bigger than the birds.
ReplyDeleteBrenda
I really enjoyed your post as we have our own stray, Sophie, who wandered into my garden a couple of seasons ago. The birds have to stay on their guard here too, and yes, I sometimes find the occasional "present" she's left me. I love their names for their cats, and you're a kind neighbor.~~Dee
ReplyDeleteOutside cats do have their drawbacks Skeeter. I guess you have to weigh the pros & cons in the garden. Little OJ is a cutie, he has the same coloring as my cat Mooch. :)
ReplyDeleteSkeeter -- I'd happily trade the deer herd (25+) for cute kitties in my garden! :-)
ReplyDeleteOJ looks like a cat I once I had named Orville Redenbacher! Yes, Orville loved popcorn.
Cameron
oh my you are having double trouble. i love kitties too, but in the garden they can be a bit much for the birdies. we have a new sweet cat, jade. right now she is an outside kitty but comes in often.
ReplyDeleteI love the names also and OJ is such a cutie pie!!
ReplyDeleteWhen my first grandkids were born (Tina's twin girls), people would say "double trouble" and I would answer back "double delight".
Good Morning All,
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, what a cutie OJ is. Reminds me of my neighbors Kittie {who is no longer around}. I don't know what happened to him. The other one reminds me of Jinx {My black beauty}.
I have the neighbors kitties in my yard a lot. They use it for their potty. Also I've found feathers from a too slow bird. I have even found parts {aarrrggg} of squirrels. Now that's a mystery. But I don't like it when they knock pots & such off their shelves & kill my plants. Aaahhh, but it's all part of the master plan. Only for our enjoyment.
Sure hope all had a great holiday & it is being carried over.
So, we aren't pet owners but the kitties are cute. My Sidekick LOVES animals --he enjoys grandmas doggies and my sisters kitty cats. But, when we lived in San Antonio we had a HUGE problem with stray cats that people abandoned. They tore our yard up and kept the kiddos from enjoying there sandbox. The sad part was they didn't belong to anyone --they were dropped off --we lived on the outer portion of the city. The local shelter would actually send a fella thru at least once a week to collect them --so they could be adopted. But, whew what a mess in the yard and yes the vehicle always had a a trail of footprints up the hood and down the side. The kiddos liked them until they kept finding nasty surprises in the sand:( We ended up cleaning out the sandbox and putting it in the garage on a mat so the kiddos could play:) Took the boys for haircuts today --AFTER we made a picture for holiday cards --hahaha. Guess I did that a little backwards, rofl. It's quite nice today -- a little chilly but still a good day to get back outside. See you all later!
ReplyDeleteI love kitties, too, so they have the run of the back yard, but there have been a few "lost" birds that wandered into "catopia" once too often. It breaks my heart that humans don't spay and neuter their pets; it is so sad to see a homeless animal of any kind.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a day full of family fun! 14 people, 2 dogs and 4 cats make a house full! :-)
ReplyDeletethis morning, We stopped by the local Cat shelter to drop off some supplies for the homeless kitties. How fitting with my scheduled posting for the day! lol....
Looks like I am not the only one that must deal with the strays and other animals in the gardens. Oh well, I do love fur babies so must deal with them the best possible way.
Hope everyone has had an enjoyable day today! Tomorrow we hit the road again. Maybe I will catch up on my sleep as the Saint cruises on down the road... tee hee....
don't get me started on irresponsible pet owners ... because I live in a rural environment, let's just say that a lot of the old guard have a somewhat relaxed attitude to neutering and environmental issues.
ReplyDeleteI only have my wee dog in the first place because the guy on the next 20 acres didn't get his fixed. Then I got my wee boy fixed of course so I know he's not responsible for THIS year's unexpected pregnancies for his mother or his littermate sister. So that'llbe two more litters looking for homes.
Wonderful isn't it? they've got the 2 girls and I got the vet bill !
Catsmum, it is frustrating when people do not spay and neuter their cats and dogs. All of my pets have been strays which found us. I am happy to have them but wish they were never abandoned in the first place. People can be so ignorant where animals are concerned arggggggg...
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