I'm so excited!!!!!!!  One less thing in the world to worry about...and I'm a
worrier.  We seem to have a large cat population in our neighborhood.  It's the
sort of area, apparently, where the people who have cats let them out a lot or
keep them out (mine stay inside all the time).  I know several of them have
homes but there are always more.  Therefore, we always have food outside for
any hungry kitty that happens along.  About 5-6 weeks ago, a cute, smallish
black and white started eating here.  Can't touch him/her but he/she will get
within about 5 feet of us.  I also have been unable to catch a glimpse of
his/her "privates," but, to me, the kitty "looks like a girl" in the face.
Well, this had me severely worried.  In the past, I have lucked out and the
ones around have been boys.  One we had fixed and another, who I was sure was a
girl, we finally were able to pick up and "she" turned out to be a neutered
male, so my discernment skills are not all that great.  But I was getting
worried 'cause this is kitten season and this black and white looked to be
getting fatter so I was thinking I better borrow a trap and do the deed.  Now,
I hate trapping, I find it exceedingly stressful...as well as the fact that you
then have to have somewhere to take the cat the next day to be neutered so I
was dreading this.

Well, today, Tony mentioned offhandedly to me that he had noticed that the
kitty's right ear is tipped.  I never saw that (and, of course, since he's a
guy, assumed he was wrong).  Well, he/she was out there a few minutes
ago...he/she almost never leaves our backyard...and, sure enough, that right
ear is definitely tipped!!!!!  I can't believe it and now I don't have to do
it.  I'm shocked, in a good way, that there is apparently someone else in our
neighborhood who is trying to keep the feral/stray population down and also
wonder why the kitty showed up in our yard and never leaves.  I would assume
that whoever had him/her TNR'd would have continued to feed them as that is
generally the plan.  But I suppose the cat may have just decided to move on to
a less crowded area or whatever but I am very happy for the little girl/guy and
will, of course, continue to feed him/her.  We have selected a unisex name for
him/her, "Joey," until we can maybe actually touch him/her and be able to
genderize it.  Joey has a little kitty house we made up from a big dog kennel
as well as an upholstered chair in the carport to sleep in (plus this is
Arizona so it never gets unbearably cold).  We also have a ton of bushes in our
yard that Joey hides in and he/she seems to love our roof as I hear him/her
jump down from there every morning.  I guess I was so busy trying to see Joey's
privates and see how plump he/she was getting that I missed that cute little
cut off ear.  If we can tame Joey at some point, we might bring him/her in to
be an indoor cat but, for now, at least Joey isn't gonna be a mommy this
spring.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human."  (Loren Eisely)