Linda Eskin's Personal Site

The Kitties

Our cats have the best life a cat could imagine! The backyard is fenced - about an acre, with plenty of California pocket gophers and bugs to catch. At night they stay indoors, play with toys, shred their scratching post, get stoned on catnip, sleep on the bed, and pester each other.

We discourage them from catching birds. Between all of them, they have only gotten maybe 5-6 birds. We prefer they concentrate on the gophers and deer mice - they have a job to do!. In the Spring they often get a gopher a day.

Ansel and PussPuss came with us from a condo-like house in La Mesa. After a few weeks of darting back into the house every time a leaf blew in the wind, they adjusted well to life in the country. At first they would bring us gophers to kill for them. Later they would kill them and show them off. Finally they just kill 'em and ate 'em.

Little Extra Kitty moved in on us, to Ansel's everlasting consternation. He soon outgrew the "Little" part of his name - he weighs almost 20 pounds now. Our vet suggested changing his name to Extra Large Kitty. He's a very demanding, outspoken cat.

In August 2002 we lost PussPuss to a coyote. He had an extraordinary life, and was the happiest cat we've ever met. He spent his time sleeping in the sun, and hunting in the yard. But there are trade-offs - life in the country can be dangerous. If we could've asked him, I think he would've said it was worth the risk to have the lifestyle he enjoyed.

Missy joined our gang when her second litter of kittens (at a neighbors' place) needed to be weaned. She had been coming by for breaks from them, and eventually just stayed. We had resolved not to adopt any more cats. Alas, she had a different idea. When we got her spayed she was pregnant again, but her lungs were so damaged (by infection? asthma?) she may not have survived carrying them to term anyway. She also has a BB lodged in her side. She had been an outdoor kitty, but now she is living in the lap of luxury. Her favorite place to sleep is on top of the stereo equipment cabinet, where it's warm, and she can keep an eye on the kitchen.

Mini-Me, who is one of Missy's last litter, must have heard her talking about her new lifestyle, 'cause he moved in, too. Actually, I think some of the neighbors' cats discovered that the area around the horse pen is coyote-free. The ones who did not come to live here were all killed. We kept trying to tell him that he doesn't live here, but he's not taking the hint. We tried letting him into the house for a while, but Ansel and Little Extra Kitty drew the line at that - and blasted everything we own with cat pee. Now he can come and go from the garage, and even has his own easy chair to sleep on.