Category: Cats

Recent garden cats

It has been one month since Kogu disappeared. (Kogu, You can come back any time!)

The recent garden cats are:
first, Kuro and Icchan (Kuro’s sister) are the main cats;
second, Moku (Kuro and Icchan’s mom) and Komoku (Moku’s sister) think our yard is their restaurant;
and third, Shiro (she is the oldest female cat in our garden) and Ryo (our area’s boss cat).
Surprisingly, they are all female except for Kuro and Ryo.

Kuro (black)
He is a very talkative, pampered boy cat. Whenever we go outside, he runs to us from somewhere, vocalising energetically. After Kogu disappeared, we made Kuro wear a collar. Some days later, his hair under the collar fell out, so we were afraid that he might have some kind of skin trouble. Actually, it was because the collar was too tight. It seems that Kuro is curious to be inside our house, but the elder guy inside the house dislikes him. (This is Kyoku.) And, he has a strong opinion that the garden is his own territory, so he sometimes recklessly goes up against other adult male cats, including Ryo.

Icchan
She is one size smaller than Kuro. We thought she gave birth last month but… (We noticed her tummy had become big, and one day it became flat.) But recently she always plays with Kuro in our garden. She has a big appetite, but her attitude isn’t like a mother’s. We don’t know where she gave birth. Maybe the kids couldn’t survive? She is a young girl, and Ryo got attracted to her. If we don’t have her spayed, it will be big trouble for us in the future. (But it’s very expensive!)

Moku
She is also an irresponsible mom. She is very aggressive for food and has a harsh character. We are sure she gave birth but we haven’t seen her kids. Last month, a tabby cat and a cat who may be Kuro’s father (and who seemed sick) were competing for her just after her kittens came out. Now, we don’t see these male cats. They may have left on business again.

Komoku
We sometimes notice she is in our garden with Kuro and Icchan. She used to live with Moku in a parking lot near our house, but she moved her area to beside our house after the area around the parking lot was under construction and the traffic became busy. The construction finished some months ago… but it seems they decided to live in our area. We think she has a cuter face and character than Moku.

Shiro
Did she get surgery, or is she naturally unable to have kittens? It has been three years since she showed up in our garden. She has a cool personality, and never lets us touch her, but she is ideal as a garden cat. Of course she doesn’t like newcomers who don’t treat her with respect at her restaurant, so she can’t get along with Moku.

Icchan, Moku, and Komoku all have black and white spots so we have a hard time knowing which one is which from a distance. But we heard that the person at Ryo’s house also offers meals for cats, and of course these ladies show up there. Indeed, the female is strong in any world.

–YS, 9 May 2006

9 May 2006