This is Pantheon. He is about a year and a half old now and the biggest pain in the Ass cat I have ever had the misfortune of being around.
Actually I feel this cats pain to be honest, and he knows it. He is the last remaining member of the litter born here back in the late Winter of 2012-2013. Yes he is one of the snowbabies.
If I am not mistaken this guy is the kitten who's head is at the far left of the group. He always was a ham even back then. The most adventurous out of the bunch and the one you would always find away from his sisters with mom wandering around calling for him. She wouldn't settle down until one of us humans found him and returned him to the nest at which point she would hold him down and give him a good cleaning while he squirmed and complained about it.
We found homes for all the others but couldn't find any for this guy, or that's the story I was given anyway I suspect there wasn't a whole lot of trying going on but what's done is done.
Out of all the feline riff raff that washes up onto the Small-Hold shores this is the only cat that can say he was truly born and bred right here. I haven't seen his daddy now since last Summer but he does truly look just like his dad who was staying at the next farm over only until he either wandered off or suffered a mishap. Perhaps he stopped coming around the Small-Hold because we finally got all the strays fixed. I don't know but I haven't seen the deadbeat slinking around in a while.
Pantheon's mother is completely done with him and feels he should have been sent off to kitty-college some time ago. The other female cats have also grown tired of his shenanigans. The other females (of which we are now down to three) were at first quite enamored with Pantheon. As an intact young male they each would seek him out and play/roll/romp with him. Pantheon thought he was the crown prince of the world and everybody loved him.
Then the day of the vet visit came and after that Pantheon wasn't quite so attractive to the females anymore. While all the females are also fixed as well, spaying female cats does not change their normal everyday non-cycle behavior like it does the males. Male animals require testosterone to survive. A fact that many out there fail to acknowledge because it just doesn't fit the narrative they want to believe.
Now that's not to say I think all male cats should be allowed to just roam free intact, I understand that can cause problems as well but still it is kinda a cruel thing to do. These male cats still have the wander lust need to explore and range but in many ways it's like sending a pre-pubesent boy into an adult prison. They just don't have the chemical needed to insure survival.
Here is Pantheon on one of his early exploration missions. He had made it out of his nest box and gotten as far as the wood pile before he was discovered.
The female cats are all allowed to come and go as they please because they really don't go anywhere. They mess around in yard but really only venture out from around the house when a human is nearby. Not so this young male-used-to-be. He will go in to the road, down into the hay field, across the pasture to the neighbors etc. etc.
So Mrs. PP has put the law down and keeps him captive. Pantheon's only hope is to plead with me long and hard enough to let him out and then take the time to keep a constant watch on him.
For my part I would let him live the free life but I am too afraid of what will happen to me if anything happens to him. The wife will never let me live it down and blame me forever so my hands are tied.
So now Pantheon sticks to me like glue whenever I am inside hoping I will relent and take him outside.
Eventually I think he will out grow the wander-lust and will be able to have the freedom he so desires but not yet. It pains me to have to deny him something I myself find so wonderful but I am just not sure how else to handle it. Poor guy.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
oh poor Pantheon. our 2 cats that we brought here were strays that we took in that were already fixed. when frankie-blue-eyes showed up he was just a baby and so our older cats accepted him. but in order to keep him, we had to fix him as he was showing signs of normal male cat aggression. i hated to do it. if i ever had a baby there would be no circumcision involved - i just do not agree with those kinds of practices. i also don't believe in fixing female cats but it must be done. i hate all of that crap!
ReplyDeleteanyway, now that you have made me sad - i have to send you a link that i think will have you rolling on the floor laughing. oh it's a doozy. and yes, wiener, you are welcome! go read it right away!
http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/07/09/ill-check-privilege-check-assumptions/#Kei28YvesdJarMTv.99
your friend,
kymber
Kymber - errr I mean Trenchie, You really have to get the boys neutered there isn't anyway around it really unless you are prepared to let em free range and prolly eventually disappear. The key is being sure you are going to take care of em because once they are under that knife they really are not prepared for the life of a stray anymore.
DeleteI have the most issues with these types who protest shelters and insist on NO kill policies that think they can neuter a male cat and just put him back out in the wild. You can get away with that with a female but not the males.
yo - wiener dude - did you check the link? i have been laughing all night long!!!!
DeleteLOL that was pretty good. I especially liked the part at the end when he went off on her about White Men being the root of all evil.
DeleteWe have 3 toms, my wife tried to get me to say yes to a 4th. Oh hell no was my answer. We don't need another cat. IIRC it was a she. Again Oh hell no.
ReplyDeleteRob - I am surprised the 3 toms stay around actually. The toms we had out here over the years eventually just wandered off never to be seen again.
DeleteOur Toms are indoor cats have been since we had them as kittens.
DeleteWow so they don't spray or try and escape every chance they get?
DeleteEven our neutered males attempt a great escape every time the door opens. One old guy who is the size of a bobcat has actually managed to show he is capable of going out on his own to the point the wife doesn't freak out when he gets out. He is a much happier cat now.
They spray now and then. We don't have a storm door, but we bought one of those magic screen doors with the magnets to keep it closed.
DeleteWhen we are on the deck two of them will stick a nose out or come out on the deck. My youngest daughter freaks when they do that. I tell her the boys know this is home so they wont go far. The boys are spoiled. They get a dry treat twice a day and a can of moist each a couple times a week.
A large bowl of dry cat food and a large bowl of water. I clean the litter pan almost every time I'm in the bathroom.
They have free run of the house., but they stay out of the boys room and my oldest daughter keeps her door closed so they don't tag any of sammy's stuff.
They sleep in with the wife almost all day. Yesterday all three slept out in the living room. two on the couch and one on the floor by the closet.
I have two female kitty supervisors that were both fixed though I am not sure why they call it being "Fixed" as I can assure you that nothing was broken. In fact they are now broken and can't be fixed.
ReplyDeleteSf - Well the females can pretty much operate normally for the rest of their lives after having been spayed. Estrogen in cats isn't really needed for survival as much as testosterone. The key is how other cats react to them. Toms will continue to visit and treat spayed females the same as always, allowing them to keep their territory inside the males etc. While a neutered cat is basically a nomad with no will to even fight for his own survival really.
DeleteHeh maybe :) No what used to burn my ass was when I lived in the city across from a park that had a large feral cat population. They would come through there and collect up cats then have them spayed or neutered and return them. The poor males would come back and be immediately run off or hurt so bad they died.
DeleteAnyone who thinks testosterone is not needed is fooling themselves. If you want to take care of the animal for life then sure neuter it but I think there is a special place in Hell for people who neuter a male cat then send it off to become a stray.
I don't know where you get your male cats, but my neutered males have survived just fine. They hunt game, protect their territory against all comers and roam all over our ranch. They are trained to come in at night so the coyotes don't get them. They sleep with us every night, too. The only difference with them is that they are not aggressive or obnoxious as toms. When we still had our little female they were all pals and lovey dovey.
ReplyDeleteTewshooz - Again as I mentioned it isn't really an issue so much with males that are kept inside until they mature enough. As I said neutering cats is a necessary evil however it does effect their rate of survival and causes other health issues.
DeleteMy main objection are those who try and sell the catch, neuter/spay and release proposals for feral cats. The neutered males are at a very distinctive disadvantage when left out there on their own.
For instance Testosterone plays a part in quick reaction times. A coyote stands a much better chance of bagging a neutered male than a non-neutered one.
Preppy he is beautiful. We have had a little black kitty floating around the estate. I named him "Kudzoo" because he frollics in the stuff all day. I think he is only about 12 weeks old, I do have a trap and might bait it.
ReplyDeleteJuGM - I think he is actually the prettiest cat we have on the place. He is also the most vocal. I wonder if your Kudzoo is from a nearby litter or if someone dumped him. I am sure he will be happy once he is caught and fed regularly :)
Deletepretty sure it is a nearby litter. There is a residence towards the front of the highway that I think he came from. I am going to have Senior set the trap, I hope I catch him though and not a raccoon...they also love wet cat food.
Delete