April 19, 2021
The first time we set up a trap to get Mitsy is in the weekend of March 21 and it is COLD outside. We have been feeding Mitsy for over four weeks by then and have realised that she is pregnant. Very pregnant. We contact a random rescue organisation, that lends us their humane trap and demonstrate how it works. Full of anticipation we set the trap and… Mitsy does not show up for two days! This is highly unusual, we have been able to set the clock on her visits. We figure she saw the trap and is staying away. On the last day we have the trap, she flashes by to check out the food. She must not trust the weird contraption and takes off again, keeping her body low and almost crouching away. Never even getting close to the trap.
Mitsy returns on Monday evening for 10 minutes – and by then the trap has been collected by the rescue organisation. She looks like a very different cat. No more big belly… She obviously has had her kittens; her stop-over is much shorter than before. We keep feeding her and keep an eye out for possible sightings of kittens. Sometimes, we are told, mothers will relocate their kittens after a couple of weeks, as they get bigger and move around more. But that does not happen in our case. We keep interacting with a now very slim Mitsy. We come to the conclusion that the birthing either did not go well, or wildlife robbed her of her kittens. It is not abnormal. We have coyotes, raccoons and many big birds of prey in our area. Or maybe even humans took her kittens, thinking they were abandoned.
Camera surveillance
We relocate the security cameras on our property to find out more about this cat’s comings and goings. This is the start of a 3 month period, in which the alerts of our cameras direct our days. Even Suzi, our resident cat, starts to react to the bleeps! When Mitsy arrives, we rush to put fresh food out for her and we watch her from behind the window. She seems unfazed by our presence, as long as we keep our distance.
After a month I do an experiment: I bring out the food and instead of going back into the house, I sit in our backyard. I have my phone with me, so I can watch Mitsy via the surveillance camera app without direct eye contact outside.
Getting closer
By now, she no longer runs and hides around the corner of the house when we put out food. Instead, she hangs out under our AC Unit next to our sliding door, until the coast is clear. She seems to be conditioned to the sound of the door closing and on this day, the early afternoon of April 19, she is already halfway out of the AC Unit when she realises I am still outside. She studies me for 30 seconds. I sit silently, watching her via the security camera app on my phone. Then hunger wins and she crawls towards the food. Cautious, but not overly alarmed. This is a great milestone, I think! A first step towards a possible socialisation process. And I am particularly happy when I see that one of the cameras captured me and her in the same shot!
Pregnant again!
As we interact with Mitsy more, we are very proud of how good she looks. We tell each other that this must be because of the excellent food we are offering her. She also often comes to sleep in the space under our Air Conditioning unit. We place cameras there as well and it rewards us with many adorable videos. Mitsy grooming herself, Mitsy in deep sleep, Mitsy getting ready to leave. It endears us and we are at that point really in love with her. After a couple of weeks we realise that she is even getting chubby. It must be the easy life with us, we dream. Until we wake up to the realisation that she is pregnant. Again. And now we start to prepare in earnest for trapping and neutering this little cat. And possibly adopting her. Or at the very least finding her a safe space to live elsewhere.