Monkey Doodle Dandy & Tuxie Wuxie Yay-Tux

Just a few months before 2020 and that blasted Covid took over the world, I took on a huge project. Again, just minding my own damn business. A feral mama cat and her kittens found their way outside our patio along the walkways and landscaping at our apartment. While still nursing on Mama, they were old enough to eat the wet and dry food I put out for all of them. Eventually they made their way into our patio (see a pattern here?) I provided food, water and a shelter made out of a plastic storage tub filled with styrofoam and straw. My boyfriend surprised me one day while I was at work building it. Instead of them going inside it, they all hung out on top of it for a while. Later on, we put together another tub shelter and added other shelters in our patio. Mama came close to killing me or at least landing me in the ER a few times. A feral cat is no joke. A sleek all black beauty and yellow eyes that could cut glass with two all black kittens (one boy and one girl) and one tuxedo kitten (boy), I was instantly smitten and determined to get them help, but terrified I would do something to spook all of them away for good. Felix was the friendly black male. My first cat my family had was a black cat named Felix so I took this as a sign. Tux or Tuxie was the most standoffish. Monkey was eventually interested in getting to know these big scary humans while maintaining a safe distance. Then one day, I hit the jackpot with Tux. He rolled over showing me his belly and let me pet him. Monkey liked getting petted to a point before scooting away looking over her shoulder. Felix loved attention and affection, letting me hold him on his back like a baby. Animala (the name we gave Mama) soon went about her own damn business. To our dismay, she came by presenting herself as PREGNANT AGAIN! Did you know that cats can go into heat just weeks after their current litter is born? I sure didn’t know it was that soon after. I’m a firm believer in spay and neuter. I just failed to realize how quickly Animala would need my interference. After many failed attempts at trapping her, I focused on getting her kittens spayed and neutered so the cycle would at least stop with them. The very day I was scheduled to trap them for their appointment the next day, a super friendly stray beige tabby showed up to the Crazy Cat Cafe and BAM! I got him, too! Four less cats unnecessarily reproducing down. It was a wonderful feeling. I found a home for the beige cat, Chicken, and we ended up keeping Monkey and Tuxie. Sadly, Felix disappeared the same day Chicken first arrived. I don’t know if he found another sucker (I mean, another cat lover minding their own damn business) at the apartment complex and got a good home or if something bad happened. He was so friendly and sweet, I choose to believe the first scenario or I will torture myself worrying. I still regret not being able to help Animala, still haunted and traumatized by her pregnant belly. She would come by our front door every now and then for food and water I set out for her or any other cat, then she would run away. PLEASE, people. Fix your animals! We almost had a home for Monkey and Tux during the beginning of COVID, but I failed at securing them. Blessing in disguise! They are ours for life. It was our first foster fail. They are thriving outdoors at our new house soaking up the sunshine, hunting any critter that flies or crawls, making friends with the occasional stray cat, possum or raccoon arriving for free meals and journeying through ferns, palm trees, Japanese Maples and various flowers. When they’re in the mood, they seek out our pets and “scratchies” as if to say, “Thank you for saving our lives and taking care of us. UGH, wait. No, why are you reaching down? No, you can’t pick us up and hold us like a bay-bay!”