Cat Pack

One hot day, while Deniro was sprawled out along the wall, I discovered he is indeed a he. The video below is the only demonstration I've ever seen of altruism from a male cat towards kittens I don't think are his. It's pretty dark but if you look closely to the left of him you will see a kitten chowing on some treats. Watch his reaction and how he tolerates the kittens as if they were his children.


More Kitten Therapy









There are three stray cats who hang out in the awkward space between my apartment building and the yards (yes there are places here with yards!) of houses on the next block. Since moving in, I've come to know these 3 vagabonds about as well as you can know any semi-ferral mammal. I assure you that as the summer progresses, more stories will be added....but first, the background:

As you can see from the pictures, these three are always seen together...a strange thing for ferrel cats. BUT it seems the two tiger stripped cats (Pacino & Deniro) are actually kittens from a previous litter. The black & white cat (whom I'll call Billy after Miss Holliday) has a litter of 4 kittens which I discovered late one night- video & the story coming soon. Although she has 4 little ones in tow, Pacino & Deniro still hang around, glaring jealously from a distance as the kittens partake in a feast whenever they desire. All three linger under the neighbors window (seen in the last picture) for the occasional toss of mysterious food. We've developed a relationship, though their skittishness is difficult to cope with. When I come home and open the windows, they stare hopefully and are attentive to my moves inside the house. Of course, they don't have a TV either so I suppose I'm the best entertainment they have in this dreary vacant, in-between space. I continue to struggle with the dilemma of tossing my own mysterious food from the window: if I start feeding them will they decrease their valuable service of balancing the populations of other, more irritating critters? Am I just participating in the larger problem of ferral animals due to human irresponsibility? Is it really my place to subsidize yet another mammal breeding uncontrollably in a geographic location with such strained resources? Why can't I just naively enjoy the interaction without it becoming a deeper philosophical debate?

The 4 kittens are fat and sassy, taking over the alley way and generally being adorable in their predatory practicing. I'm a bit concerned because I haven't seen Miss Holiday (the black and white) or Pacino in several days. The kittens are following around Deniro (the close up picture w/one white leg).

Kitten Therapy: Video of a practicing predator