This was originally posted June 2021
As some of you know, I lost Felix, my wonderful barn cat, back in January. Felix never liked other cats or I would have gotten him a friend. So this time, I set out looking for 2 cats. I wanted a bonded pair, so I figured the only way to get that was with kittens. I started looking on the farming pages for some barn kittens. I had a friend message me and tell me her cat had just had kittens. I was excited. Then a lady that worked for SPCA barn cat program messaged me. She said they have many cats that cannot be placed in homes for many reasons. They come fully vetted and are free, you just need to care for them. I told her I was looking for a pair. She said they had pairs. Everyone convinced me this was the way to go. They met me at the nearest gas station and handed me 2 cat carriers. And a huge bag of canned food. I thought, hey, what an awesome deal! She told me to feed them wet food for a week and they should be good.
Here is Artemis and Leo. They came from a hoarding situation. I thought this would be easy. They hissed at me. She lunged at my face. They tipped over the litter box and dumped it into the water dish and made a huge mess every day. After 3 weeks, I couldn’t take any more and I let them go. Nearly 2 weeks later and no sightings of either of them, I had given up and reached out to the person who offered me the kittens initially. After I brought them home, Artemis was spotted. Thin and covered in ticks.
My neighbor set up my live trap and caught her, and I put her in the other building, awaiting a vet appointment for tick meds. (Thankfully they did it for me) She still made a mess by herself, but not as much. I’m wondering if they didn’t even like each other. Leo appeared the day after I caught her. He showed up once a day and I made sure he had food. After Artemis’ vet appointment, I let her go and he followed her. He has not been seen since. That was a month ago. Artemis, on the other hand, shows up at least once a day for food, and just the other day I watched her catch a mouse on the lawn. You still cannot approach her, but this is progress.
Now, meet Arlo and Theo. These guys are adorable, sweet, loving little boys. They purr and cry when they see you. Arlo is adventurous and Theo is more loving. And they love each other. It’ll be a few months before they can roam free (and they will be neutered to keep them closer to home) but they will keep each other company and keep each other warm and watch each other’s backs. This is what I wanted. These two are just a joy.
On the way to the vet to get neutered!
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