Mama Mia's Page
May, 1996 - September, 2011




They say that anyone that works with or rescues cats eventually ends up with a "Mama" kitty. Its that one cat that shows up with a litter of kittens, and although you know you should either let her go or find a home for her, there is special spark about her, that you decide that no one could possibly provide a better home than you could. Our Mama kitty is such a kitty. (This picture really doesn't show her full coloring) Mama started out her life as a member of the feral colony that Bob and Kathy help maintain. This is the same colony that Ghost and Maggie came from, although when we discovered Mama, she was a two year old adult cat with a litter of five kittens. Mama was one of the "featured cats" in Bob and Kathy's "Adventures with Ferals" from the summer of 1998.

As we mentioned in our "Adventures", Mama was a truly feral cat, whose main concern once we caught her was to protect her kittens, than herself. However, once she saw that we weren't hurting her kittens, she relaxed a little, but she still wouldn't let us touch her. Bob would spend hours sitting with her, not really petting her, but sitting next to her and talking to her. Eventually we were able to pet her a little, but she still spent most of her time hiding.

We were continuing to work with her when we noticed that her ears were getting red and inflamed. Mama's body temperature was also going up, meaning that she had an infection. Although we dreaded doing it, she had to go to the vet. We were worried how she would react to all the strange sights and smells of the vet. More importantly, we were worried about how Mama would deal with being poked and prodded by complete strangers. Fortunately, Mama handled the trip well, and everyone survived.

Since that visit to the vet several months ago, Mama has made incredible progress towards becoming a pet. Although she still hides a lot, and is the first cat under the bed when someone knocks on the door, she will readily crawl into Bob or Kathy's lap for a cuddle. She has also recently discovered her "inner kitten", joyfully batting her toy mousies around the house. She also has become an expert at chasing the "kitty tease" feather. Overall we're glad we're glad we kept Mama, rather than releasing her back to the colony.