Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
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Monday, June 07, 2010

LESSON ONE – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES

A little over a year ago on April 17, 2009, I discovered a chicken nest full of kittens mixed in with several un-hatched eggs. It made it appear that the kittens had been hatched. Many of you will remember the story of Elenore Hen, my broody Silky-mix attempting to set on these kittens in competition with the feline mother, Miss Hissy. (See photo on sidebar and click to see story printed in Countryside Magazine’s Sept/Oct. 2009 issue.)

The two surviving kittens of the four that were born were named David and Goliath because of the rapid growth of Goliath. After the names were attached to them, David’s growth surge came and doubled the size of Goliath. Now it seems size isn’t the only thing that made David’s name seem wrong. It turns out (as often happens around here) that David is a girl.

What is even more surprising? David has four new kittens and they are in the exact same nesting box where she and Goliath were born.

Here is David with her four new black kittens. We have seen a black Tom stalking around here and now we know why.

(As an aside, Boomer, my Lazarus cat, debuted two healthy, fluffy kittens yesterday. I wondered if any of her kittens had survived and when or if she would ever bring them out in the open. They are nice sized and are very fast moving so catching a picture of them will take a while.).

I have had trouble getting on blogger today and besides that I got stung by something. It was black and it was either a bee or a wasp or a spider. I have applied a mix of meat tenderizer and hope to survive. It is my first sting in the four years we have been here. I think I'll take a nap.


20 comments:

  1. Hope that sting is nothing serious. I have never heard of using meat tenderizer on a sting, but I'm sure my mother has...she has all kinds of concoctions to cure things (but mostly sticks to Vic's Vapor Rub!).

    David had kittens. How silly that sounds! Congratulations to the pretty kitty!

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  2. I also hope that sting is nothing serious. I got stung by a yellow jacket last summer and it was pure hell. Meat tenderizer should help.

    David is now called Davida, right?
    (returning to the scene of the crime)

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  3. I hope the nap helped! You are getting a regular colony of kitties there.

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  4. Ouch! Hope you heal up soon. The kitties are adorable :)

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  5. David obviously has fond memories of that nesting box! What a cutie she is!

    I hope the sting site is much much better, Annie, and that your nap was beautifully restorative. Blogger has been acting up for me, too. I keep getting error messages when I post a comment...or maybe blogger is telling me to shut up? lol!

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  6. Tilden (of TildenTalks) names her animals whatever she pleases and doesn't worry about gender. I imagine that her children are quite happy that she didn't do that to them.

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  7. I hope the bite gets better soon. I hope David will keep her name. :)

    Blogger seems to playing up for me too. Apparently people are having problems commenting on my blog.

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  8. how cute is your kitty, I hope the sting gets better,isnt mother nature the best. Animals can live together wonder why cant we.
    thanks for your comments, they made me feel so much better.

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  9. Ily – A paste of meat tenderizer and water applied immediately to the sting works wonders and draws to poison out. My mother’s one cure for everything, even a toothache, was a laxative. God bless her.

    Kenju – “Davida” sounds great. I wasn’t sure how to feminize the name David. LOL

    Lynn -- Right now we have David, Goliath, Furbie, Boomer and Simone plus six unknown kittens. Our barn cat population has greatly dropped so these new kittens will prop it back up.

    Riot Kitty -- My foot is much better this morning. Meat tenderizer is a miracle medicine on stings.

    Talon – David has found it difficult to leave the chicken house since she was born and I find her walking around and brushing up next to the hens. To put her own kittens in the place of her birth just seems natural for her. I am fairly sure she thinks she is part chicken. Blogger better now try to shut you up. We would have to start a rebellion.

    Quilly – I think I am going to start trying to wait to name my animals until I’m sure of their gender from now on. Yes my kids are glad too that I didn’t name them that way. LOL

    LL Cool Joe – I could not comment on any blogs yesterday until well into the afternoon. It gave me a message that Blogger was having problems so I was wondering if it affected anyone but me. My foot sting is much better this morning, thank you. Hey and why shouldn’t a girl get a good Bible name like David. She could slay a giant. Okay we’ll keep David’s name.

    Angela – Thank you for stopping by my blog. I am happy to learn that you are feeling better.

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  10. Glad the sting is feeling better. I have used meat tenderizer before but hadn't thought about it in a long time. Thanks for the reminder. When we had Oscar and Mayer...Oscar ended up being the girl. She left home, so we changed Mayers name to Booty (don't ask). I wouldnt' worry about waiting to name the animals. Just keep naming them what you want. Have a great day and I hope blogger and FB are nicer to you today.

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  11. Interesting that she went back to the place she was born...is that common? Seems to me it is a big job just naming everyone at your house:)

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  12. Bonnie -- So far, so good as FB and blogger goes today. I would like to know why you selected "Booty" for a name? LOL

    Changes -- So far none of the other kitten births have taken place in the nesting boxes. David herself and now her kittens. It does seem quite strange. Yes, naming all my critters does turn into a problem and now I have 6 kittens turning up to name and 4 unnamed chicks. LOL

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  13. Back in the day, Mr. Cube and I had to unspayed female cats who both had litters at the same time. It was such a joy to have all those kittens underfoot.

    Hope your bite heals soon. At least our lubber grasshoppers don't bite!

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  14. May I suggest Dava. It is a little shorter on syllables than Davida. The kittens are beautiful and I loved the story from Countryside. I also read the counter-terrorist rooster. What a great photo.

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  15. Thanks for the kitty stories n great pics! Davie is a pretty cat- just put that ie or just an i on the name n feminize it. Of course she remembers exactly where she was born- Cats have excellent kittenhood memories, n a keen nose to find those spots.
    btw- Because of this I cannot move the litterbox location...

    I heard baking soda n water draw out poison- I have to take Benedryl pills tho- Allergic reactions are dangerous!
    Hope you're OK!

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  16. Ohhh-
    Happy Belated Birthday!

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  17. Cube -- There have been times when we had more kittens than we knew what to do with. Thankfully the mama cats knew what to do. I still can't get over that grasshopper picture. Scary!

    Maria -- Thank you for your comments and for visiting my blog. Wish I could visit you back. Yes my Counter Terrorist rooster was dressed for me by Adam at THE JACK SACK. It was a real hoot to have him send me that. Dava is a cute idea for a name.

    Snaggle Tooth -- Davie is a great name adaptation. It is pretty neat to see her back with her own kittens in the place she was born. It is crazy to reach for eggs in a nest box and feel fuzzy kittens instead. LOL A paste of meat tenderizer is a prefect treatment for a sting. The next morning the pain was gone and there was hardly any swelling. Thanks for the birthday wish too:)

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  18. rodriguezp -- I hope you will learn from my next post. English here only please.

    我希望你将学会从我的下一个职位。英国这里只请。

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  19. We thought our cat was a boy when it was born, Named it STASH because of the mustache it had. Turned out to be a girl. Renamed her Sasha. :)

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  20. Bad luck about the sting and best wishes for a speedy back-to-normal. Your posts make me think how enriched your life is with your wild life (spiders excepted.) I remember with nostalgia past animals but I know it wouldn't be practical to have any more so enjoy yours all the more.

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