Meow means “feed me”... meooowww means “feed me”... Meeeeooowwww means “feed me”.. purrrrrrrrr means “feed me”... roooooooewow means “feed me NOW”
I've taken precautions--they spend a lot of time on a deck that can't be reached from the ground where their beds, shelter and food is. They love the outdoors, particularly in warm weather, and discourage vermin and snakes.
Felt a little guilty until I read about the shocking number of cats recently euthenized at my local shelter--mine are shelter rescues--and am content that they have a pretty good cat life, after all. Food, shelter, family, medical care...and if they don't wander too far from home (and the family dog who looks after them and pretends he doesn't), they'll be safe.
OHMIGOODNESS are they adorable!! You are such a blessing to this world to have taken them in! God sees and rewards such generosity and kindness, you can bet! (when I was a child, my dad stopped the car once because a cardboard box was IN the middle of the Sunrise Highway ... when he moved it, it meowed very small and quiet! yeah. Somebody deliberately left that baby to be flattened ... we brought it home with us and she lived a very good long life!). Some people have a special circle in Hell just reserved for them. I hate them.
Mr. Bubbles wakes me up every morning laying on my chest purring. He just lays there and watches me sleep and purrs. LOL
Elvis, who's real name was Spook, was the king. He ruled the ranch, delegated feline chores, dispensed justice and over saw the chow line pecking order.
With Spook no longer here, Socks has taken over his responsibilities and filled them rather nicely. His aka is "Scruff Muff" due to his overabundance of gray and white fur.
"Mother Stray" was just that. She wandered up to the back porch with two kittens and claimed a spot. Her kids didn't make it, they argued with traffic on the highway and lost but she's still here and we're real proud of her. She's a calico that sparkles
"Blackie" is just blackie. A phantom in the night, a creature that you never see except fleetingly out of the side of your eye, a truly elusive animal.
"Bandit" is all feral, you never get near him or your life is in danger. We took him to the vet once to get shots and warned the Doc to be extremely careful of the guy...sure...Doc: "I know what I'm doing'. When we came back the staff told us that Bandit got out and it took the entire staff 30 minutes to corral the beast with a lot of damage to the examination room plus a lot of leakers on their arms and hands....we were told to "never bring that damn cat in here again" as we drove away laughing our butts off.
Then there's "Louie", our cross dresser who's never really made up his mind what he wants to do with his life.
All the cats are extraordinary hunters and with clock work regularity bring magnificent prizes to the doorstep for accolades and praise. We rarely, if ever, see a mouse even though the barn, stables, garages, and ag sheds would be a perfect home for the little tykes..
Next time I'll tell you about the dogs.