KIT CARSON & SONS

Before coming to the farm 7 years ago, I had not been around cats very much and certainly hadn't seen kittens being born nor watched them growing up. What a joy and a heartbreak it has been.

Only a few of the cats had names back then, but in May of 2005 I started naming the new ones. The first (and my forever favorite): Kit Carson.

Carson was just over a year old when she had her first babies, giving birth to them in a junk yard down the road. It didn't take me too long to figure out the perfect names: Sanford and Sonny.

Carson in the junk yard, note the old car seat behind the bicycles.

Her babies under the old car seat

Here they are, maybe 2 months old

Carson was always a good mother and always had her babies down in the vicinity of this same junk yard. Over the years, she had a lot of babies, but usually just one or two in a litter. However, once she had four! I wanted to show you a little video of them, but can't get it to download. Maybe next time :-)

In early 2010, the coyotes discovered the farm and the farm cats. We knew that Carson had given birth to new kittens, down the road as usual. We tried to find them so we could move them closer to the house and hopeful safety. Unfortunately, Carson and her unknown number of babies were never found.

As if losing way too many cats & kittens to coyotes wasn't bad enough, on November 6, 2010, Sonny was killed by wild/stray dogs.

On October 8, 2011, Sanford came to the milk barn for his morning neck rub and I could see he was in a bad way. Weldon gave him a shot of penicillin, but he died peacefully that evening.

The only surviving direct descendant of Kit Carson is Samantha. She has already been a miracle kitty, and it seems the coyotes are taking a break, so perhaps she will live a long and peaceful life here on the farm.

This post is dedicated to Kit Carson, Sanford & Sonny, and all the other kitties who have gone on before. I hope they are instigating all kinds of kitty shenanigans in the lush fields and junk yards of heaven.