Father of 11, that we know of and not a bit of maintenance paid

Well the big black Tom cat about our way has certainly been putting it about a bit. Our kitten Angel was a result of the frolicking of next doors black cat, or kitten as she was then, with the big black Tom cat, being so young she only had 2 kittens, one male, one female. You would think being the responsible owner of 3 female cats and 2 unexpected kittens it would be enough to have any owner run all three cats immediately to the vets for spaying, but no, there seemed to have been more important things on the agenda like a new flat screen TV which required a new TV unit and of course new curtains and a matching rug, not to mention the annual girlie holiday.

Only just 8 weeks ago the second oldest black & white cat gave birth to 3 kittens, 2 black & white and one grey & white, 2 female and one male. I was absolutely smitten with the grey & white kitten and suggested to the hubby we get it. His response was somewhat unexpected, lets just say I tend to get what I want, he may refuse to begin with but pretty soon he gives in, but this time it was a categorical, unarguable, definite NO! I was shocked. Moi, being told no, that was a first. For weeks I tried to shame him into giving in, but he didn't. Meantime Angels mother took a sudden middle spread and 4 weeks ago became a mother for the second time, 3 kittens, 2 female and one male.

At my daughters communion, the kittens provided great entertainment for all the kids and my lovely niece's boyfriend left with the little black & white male kitten. One down 2 to go before the next lot were ready for dispatch. I took the grey & white one to show everyone my new kitten, to which the hubby just raised his eyebrows, but still he told my neighbour

'she's no gettin' it!'

After a particularly bad night kept awake by the hubby's snoring I decided bugger it, I'm having that kitten, after work I'll confirm with my neighbour and surprise the kids. Sitting to have our dinner, me, my children, the hubby and my mother and my son announced;

'Well that's all the kittens gone'

'Gone' I stammered, my heart sinking.

'Yes, they've been taken by the neighbour's sister and a friend' he confirmed.

Well, I could hardly eat my dinner for tripping over my big petted lip. After dinner I took the communion photo's in to show my neighbour and confirm the kittens were in fact gone. They were.

'You said you weren't to get one' she said.

'I know, but I wanted that grey & white one' I said like a two year old.

She was so apologetic, but it wasn't her fault. No, it was the hubby's fault. So having talked myself into the fact I would shortly have 2 cats I put a reserve on one of Angel's sisters, they will be ready in about 3 weeks and this time I will surprise the kids. I put on a brave face, went home and announced I would never forgive the hubby, there would never be another grey & white cat like that, it was one of a kind and I didn't get it because he said NO, as you do when you are tired and irrational. To which he responded and quite rightly I might say;

'When have you ever listened to me, I thought you would just have appeared with it anyway'

This made me feel slightly better about the fact I had just gone behind his back and reserved another one, so we'll see what his reaction is when another little black kitten appears soon. Perhaps he won't even notice.

Meanwhile, and this is a true story I am not making this up, the third and final cat, the ginger one also took a middle spread and on Saturday night gave birth to 3 kittens, a ginger one and 2 black ones, or so we thought until yesterday when we got a closer look, they have white faces, black bodies with ginger stripes and ginger markings on their legs, sex still to be confirmed.

When the hubby heard the ginger cat was expecting he announced he would like a ginger cat so that he could call it Garfield. Bloody typical.

As there are a couple of people interested in the kittens I thought I better have a look at them and reserve mine, I had only seen them just after they were born and didn't take much interest in them as I was having the grey & white one from the first litter, so last night I went in and had a full study of all three of them, the male I eliminated straight away as I am not having any 'goings on' under my roof without a marriage certificate. This leaves the 2 females, one completely black with many stray white hairs down her left front paw and one with a little white patch under her chin. The one with the white patch is a nosy little thing, as soon as someone talks, she sits down, raises her head and ears and becomes alert, all 6 inches of her, sooooo cute, but she has a funny little face, resembling a little gremlin, while the other has a fuller face.

I have no idea which one to go for, I like the idea of the little nosy one, but prefer the face of the other one and my main concern is the nosy one becomes a little to nosy and inquisitive and scales the curtains and the furniture and is generally a lot to handle after getting our placid little Angel.

Any advice on How to choose your kitten would be gratefully received.

And Tom cat, well he better watch out, it'll be cheaper to get him neutered than the 3 females, if we can catch the b*****d....

For the record I confirm Angel was spayed at 5 months before she was let out the door