Itty karaoke invades the Soi
The sound of caterwauling is keeping a whole household of pets awake at night
A LADY cat has moved in behind our house. I have never seen her, but I know two things about her: she doesn’t have a home, and she’s not been neutered.
A lady cat in heat is really unpleasant to have around. Poor thing. It’s not her fault. Nature has given her this hormonal cycle, and she can’t do anything about it.
Her constant shrieking, though, is driving all my household crazy, no matter if she cries out during the day or in the night.
Nature has designed her cries to attract any interested boy cat around, and a whole bunch certainly are. At night, when she cries, the boys gather. Some fight. Others simply yell at each other.
In my household, all the animals (except the turtles) have been neutered. You’d think Screaming Mimi’s howling wouldn’t affect them, nor the noise from her passionate boyfriends.
My guys are not sexually attracted to what’s going on behind the house, but they are concerned about territory. The partying felines are near enough so that they sound as if they’re inside the house.
To them, Screaming Mimi and her boys pose a threat, and each of my cats reacts in his or her own way. Wild Child Manohra is the most vocal. She’s is always trying to claim the whole house, and now, although the noise from the soi cats is not directed at her, she reacts as if it is.
Her tail bushes out, her body grows tense, and her bad language, starting low-pitched and rising higher and higher, is as loud as any scream coming from the orgy behind us.
Yet the most stressed animal in my household is not any of my cats. When Screaming Mimi screams, Wan-Wan, my poodle pup, begins whining.
Wan has appointed herself Protector of Cats. At first, she guarded only the cats in my household, but now she’s expanded her responsibility to include any cat anywhere.
She doesn’t seem to be affected by the sexual nature of all the activity. Perhaps she assumes that Screaming Mimi is in danger. Wan gives me the Look, as in: “Help that poor cat. Now!”
I couldn’t stop the screaming and fighting even if I wanted to. The way my house is set up, that end is blocked on every floor. I can’t even push a water hose out and spray all the feline participants.
The screaming doesn’t last very long, just a few minutes, but a few hours later, it starts again. Call it feline karaoke. Screaming Mimi must be one sexy lady.
In the morning, my gang is completely exhausted and lies in curled-up cat “puddles” all over the house. Screaming Mimi is in heat for only a few days, but the stress has affected Angel, my oldest cat, and Mekhala, whose immune system is weakened by feline Aids.
Both come down with lung infections and require antibiotics and extra vitamins.
The one who suffers the worst is not a cat, but Wan. The dog doesn’t get sick, but frustrated with her inability to carry out her responsibilities, she’s started chewing on her leg right above her paw.
I try entertaining her, taking her out for walks, giving her her favourite treats, but nothing helps. While Screaming Mimi screams, the dog remains an extremely unhappy Cat Protector.
If Screaming Mimi has become pregnant during these few days, she will not go into heat again for the next few months, and we won’t be treated to her vocal talents. If the boys have been unsuccessful and she’s not pregnant, we can expect more feline karaoke in the next few weeks.
Is it wrong of me, I wonder, to start thinking of neutering a cat I’ve never met?
