There's one in every house!

This is my baby Craver. He was a feral kitten, literally dying the day our boys found him outside the cottage. He was captured (they thought this was a generous thing) because he couldn't outrun our boys due to his pitiful condition. They came bursting into the cottage proudly holding this little ball of fluff that was so encrusted with congestion that his nose was totally sealed over with it and both eyes were nearly glued shut. He could barely breathe and he was terrified.

At the time we already had 5 cats and were NOT in the market for an addition to the family but one look at the poor thing and it was clear ... he was about 24 hours away from being history. So ... of course, we went into emergency vet mode, drug out all of our kitten saving supplies, cleaned the poor thing's face, and started dropper feeding him. He was between 3 and 4 weeks old then. He made it through the first night but it was fairly clear he wasn't going to last without serious meds so it was another HUGE chunk of change down the tubes for unexpected vet bills and viola ... the boy is a fighter! He survived.

And now ... we live in the constant grips of STORM CRAVER. I have never had such a hyper adolescent cat! He will be 1 in the late fall and I am telling you ... he is a destruction machine! ~laughing~ Feral cats are difficult to socialize and maintain if they are more than 6 weeks old when they are handled by humans. If they are even as much as 8 to 10 weeks old it's a good bet they will never be totally socialized at all. We've had good luck with both of our straight out of the wild ferals ... mostly due to the fact that we have so many socialized cats already that do must of the work keeping the little dickens in line! Young Master Craver however is just the epitome of -teenage- boy. He is filled with boundless energy that few of our more older and sedate cats appreciate. He compensates for their lack of zeal by waging intricate and highly technical sneak attacks on the most unsuspecting of them ... relying craftily on his ultra stealth and wiry speed to extract him from the claws of some of our more substantial babies who would happily rip him to bits like an inviting couch cushion if they could only maneuver their bulk with half his speed. He lives to spy the unsuspecting elder just lounging in the sun partaking in a few moments of their normal 20 hours of sleep a day ... and then moves in for the trauma. He lives for chaos and the ensuing grand mal proportion seizure he inspires in his unsuspecting victims seems to be his sustaining addiction. My poor babies.

Nothing is safe from my maniac boy ... he equal opportunity attacks wall hangings, boxes, dirty clothes, claw posts, my chair, the blinds ... you name it. Cats are suposed to sleep around 20 hours a day but I am thinking he has a secret stash of caffiene that he's mainlining these days. Add to that ... our second youngest, Nala (we believe his sister from another litter) is in heat and now ... he's discovered sex drive. We can't get her fixed when she is in a heat cycle so that's added a whole new element to the mix ... ~laughing~

I guess this was just the long way of saying ... I can't get any sleep ... Storm Craver is in full effect and there is no place I can hide. I put Nala in the room with me to protect her virtue and she squals like no tommorrow cause she NEEDS! I put Craver in the room with me to leave Nala unmolested and everything that can even be remotely mistaken for a toy is fodder for his limitless energy and if he can find nothing else ... he plants himself on my legs and chases his tail ... for HOURS. I am so tired ... ~pitiful whine inserted here~ ....

oh ... did I mention we cheered the sun up again this morning after a night of devastating spades ... experimental mojitos and melonballs, serious amounts of pizza, cheesecake, dr. pepper, and *coughs* Marlboros. Yes ... I started smoking at the end of last summer ... *sighs* ... we can discuss my quitting another day. Right now ... I feel the little hairs standing up on the back of my neck and I have this sinking feeling that something is about to jump on me ...