So, we have a “barn cat.” She is a gorgeous gray fluffball that adopted us about a year and a half ago. She is one hell of a great mouser/hunter and so we give her scraps as available (read – bones and fat or leftovers). Last year, she had a litter of kittens – of them, only 1 survived, he is a lean, mean, hunting machine. Actually, not mean at all, he is a loving little thing, but for all his long fur, is lean.
Recently, she brought her new litter out to meet us. There are 4 of them:
[ul]
[li]there’s the little gray ball of fluff who has Tom’s (Tom & Jerry) markings to a “T” (but with long hair), we named her Mittens the TomKitten[/li][li]there is the little orange tabby (everyone’s favorite) that we named Cheese **[/li][li]then there are “the twins” 2 almost identical fluffly black calicos we call Spitty McSpithead and Little Spitty McSpithead – they’re both hissers/spitters and obviously, one is noticeably bigger than the other[/li][/ul]
The kittens, being the offspring of a barn cat are themselves, barn kittens. The cats have never been and will never be indoor cats, but the kittens have decided that they want to be indoor cats. Whenever the door is opened, in come 4 little balls of fluff. It’s funny and quite endearing, if a bit aggravating.
Last night, it was really quite funny, though. I was sitting at my computer, which is facing the front door when I hear one of the Spittys mewling (how did I know it was one of them? They’re the most vocal of the four) and a faint scratching.
“Oh shit,” thought I as I leapt to my feet. “One of those fuckers got left in the house when the door opened last and is about to shit on my floor!” Having just had my living room flooded last month and dealing with all the mud and nastiness from that, I was not in the mood to deal with kitty poop.
I looked around and could not find the kitten. I followed the sound of the mewling/scratching and was led straight to the door. Upon opening the front door, 4 little balls of fluff leapt into action – invading my home!
What they have done is realised that when we let our Chihuahua (Chili Dog) out to “do his business” and he is done and wants back in, he scratches at the door, which makes it open. They have learned the secret to the opening of the door! Gods help us, those kittens are smarter than most of the people with whom I work!!
**For those not familiar with Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, it is hilarious and exceedingly punny. The best puns have come from the introduction of the character Cheese. The main character’s name is Mac. When he thought he had accidentally imagined the new character, he was quite embarassed at the idea of being “Mac and Cheese.” Furthermore, Mac’s real (as in he really did imagine him, where he actually did not imagine Cheese) imaginary friend is named Bloo – so together, they would be (wait for it) “Bloo Cheese.” Yeh, we love puns. So, since our Chihuahua is named Chili Dog (just Chili for short), we had to name the orange kitten Cheese, so we now have Chili and Cheese 
Oh yes, I should also mention that they do well with small dogs, (since they are all convinced that Chili is their father), hide from large dogs (this is the country, ya know) and don’t mind small (ish…is a 70lbs-solid-muscle 7 year old small?) kids. The 2 Spitty McSpitheads are very vocal and make a lot of noise for no reason, while Mittens the Tomkitten is just a big old tub o lard.
