Wandering wombs

I think our cat is going through a broody stage. Is that possible when they’ve been spayed? She is behaving like a mother making a family nest for her brood and bringing home the bacon for them. We had a cat called Tabitha when I was a kid, and Tabitha had a litter of seven kittens. I’d come down one morning early and found her grunting and squeaking under the kitchen table. Or so I thought. Turns out the grunting actually meant she was in the throws of labour, and the squeaking wasn’t coming from Tabs at all, but from the rapidly expanding family of cats she was producing under there in her cardboard box.

Within a few days Tabitha was out ferreting for food to bring home to her babies. And whenever she did find anything suitable she used to bring it to the middle of the kitchen floor, settle back on her haunches, puff out her little furry chest like a proud lion, tip her head back and start howling. A long, deep, sad, rhythmic sound. If you’ve heard a mother cat you’ll know what I mean. There is something so incredibly haunting about that song. And it is so different to a cat’s ordinary miaow. On one occasion Tabitha managed to bring home a completely unopened pack of streaky bacon from the local supermarket. I think it was then that dad decided it was time to find new homes for the kittens.

But Squeak has no babies and no chance of ever having any. Furthermore, she’s called 'Squeak' because all she ever does is let out this tiny high pitched squeaky miaow. And yet here she is, six years old, womb-less and infertile, and calling the song of the mother cat. I find it very sad. But looking on the bright side, at least she isn’t bringing home packs of bacon for her invisible babes – she prefers to catch one of Lily’s feathery tiaras instead! Sometimes pink, sometimes white, once a princess glove with furry trimmings - but always something fluffy and hairy. No vacuum packed plastic for this little kitty!