Cats

Our 2023 Christmas Card featuring the newest additions to the CHOC household - Kirk and Phantom - rescued from the State Museum Feral Colony.

Our 2022 Christmas Card featuring GW and Tuxie from the State Museum Feral Colony in their second sitting as "Ma and Pa Kettle".

"Ma and Pa Kettle"

Tuxie and GW

"Holiday Spirit"

GW and  Tuxie

Little O and Mimic 

Big O and Pippie

One of the pleasures we have in life is the privilege of taking care of a feral cat colony at the South Carolina State Museum and EdVenture. We have been feeding the cats there since before 2007.  We named two of the most prominent male members of the Colony “Big O” and “Pippie”.  O and Pip were always together.  If you saw one alone, the other was guaranteed to be somewhere nearby.  We described them as “the old married couple”.  Those two, plus their Daughter, Grey, made up the core of the Colony of approximately 20 cats.

All that was forever changed on January 16, 2018, when “Big O” crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

O had been sick for a couple of months.  We are fortunate to have several folks from DHEC looking after the cats during the day – and it was those folks who alerted us just after Thanksgiving that O looked down and was not eating much.  We managed to get him to a veterinarian and return him to the Colony within a few days.  The troublesome part was that he had tested FIV positive.  While FIV is not an immediate death sentence, in the case of a feral, time is not on their side. 

We and the DHEC folks kept a close watch on him and did our best to provide good food, shelter, and a warm bed.  Sadly, he started to deteriorate at the beginning of the year and was found on a Museum sidewalk the morning of January 16.  We had him cremated. We and the folks at DHEC sprinkled his ashes on a hill in the place where he, Pippie, and Grey were always found sunning themselves.

This has been extraordinarily difficult not only for Stoney and me, but for the folks at DHEC (who I understand are many) and also the folks at the State Museum (who have a funny story to tell).  Seeing Big O and Pippie every day gave people a sense of constancy.  We now have to work thru our grief and make certain that Pippie, Grey, and the other members of the Colony are well cared for – in honor of the man, Big O. 

Double Trouble!

(Frito and Bandito)

Includes an adaptation of "Caring for Feral Cats" by Zhachariah Atteberry as a tribute to the Feral Cat Colonies at the State Museum and EdVenture...

Includes a re-fitted version of "Feral Cats" by Rich Hanson as a tribute to the State Museum Feral Cat colony.

These kittens were born on July 5, 2015 after we trapped their VERY pregnant mother at our feral colony on July 4.

This video was taken on August 18.  The kittens are 6 weeks, 2 days old.

The Mother and two of the kittens were adopted to a farm in Santee.

We kept the two twins - Frito and Bandito.

My Memorial to Hallie - one of the most unique individuals I have ever known.

Includes a paraphrase of "Wild Cats" by Michael Goettee as a tribute to our colony of "Wild Cats" at the State Museum.

Includes a rendering of "Thoughts of a Feral" by Annette Easdon as a tribute to the State Museum Cat Colony.

Includes an adaptation of "A Taker-In of Stray Cats" by Darlene Goff as a tribute to the State Museum Cat Colony.

We found three kittens in our back yard May 2012.  

We hoped to keep them until they were grown enough to be spayed/neutered and taken to the farm.

In the meantime, we got to enjoy them while they were still here...which is to say...forebber...

A 2012 adaption of an old video tape shot by Cheezefriend, Straycatz.

A 2012 adaption of a video tape shot by Cheezefriend, Straycatz.

Our 2011 Christmas Card.

It contains a tribute to all 4-footed "Little Hooligans" everywhere.

Made October 23, 2011, this is a follow-up to the video made September 6, 2011 of the cat colony at the State Museum.

Made October 17, 2011, this is the October 9 litter at 8 weeks. 

Of course, we had to keep them until they were old enough to be spayed and neutered before they go out to the farm - which meant the middle of January, 2012. 

Needless to say, they went nowhere since we gave them names - Blackie, Jr, Arabella, Amelia, Lindberg, Doolittle, and Jacqueline ("Jackie").

Made October 9, 2011, this is a litter of six kittens 

when they were about 7 weeks old.

These are kittens born to a mother cat that belonged to a neighbor. 

They were in a pasteboard box on her front porch.

As soon as they were weaned, the mother cat moved them to our back yard. 

The neighbor couldn't take the kittens in, so we kept them - with the intention of re-locating them to the same farm that houses the re-located ferals from the State Museum.

(yea...right...they're going to the Farm...)

A video put together September 2011 for Cheezefriend Tookat - who was diagnosed with Stage 1 Endometrial cancer.

I found a piece written by Nelson Mandala, added some music and pictures from the Cheezburger site, and sent it to her as a little "get well" message. 

A 2011 video of the feral colony maintained by Cheezefriend "Straycatz".

She has four in her colony at her home in Georgia.

They are Eeny (Eeny Bean), Meeny (Sphinxy), Miney (Miney Boy), and Moe (Lil Moe).

When she saw the story of our colony at the State Museum, she asked if I could pull together a video of her colony.

She sent me the disc from her camcorder as well as a few still photos and this is the result.

We are always concerned for the ferals after they are returned to their colony.

This is actually on September 5, 2011, after Little Grey's second night. 

The first night was very rainy and only Mama Kitty showed up at the feeding station.

Returning Little Grey to the State Museum cat colony September 3, 2011.

Returning Mama Kitty to the State Museum cat colony August 28, 2011.

A 2011 video of Pinstripe saving the world from a maurading string bean.

The world is saved!!

April 13, 2011.

This is Priscilla with her very first bowl of milk.

She got more on the floor and on her face than in her.

February 1, 2011

This short video is of brothers Carmine and Ernie III giving themselves a bath.

A video version of the Christmas Card we made and sent out in 2010.

It contains our first tribute to the cat colony at the State Museum.

Made in 2008 as a "Secret Santa" gift for a co-worker at the SC Department of Revenue.

Our entry to Workman Publishing's 365 Cats a Day Calendar for 2006.

A short video of two pictures of our cats taken on Halloween 2006.

Ernie II passed away unexpectedly in June, 2005, of a parasitic blood disease.

This is our memorial to him...

Our entry to Workman Publishing's 365 Cats a Day Calendar for 2005.

This was my very first video effort.