Feral Cat Behavior

I have recently experienced first hand, what misdirected aggression is all about. I have had cats come here in the past with this issue, but usually the cats are attacking other cats but not me.

Not in this instance. Jaz the new cat who arrived with Tink has been attacking me with gusto in the last couple of days. I have scratch marks on my bedroom window from this cat trying to get at me when she saw me outside the bedroom window the other day.

Afraid she might be sick, I called her previous owners and we all met at the vet this morning.

Bottom line, she is not sick thank God- but she is stressed by being here. She needs to be in a family with no cat but her to dote on her.

I rarely become scared of a cat, but she was terrifying for me and she is a previously owned cat and not a feral!

She was given back to the owners after the vet visit and I breathed a sigh of relief- not only for me but for her. No cat should have to live with such terror in their day.

She is now in a home where she is the only cat and she is doing wonderfully. Good thing too because the owners leave at the end of the month to Australia for good.

I am grateful she is not ill and glad they found her a home even if they had to bribe someone to take her- but whatever it takes. They put her on facebook and told their friends if someone would take her they would pay them $100.00-

This morning she leaped on my head and it wasn’t to give me a kneading it was to be a scalp hunter. Thankfully, I was fully covered or she might have taken more than the pieces of fleece she pulled off my hoody.

So for the first time, I was the target of misdirected aggression and it was quite scary. But I am glad that she landed here early enough so I could see her character and her weaknesses and what she truly needs.

Live long and prosper Jaz- just thankfully not here with the group.

I have decided to name the two mackeral tabbies from the apartment complex; Smuggles and Secret.

Currently, they are still hiding under the bed- but let me tell you- they are eating well and they throw litter like an Olympian!

I told them yesterday that no one expects anything out of them here- just that they be cats.

I keep hoping each year when Kitten Season rolls around, that the phone will quit ringing, but so far that hasn’t happened. So I have taken in several more cats some with health issues. I have a kitten who has a swollen paw and they can’t seem to find out why-

I have an older cat with a huge ulcer on the right side of his face so that he looks lopsided.

I have the two cats that were smuggled in- they are now living in the bedroom. Our bedroom kitty was moved to the outside cage because she was frantic to be outside. I found frantic claw marks in the glass of my bedroom window! I thought to myself this is nuts, so she is in the Introduction cage and fighting through the wire with any cat brave enough to come up and sniff the wire! She is an explosion of aggression such as I haven’t seen in quite some time.

I had a sad call the other night in the middle of the night from a twelve year old girl who tried to rescue a kitten who was being beaten by a whiffle bat by her so called friends (14 year old boys). I told her she was my hero because she stepped into the gang mentality center of the group and scooped up that kitten! She then ran all the way home with it- but it died in her arms. She couldn’t sleep so she was surfing the web and found my ads on Craigslist and called me. She wanted me to tell her why this had happened- and I told her it happened so that kitten wouldn’t die without first feeling warmth, love and compassion.

My friend kidnapped me and took me to dinner and a movie. We saw Dark Shadows and I know it is getting slammed with bad reviews but I loved it! I have not laughed so hard at the movies in quite some time. It was insane because after all it is Tim Burton and Johnny Dep but I enjoyed this wonderful birthday gift- yes folks, I was actually born on Friday the 13th Mother’s Day.

I feel so inadequate right now- learning how to fix broken things outside is so hard for me. I miss Mike so much and wish he would come home, but he still isn’t healing. They can’t even remove the sutures yet from where the growth was because it hasn’t yet healed.

CATS Inc., is putting out the word that we need monies for kitty litter- medicines- vet visits and various other things. I am sitting with 30 cats right now- YIKES! So if you can contribute at all- it would be welcomed as I see a long path for some of these newcomers as far as care goes. I suspect one girl might be diabetic.

So thank you in advance for the concerned emails about how I am doing. I took a few days off- I was quite ill but am feeling better each day. The doctor said it was stress- LOL

Love to all of you- hug your loved ones and your kitties and let them know how much you appreciate them.

This was sent to me yesterday by my sister. I have to say I love it-

I rode my bicycle..

I was contacted this morning by the person hiding these babies. The landlord had posted a reward for information leading to their capture! What is this the wild west? Rather than risk her losing her home, we came up with a plan that kept the landlord busy for a few minutes while I darted into the complex with a computer box (empty except for duct tape and blankets.

I knock on the door, slide in, duct tape the blanket to the inside of the box- but the cats inside, duct tape the top and rush to my car!

I kept looking in the rear view mirror expecting some wildman would be chasing me shaking his fist!

The cats are safe- they are upstairs and really scared- gee I wonder why? But they are eating which is good.

I will be going to home depot for the supplies I need to build this special cage and yes, I do have prefab cages, but they don’t always work. This is something I have needed for quite awhile and is my own special design.

Thank you to all who donated for this 007 manuever! LOL I told the guardian angel who had these cats she took a big risk and I hope it comes back to her in a good way.

MA the spy who went out in the cold! LOL

What is with this 40 degree weather in May?

I am learning new skills now- mostly hit and miss. I am learning that unless you tether a goat- it tends to wander into the neighbors’s yard and eat his apple tree instead of your wild blackberry bushes. I am learning that riding lawnmowers are extremely stubborn to raise up and change belts on. I am learning that selling my horses years ago now means my pasture grass can grow taller than me and I am 6’ tall. I am learning that paying bills for the first time is a struggle because I am not left-brained, I am right-brained and also bird brained! (Maybe that is why the cats love me so much).

I am learning that if I park my car under a certain tree in the afternoon means that a mama spider decides that laying her live brood on my car and in my car is a brilliant idea! I still get shudders thinking of the afternoon when I opened my car door and it became alive with hundreds to baby spiders scrambling to get out of the way! I grabbed a broom and helped them scramble.

But most of all, I am learning about real friends who help you no matter what. I am learning that praying to God means withdrawing away from all the noise around me and talking to him as I walk about the pasture. I am learning that God is there every day even if I happen to be to numb at the moment to feel him. And I am learning that when people on the street ask how are you doing- they don’t really care but He does.

And I am learning that my cats give me such great comfort both in the day and at night. I am learning that fear needs to be given to God, and Courage comes from Him. I am also learning that although it feels so strange to ask people for money for these cats- He seems to smile on the requests and fills the need. So thank you, all who contributed to the latest plea and forgive me for asking. I just ask on their behalf and not mine-

I found a beautiful version of Psalm 55- the author is unknown.

O God give ear to my plea,
And hide not Thyself from my cry;
O hearken and answer Thou me,
As restless and weary I sigh.

Thy burden now cast on the Lord,
And He shall thy weakness sustain;
The righteous who trust in His word
Unmoved shall forever remain.

Strays in trouble…

I just got a call from a lady who lives in an apartment complex. Someone moved out in the middle of the night and left behind three stray kittens. The tenants who still live there are feeding the kittens but they just got served with a notice that the butthead landlord has decided anyone caught feeding or giving water to these kittens will be evicted! He has gone and removed all the dishes of food outside the tenant’s door and is looking to do harm for the kittens if he finds them! You don’t know what I want to say about now.

The only way I can take them is to build a special cage made of plywood and chicken wire. It would go out in the enclosed patio. I can’t put any cats upstairs in the summer time- it is brutally hot up there. But I can put them in the enclosed and screened porch. I figure the dimensions are 4′x4′x4′ with a solid roof because the other cats are going to want to jump on the top- plus they will be right by the big bay windows so the direct sunlight would be a big issue. Ot would have to have 2×4′s at least to brace it down so it won’t move and have a door large enough that I can get at least part of myself into the cage to remove litter pans and socialize these kittens.

I’m tapped out right now, I figure I can do this for under $100.00- if anyone can spare anything, I am asking to send it my way. These kittens are being hidden right now by a pretty frightened tenant so time is an issue.

Thank you for your compassion-

MA

Woke up this morning to a pile of mail on the floor. The cats were playing in the night. When I was straightening up, I noticed a strange odor. One of my cats had peed on my political ballot that I was going to mail today! I don’t know who the culprit is that is peelitical in the group.

Would like you to meet Jaz and Tink. These are the two cats who were owner-surrendered because the owners are moving overseas. Tink, the Mackeral Tabby boy is already in general population and doing well.

Jaz is a bit of a challenge as she wasn’t eating as well as cats need to eat, so she is still in the bedroom. Because she is a white kitty she will more than likely just be our bedroom kitty if I can’t find the right home for her. White kitties are so susceptible to cancer of the ear if they get into direct sunlight.

They are both friendly, lovely kitties but Jaz is still on edge with all the other kitties here and who can blame her. It isn’t like I just have three cats for her to adjust to-

she rarely stays still because she wants to be petted all the time- she would be perfect for a retired couple with a lot of love and who stay home most of the time-

“Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I made my fruit pizza today, sat down in front of the television and ate over half of it! All in one sitting! Dexter did get some of the whipped cream though-