Feral Cat Behavior

Chappy is so unhappy that he has to have meds three times a day. He has taken to, the minute I enter the room, he scrambles out from under wherever he is hiding and takes off. I have had to herd him gently upstairs, after shutting all the doors to the other rooms. Once he has gone up the stairs, I shut the door at the bottom of the stairs. I have blocked off access under the futons, so he has no way to effectively hide.

When he sees me coming, he makes a horrible mournful sound like he has been trapped and crouches down low. I kneel beside him, gently pull him to me and give him his meds. I try to not put a lot of strain on him, but now he won’t open his mouth easily.

I hate this! We had just bonded together and now I will have to start from scratch. He has 7 days left on the meds- I hope I don’t damage his trust any further than I already have.

Chappy went to the vet to be treated a few days ago. He had 5 holes in his neck and chin. The vet didn’t think that they were cat bites. My thoughts are the wire must be torn in the habitat. I am going to have to do a thorough check of the enclosure, but right now the rain is preventing me from doing this. I want to check it from the outside, because the inside has so much cat stuff it would be hard to manuever. Chap spent a night at the vet’s office and is home now, on antibiotics and quite stressed from his separation. I have him upstairs and his mom is camped out on the downstairs landing separated by the barrier door.

We drove 16 hours to take the siamese to Siamese Rescue. Dropped her off in Lake Stevens, met the wonderful foster family and then drove straight home. Yikes! What a long day that was! We arrived home at 2:00 a.m. and immediately crashed.

On a sad note, we put India down. She wasn’t getting better, she was getting worse. She stopped eating and drinking and prior to that she had stopped pooping all together. Three vets and numerous tests could not pinpoint the problem. With great sadness we released her to the angels and she is now up and running free. I am sure that Jeremy’s lap is full these days.

As my friend and fellow-rescuer Dusty tells me time and time again. Sometimes, what we rescue them from is bigger than we can manage. It is part of our world, to rescue, and when we have to, too let go.

I have asked a friend of mine if she might consider taking Tipster into her heart. She recently lost her older cat, and although Tip may resemble her cat to closely, I thought I would try. I know that she would give him a wonderful home.

They finally found out what was wrong with my husband. He has clostridium difficile. They have put him on medication and said within three weeks he will be good to go (no pun intended). I am so relieved. After all the tests, the surgery and the specialists etc…they find out what is going on. Ironically, it was their actions that made him ill in the first place!

Received a call about a “feral cat” so we went to pick it up. Turns out this girl is a seal-point Siamese and a real cuddlebug. Took her to the vet today, no microchip though. She is around 3 years old, and I hope to find her owner soon. The other cats are on the warpath because they smell her. I was surprised tonight to find that Chappy has been bitten and the bite is abcessing, it is under his chin. He is confined in the bedroom, I have put all I can on the wound and given him antibiotic. I was amazed. I am used to the outside cats with these type of wounds, but not the inside ones. I have no clue who attacked him-

We are having a garage sale this weekend, and the cats are fascinated with the people and the cars. They sit on the window ledge of the bay window and watch the activity. People are commenting on their presence- there are usually two or three watching intently. Perhaps, I will be able to find a good home for the newest arrivals. I will listen to the comments and judge the people, then hand them my card. When the weekend is over and the family has discussed bringing in a new cat, they can call me back and we can go from there. I learned a long time ago how dangerous it is, to just adopt out a kitten or a cat without doing the proper background work first. People can really fool you sometimes.

Bailey was put down this week. He survived, a free spirited barn cat, hunting snakes and mice and climbing up my leg when he wanted to be noticed. He would jump from the top of the hay loft unto my shoulders when he was younger. Not one to like the company of other cats, he was a true pariah, and although neutered, he still would fight with any male cat that came onto the property.

Bailey was headed for a long bout with CRF and although I understand that this can be fought with managed diet, pushing fluids and monitoring the cat, with Bailey this would be near impossible without confining him.

So with great sadness, we let him go. And now he is reunited with his brother Bartee and his mom Ms. Kitty. They are painfree and hunting heaven’s fields. Goodbye you spot of orange sunlight. I will miss you dashing across the pasture, head held high while dragging a garter, or a rubber snake for us to see. I will miss your none to gentle swat on my arm if I dared to pass you by without stopping first to say hello. Your walking over my head in the rafters as I fed the horses, your constant and puzzling behavior of ignoring fresh water daily given in a bowl, and opting instead for the scummy puddles found around the yard. I will miss your fishing for salamanders in the creek, most of all, I will miss you~

We are getting ready for a garage sale next weekend and have been cleaning the attic. I have had to confine the cats strictly to the cat enclosure, because if the cats get into the attic, they will be gone. There are easy accesses in there to the roof and other places in the house under the eaves and such. I cannot take the chance.

Thanks to the ingenuity of my 14 year old grandson Ben, we now have these really neat sliding wooden doors that block off access to the house. It allows the cats into the tunnels if they wish, but keeps them from sneaking back in the house. I am so proud of Ben. In building this for me, he took away a giant headache of how to prevent the cats from coming in the house when there are workers here, or the doors are open for cleaning or whatever. Plus, Ben earned a merit badge for his craftiness (he is a boy scout).

The spray alert alarm works so well! Two of my cats have been caught as sprayers. They were both taken to the vet to be sure they were healthy. One was found to have a low-grade infection. The other is just reacting to the season (kitty season).

The alarm is loud enough to be heard in all parts of the house, but not loud enough to startle the cats and create more problems. I am quite impressed with this product. If you wish to check it out the website is below.

www.sprayalert.com